At the last board meeting of Grafton Township, the one in which constantly interrupting, newly-elected board member Gerry McMahon was censured, there were comments from Trustee Barbara Murphy (the one seen on the far left of the table) that may portend for big happenings Thursday night.
I’ll quote her comments in their entirety, but, first, let me set the stage.
Township governments are two entities in one. There is the Town Fund. It pays for township assessing, public aid, officials’ salaries, etc.
Then, there is the Road District. It is run by the road commissioner. About the only control the township board has over the road commissioner’s operation is making sure he doesn’t spend more than is appropriated.
Township Road Commissioner Jack Freund had handed out a proposed rental contract which would have the separate Town Fund paying his fund $3,500 a month rent starting November 7th.
“Digest it and next month I will bring my attorney, if you’re ready.”
McMahon didn’t seem to have a clear grasp of the separateness of the two parts of township government.
“It’s like charging your son rent for the basement of the bedroom.“Why should one arm of the government pay another for something the township owns?
“I don’t get it.”
Senior Trustee Betty Zirk explained the situation:
“We had this offer for $1.2 million for our property.“Jack said, ‘I want to buy it.’
“So, Jack bought it. He paid the town (fund) $611,000. The agreement was we’d probably be out of the building by November 7th.
“The Road Commissioner owns all the property. If we want to stay we’re going to have to pay rent.”
“Are we signing for both the lessor and the lessee?” McMahon asked.
“The only thing we can do with Jack is is he has a budget. We have to make him stay within the budget,” Zirk replied.
“We really don’t have any control over it.”
Zirk had previously suggested that the township board look for rental property elsewhere.
“Well, then I agree with you,” McMahon replied, “…as quickly as possible. It’s time to look for other places to move.”
Road Commissioner Freund was getting a bit irritated as this point.
“The Road District paid twice for that property. Once when they bought it originally and once when we bought it from the township and paid the township a year and a half ago.”
Referring to the proposed $3,500 month rent, Freund said, “That isn’t even making the payments on this property I have to pay.”
Then Trustee Barbara Murphy entered the discussion:
“My own opinion—I say we do the unwind. Put it all back to where it was and start from scratch.“Frankly, in my own opinion, I’m tired of this garbage.
“I’m tired of it.
“I’m tired of it. (I want it done.)”
Newly-elected Township Supervisor Linda Moore put in her two cents:
This board never approved the ordinance to borrow $700,000.”
Moore also noted that,
“In the Town Fund, we have $600,000…We’ve got some unwinding to do just as we did with the three and a half million.”
She further pointed out that the loan was for 20 years, but that “the township can borrow for 10 years.
“Basically, we have not followed the statutes.”
McMahon interrupted, but Moore finished her thought:
“I am concerned that the public was not properly noticed. Unwind this and soon.”
At the beginning of the meeting, right after public comments and approving bills the board will go into Executive (secret) Session for the following purposes:
1.Sale of Real Estate to Road District
2.Pending Litigation
The next item on the agenda is
Action on Sale of Real Estate to Road District
There’s a whole lot more on the agenda for the 7:30 meeting, which will be held at Faith Community Church at 10,547 Faiths Way in Huntley. It is located west of Tom’s Vegetable Market on the north side of Algonquin Road.