Campton Hills' legal battles delay hiring four key employees

Mounting legal bills expected to top $130,000 by year's end has delayed the hiring of four key employees for the village of Campton Hills, Village President Patsy Smith said Wednesday.

Smith said officials hoped to have already filled the positions of administrator, engineer, land planner and filing clerk, but accumulating legal fees are preventing them from taking on the added expense.

The bulk of the attorney fees stems from nine court cases involving neighborhoods trying to disconnect from Campton Hills. The village also is fighting a proposed referendum that could disband the town.

"We're just going to have to do without some things," Smith said. "We have a responsibility to defend ourselves. Fifty-five percent of voters voted for a municipality based on the legal description presented to them."

This month, the village received the first bill for legal services dating from its April incorporation through the end of August. That invoice, for nearly $50,000, is expected to be followed by another for more than $80,000 for services from September through November, village attorney Bill Braithwaite said.

Village legal counsel spent multiple days in court in recent months on the disconnection and referendum cases. But Braithwaite predicts a drop in 2008.

"There will be quite a lot of activity in probably the first three months of next year on these disconnection cases," he said Wednesday. "After that, hopefully, the people who are opposing the village will begin to see they're wasting their money as well as the public's money."

In its appropriations ordinance for this fiscal year, the village carved out $240,000 for legal costs. Exceeding that, the village would dig into $95,000 earmarked for new positions and "professional services" that the village now plans to do without, such as janitors and an information technology employee.

"We believe there will be enough," Smith said.