Deal close for Fort Sheridan lawsuit, officials say

The long-standing legal fight over a gigantic mound of construction debris at the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve soon could be resolved, Lake County Forest Preserve District officials said Wednesday.

"We are close," said Tom Hahn, the district's executive director. "We are working diligently to finalize the settlement agreement."

Hahn declined to discuss the terms of the proposed settlement, which would be with the Town of Fort Sheridan development company and other firms that helped build the homes there.

The board could vote on a deal within the next two weeks, Hahn said. The terms would be made public at that time.

Forest district Commissioner Stevenson Mountsier, who leads the panel's finance committee, called the proposal on the table "a good deal" that would resolve all of the district's issues.

An attorney for the Town of Fort Sheridan company could not be reached for comment.

The 258-acre preserve near Highland Park was acquired from the U.S. Army in stages starting in the late 1990s. Other portions were turned into civilian housing and became the Town of Fort Sheridan.

The lawsuit, filed the district against the developers in 2005, centers on 235,000 cubic yards of construction debris that were dumped on preserve property while the homes were being built.

The suit, which seeks the debris' removal or the money to do so, later was expanded to include other firms associated with the project.

In hopes of avoiding a trial, forest district officials and the defendants have worked with a mediator for more than a year. That process has helped, Hahn said.

A settlement would allow the forest board to reconsider what to do about the golf course it once planned to build at the preserve.

When the district acquired the site from the Army, a provision of the deal said a golf course there must remain open.

The district tore up the course - one of four it owns - to make way for an upscale replacement in 2003, but a new layout never was built. The board halted the project after cost estimates came in millions of dollars over budget, in part because the unexpected debris mound would need to be removed.

Other improvements at the preserve, such as the creation of new trails and other attractions, were made.

Officials have said they wouldn't progress on the golf course, however, until the lawsuit was settled.

"If it is resolved as we expect it to be, we can move on to other decisions we need to make regarding the future of the Fort Sheridan property," said forest district commissioner Steve Carlson, a Gurnee Republican.

Carlson has been critical of building a new golf course at the preserve. He's questioned the caveat with the Army, a clause Hahn and other officials say could be lifted if the Army agrees.

Mountsier, a Lake Barrington Republican, believes the district is obligated to the Army to build a new course. But he also knows the golf business hasn't been good for a while because of the economy and other factors.

"And that's going to enter into the decision-making," Mountsier said.

Ralph Pfaff, president of a Fort Sheridan homeowners association, said he regularly hears from residents who are frustrated by the lack of a course at the preserve. His group is resolute that a course should be built.

"(Commissioners) have a contractual obligation, and that's going to have to be pursued," Pfaff said.