Gurnee officials at odds over incomplete memorial

An incomplete memorial in Gurnee for soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan is behind what seems to be an escalating dispute between the mayor and a village board member who's been spearheading the project.

Mayor Kristina Kovarik said a private foundation headed by Trustee Kirk Morris has demonstrated over the last five years it doesn't have the ability to complete the job, which is why a new group under the umbrella of village government is needed.

Kovarik said her stance is driven by her obligation to Gurnee residents to have a proper memorial on the high-profile and publicly owned parcel, where the village's police headquarters once stood on Old Grand Avenue.

"My job is to return that to a usable park that everyone can enjoy," Kovarik said.

Morris heads the Pfc. Geoffrey Morris Memorial Foundation, named for his late son, who died in action in Iraq in 2004. The foundation has been attempting to raise private money for the memorial. Morris, who was not an elected official when the initiative began in 2005, said he'll fight to retain control.

At a village board meeting Monday, the trustee threatened legal action against Gurnee if the Pfc. Geoffrey Morris Memorial Foundation is eliminated from running the project. A lawyer representing Morris also spoke at the session.

Morris later reiterated his intent to sue the village if his organization is pushed aside. While Kovarik has informed Morris she wants the foundation out of the picture, he said he needs more information before deciding his next move.

Having an advisory group of village residents in charge of the memorial, as proposed by Kovarik, instead of the foundation at this point wouldn't make sense, said Morris.

"They'd have to start all over, wouldn't they? ... If the complaint is it's taken too long, that would delay the process," he said.

Heroes of Freedom Memorial Park is far from finished. Nine flag poles representing every military branch and lights were installed in February 2006, but a planned walkway, sculptures and a garden have yet to be built.

Kovarik said the flagpoles are not enough results for a nearly five-year effort. By late November, she said, it's hoped the advisory panel of residents will be in place to seek labor and material donations. Any public money needed for the project would require village board approval.

"We just need to do something other than have this (Morris) group running around doing what they want," said Kovarik.

Morris said some elected village officials in 2005 asked him to place the memorial on the visible half-acre police station site after he initially mentioned wanting something on land he owns.

Village board minutes from March 7, 2005, show a resolution passed by a 5-0 vote "establishing a memorial park in remembrance of U.S. military personnel" who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kovarik, a trustee at the time, was part of the 5-0 vote.

However, Village Attorney Bryan Winter said Morris' foundation was not specifically named in the resolution. A target completion date was not noted in the village action.

Morris took on fundraising efforts for the memorial after the resolution passed. He filed paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service to create the nonprofit Pfc. Geoffrey Morris Memorial Foundation.

IRS documents show total revenue raised for the foundation was $202,700 from tax years 2005 to 2007, the most recent available. Total expenses over the three years were $247,638, leaving the organization $44,938 in the red.

Spending on the memorial over the three years was $50,477, according to IRS documents. Morris said thousands of dollars worth of donated labor and materials were not listed on foundation forms because it's not an IRS requirement.

According to the mission statement filed with the IRS, the foundation's money is supposed go toward developing the memorial along with helping families of active service members killed in the line of duty and providing cash for qualified charities.

Roughly $200,000 will be needed for life-size bronze statues planned for the memorial depicting Geoffrey Morris, Warren Township resident Sean Maher and Libertyville's Wesley Wells. All of the men were in the Marines or Army and killed in battle in 2004 or 2005.

Morris said he can raise the cash needed for statues and the rest of the work. He said he's willing to commit to a Nov. 1, 2013, completion date.

"We firmly feel we have a right to finish what we've started at that site," he said.