Judge tosses trustee's suit against Gurnee; he plans to refile

Gurnee Trustee Kirk Morris says he plans to refile a lawsuit against the village government and mayor over her effort to block his private foundation from developing a memorial on public land for troops who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lake County Circuit Judge Margaret Mullen tossed Morris' lawsuit last Thursday, but is allowing his lawyers 30 days to refile the case, court records show. She dismissed the suit "without prejudice," which allows it to be refiled.

Morris said the judge suggested the lawsuit become more focused if it is refiled. He said he intends to meet with his attorneys next week and expects the case to be retooled within the 30-day deadline.

"The bottom line is, the village should be negotiating and discussing this thing," Morris said Tuesday. "We shouldn't be wasting money."

Mayor Kristina Kovarik and the village were named in the complaint lodged Feb. 11 by the trustee and his Pfc. Geoffrey Morris Foundation. The foundation is named for Morris' Marine son who died in the Iraq war in 2004.

Morris and Kovarik began publicly feuding when she said the foundation accomplished little in the five years it was unofficially in charge of building the Heroes of Freedom Memorial Park, where police headquarters once stood on Old Grand Avenue.

Although controversy over Heroes of Freedom erupted in October, it boiled over Jan. 25 when village trustees voted 3-2 against overriding Kovarik's veto of an agreement that officially named the foundation to raise private cash and develop the project.

Morris recused himself from discussing or voting on the memorial.

Kovarik said Tuesday she was limited on what she could discuss about the lawsuit because it may be refiled. However, she said she was pleased by Mullen's ruling.

"I'm glad that the court recognized the village has clear title and ownership of the property," Kovarik said.

Morris' suit sought an order declaring he and the foundation have a right to exclusive use of the "Heroes of Freedom" name, and the village can't stop him from completing the project. Morris has U.S. trademark and service marks on "Heroes of Freedom Memorial."

Unspecified damages were sought from the village for work the private foundation performed to improve the publicly owned, 1-acre site on Old Grand. The foundation claims it spent an estimated $200,000 on the park.

In a motion to dismiss Morris' lawsuit, Gurnee's lawyers maintained the foundation had no right to complete a volunteer project on public property. Court documents state Morris would be "egregiously, unjustly enriched" if he received damages.

Attorney Julie Tappendorf also wrote in the motion to dismiss that Kovarik was improperly named in Morris' complaint. She states it never was shown how there could be a claim against Kovarik.

Morris' lawyer, Robert O'Donnell, countered it was proper to name Kovarik in the lawsuit because she ordered the village's building department to not issue a permit the foundation had sought through a formal application.

Flags representing every military branch and lights are the most visible work done on the memorial since the village board put Morris in charge in March 2005, long before he became a trustee. A garden, walkway, benches and bronze statues projected to cost $250,000 have not been built.

Kovarik said she still wants a memorial for the Afghanistan and Iraq troops, just on a smaller scale than envisioned by Morris.