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Geneva library prevails over Batavia library in annexation suit appeal

The Geneva Public Library board's annexation of a strip of land to block the Batavia Public Library board from annexing 1,600 acres may have been unneighborly.

But a circuit court judge shouldn't have called it invalid, an Illinois appellate court has ruled.

Furthermore, the appellate court ruled last week, Batavia's October 2006 annexation of the 1,600 acres was invalid because it made a 100-acre error in describing it, and it goofed by failing to include a routine clause that could have kept the rest of its initial annexation ordinance valid despite the mistake.

"(The) Geneva Public Library District is very happy with the appellate court's ruling and looks forward to a cooperative relationship with Batavia Public Library District in the future," according to a news release from the library.

George Scheetz, director of the Batavia Library, said its board would discuss the matter Tuesday, including how to proceed.

"Certainly there is a level of disappointment in the basic ruling," he said.

The matter now returns to the McHenry County Circuit Court to rule again on the validity of Geneva's November 2006 annexation, and whether it takes priority over Batavia's second attempt to annex the land in December 2006. The case is in McHenry because Kane County judges recused themselves. At the time, a Kane County judge was a friend of the father of the Batavia Library board president.

Why the Geneva library board did what it did - annexing a piece of property 500 feet wide and 4,000 feet long - doesn't matter, the appellate court said. The Illinois Public Library District Act doesn't list intent as a reason to invalidate an annexation, the justices ruled. In September 2013, McHenry County Judge Michael Sullivan had invalidated Geneva's annexation, calling it a "legal gimmick" done to block Batavia from annexing the land.

"To be sure, frustration of Batavia's desire and ability to annex the territory is one of the effects, as well as one of the purposes, but it is not the sole purpose," 2nd District Appellate Court Judge Joseph Birkett wrote.

Precedent cases involving villages and cities had been cited, but the court found them irrelevant because those entities are governed by the Illinois Municipal Code, which does allow intent to be considered.

The appellate court also denied Batavia's contention that it was an illegal "strip annexation." The property was sufficiently wide and large enough, according to the ruling.

The two libraries have been fighting since October 2006, when the Batavia library board voted to annex the farmland in Blackberry Township. Most of it is within the Geneva school district, and state law encourages library and school districts to align.

Geneva library officials contend they made an unwritten "gentlemen's agreement" in the late 1980s with representatives of the Batavia and Town and Country library districts that if the land was ever developed, then the Geneva library could have it.

Voters rejected annexing the land to the Geneva district. Geneva officials had promised the owners they would not annex the land against their wishes.

Batavia, Geneva libraries' annexation battle in court

Geneva-Batavia library lawsuit at end? Maybe

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