The ongoing situation with the formerly village-owned open space that had been sold to the Franklin Court Mews LLC seems to be on the way to getting resolved. While eyebrow-raising aspects of this controversy had to do with public land passing into private hands and alleged violation of state open meetings law the biggest outcry came via the erection of a six-foot high wrought-iron fence that was seemingly rubber-stamped for an end-around existing building code standards. To the credit of the village board of trustees, the outcry by residents that were shut out from using this piece of previously accessible space was heard and negotiation are nearly complete for the board to reacquire the land. But what’s a bit concerning is that with the pending agreement, the main bone of contention—the fence, is required to remain standing Dec. 31. Why? No one knows because the statement read aloud by Village Council Peter Bee at the most recent board of trustees meeting spelling out the parameters of said transaction doesn’t explain why nor did Bee offer a reason. Also, no representative of the group of citizens who were negatively affected by this sale has been in attendance at these negotiations between the LLC and village. So while the village seems set to reacquire the Franklin Court parcel, the fence that became the trigger for all this rancor continues to be a obtrusive reminder of this noxious situation. It should be torn down.
—Dave Gil de Rubio
