Judge rules for La Grange in yearslong quarry dispute over sewer easement

A Cook County judge has sided with the Village of La Grange in longrunning litigation with Hansen Quarry, concluding the quarry intentionally interfered with the village’s sewer easement and made false statements to local authorities, village officials said June 12.

Village President Kukler told the Board the decision found that “Hansen Quarry intentionally interfered with LaGrange’s easement rights,” and that the quarry’s representatives later misrepresented who owned the damaged pipe. The ruling follows litigation that began after the quarry cut a village sewer in 1992 and then opposed later village plans to improve the storm sewer that discharges into the quarry.

Dan Stanner, who described the trial and the judge’s 40‑page opinion to the Board, said the evidence showed the village held an express easement dating to the 1920s and that a 1935 deed explicitly recognized a right of way for the sewer. “The judge decided the village was correct,” Stanner said. He added the court found quarry representatives made material misrepresentations to the McCook Zoning Board, and called those claims “dishonest.” Stanner said the judge dismissed the quarry’s claims and that the outcome was “a victory for the village on all counts.”

The dispute blocked a multiyear sewer improvement effort intended to reduce basement and yard flooding in the village’s south basin. Village officials and staff said the litigation delayed construction of a trunk sewer along 50th Street that is intended to reduce flood risk in five depressional areas south of 47th Street.

Kukler acknowledged the case had been years in the making; he traced the project’s planning back to January 2015 and credited former Village President Tom Livingston, former and current trustees, former village engineer Ryan Gillingham and organized community activists for sustaining the effort. Kukler said the village would discuss next steps and pending appeal risk in closed session following the meeting.

The Board also publicly thanked the local volunteer group Dry Up LaGrange for sustained advocacy during the litigation. Stanner told the Board that while an appeal is possible, the trial judge’s credibility findings make a successful appeal unlikely; he said further legal strategy would be discussed in closed session.

The judge who issued the opinion was identified in meeting remarks as Judge Cohen. Village officials said the opinion recited documentary evidence, witness testimony and contemporaneous quarry files showing the quarry knew of the sewer and failed to obtain permission before cutting it.