Cedar Lake’s reinstated park board trying to get back on track
By Carrie Napoleon Post-Tribune correspondent August 4, 2012 10:26PM
Updated: September 6, 2012 6:24AM
CEDAR LAKE — The recently reinstated park board continues to meet and move forward under a cloud of pending litigation that leaves its actions up in the air.
On Thursday, park board officials met to establish a budget request for 2013, according to park board attorney Karen Tallian. Department budget requests were due Friday to the town, she said.
Tallian said no court action has been taken yet on an appeal filed by the town in mid-July of the ruling by Judge Diane Kavadias Schneider that reinstated the park board to its status as of March 2011 when president Andrew Balkema, vice president Candi Reiling and Gina Alessia were removed from the board and it was disbanded. The ruling also called for all park property transferred to the town after the board was disbanded to be returned to the park board.
There has been no response to a letter from the park board to the town July 23 requesting an inventory of park property, Tallian said.
After the town disbanded the park board, it established a parks committee to operate the park department. Last month the town began installing new park equipment in the Lynnsway subdivision park, town administrator Ian Nicolini said at the time of the installation. Nicolini could not be immediately reached Friday.
There also has not yet been any court action on a stay request by the town that would prevent the park board from conducting business until the appeal is decided, Tallian said.
Town Attorney David Austgen said he was unaware the park board met Thursday and had no knowledge of the letter concerning the park inventory sent to the town.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said when asked if he had seen the document.
Austgen said he did not have any comment on the park board situation at this time due to pending litigation.
