Hawthorn Woods aquatic center suit over; did village gain?

Hawthorn Woods has settled a lawsuit with the builder of its aquatic center.

The village has agreed to pay Schaefges Brothers Inc. of Wheeling $339,000 of the more than $506,000 the builder said the village owes for work completed.

The village's finance committee Tuesday night discussed what expenses were incurred in litigation.

Hawthorn Woods originally withheld roughly $470,000 from the $1.97 million contract, claiming the company caused the village damage because the pool opened 23 days late last summer.

"We're very happy with the outcome," Hawthorn Woods Mayor Keith Hunt said earlier. "It was a hard-fought battle. But at the end of the day we got back money from the contractor and it was worth the effort. Was it ultimately a perfect solution? No, but no settlement is."

Steve Karecki, vice president of Schaefges Brothers, said the entire lawsuit was "unfortunate" and the only reason the company decided to settle was legal fees were mounting.

Karecki maintains many factors played into the Aquatic Center pool opening late, including delays in site preparation by other contractors.

The village paid $65,000 in fines to the Illinois Department of Public Health because the builder started construction without a permit. Also, the village had publicized the pool would open June 1, 2007, and ended up granting $114,000 in free passes to season pass holders over two summers.

"We were only responsible for our particular part of the work," he said. "It definitely wasn't the sole responsibility of Schaefges Brothers to attain the permit. It's ridiculous that any owner would take it out on a contractor for days of delay."

Yet, the money left over after the settlement - $131,000 of the original $470,000 withheld - doesn't cover what the village spent in fines, attorneys' fees and compensation to residents for the pool opening late.

Both sides bore their own legal fees, which in Hawthorn Woods' case amounted to roughly $80,000 over two years, Hunt said.

Hawthorn Woods village Trustee Steve Riess says the village ended up paying more in litigation and other costs than the lawsuit was worth.

Riess claims the village has not yet paid a final invoice of $27,000 to the attorneys on the case.

"Everybody on the board knows the total cost of attorneys' fees is $107,000," Riess said. "No matter how you slice it, I don't care how you want to spin it, we spent more money than we held back. If we had just compromised and come to some sort of understanding with Schaefges, we would have saved the village over $75,000."

Hunt denied there is an outstanding legal bill.

"As of the last payment that was made, all of the legal fees related to the Schaefges litigation are done," he said. "There's money left over from what we budgeted for the legal fees and there's money left over from the construction fund."

Pool: Village paid more in legal fees than suit was worth