By Simon Husted
The News-Herald
WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — Two Madison Village councilmen are suing the village and its elected leaders in hopes of reversing something they frame as an illicit gift.
Councilmen Kenneth Cahill and John Hamercheck filed a lawsuit in Lake County Common Pleas Court asking Judge Eugene Lucci to prohibit the village from paying the Madison Joint Fire District its four installments totaling $189,000 for improvements and an addition built at the former Madison Fire Station 1.
The first installment of $44,750 is due June 1.
A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for Jan. 28, where Lucci will hear arguments of whether to decide to pause that installment plan until a final judgement can be ruled.
Cahill and Hamercheck’s attorney, Richard Selby II told the News-Herald on Dec. 23 that the injunction hearing and lawsuit shouldn’t have an impact on Madison Village Police Department’s schedule to move personnel, equipment and vehicles into station 1.
Attempts to reach Madison Village police Chief Dawn Shannon were unsuccessful Dec. 23.
The plaintiff’s 11-page complaint includes the following allegations:
--Madison Village’s reimbursement payment to the district is in contravention of the terms of a 1982 lease, which states all additions and improvements belong to the village upon termination of the rent-free lease.
--A 2009 memorandum of understanding reiterated that Madison Village owns station 1 and will go back to the village’s sole control once the facility is no longer used as a fire station.
--Since completing the construction of Fire Station 3 in November 2013, Station 1 has not been utilized to provide fire protection or emergency services, therefore making it not a fire station. By sometime March 2014, the district “largely vacated” Station 1.
The complaint also argues that the three councilmen who serve on the Madison Fire Board, -- Duane Frager, Kenneth Takacs and Mark Vest -- had a conflict of interest in deliberating and voting on the resolution and should’ve recused themselves. If that happened, the agreement would’ve lacked enough council votes to pass.
The complaint also alleges that at the end of a Feb. 18 executive session “relating to an employment issue,” Madison Village Mayor Sam Britton introduced an off-topic matter to council to weigh in on paying the fire district $189,000 to buy-out the district’s leasehold interest in Station 1.
In addition, the complaint alleges Britton told council at the executive session that the amount would resolve not only the leasehold, negotiated at a $185,000-price tag, but resolve an additional $4,000 “for the Fire District’s claimed damages for additional costs relating to concrete work at Station No. 3 resulting from the Madison Village Southerly Waterline Improvement Project.” The complaint said the district’s claim was never publicly disclosed.
Reached by phone Dec. 23, Madison Village Law Director Joseph Szeman said he was still reading the complaint after having it forwarded from someone else and didn’t have a comment prepared.
The issue of whether it is legal or fair for the village to reimburse the fire district on Station 1 improvements has been disputed publicly at Village Council and Madison Fire Board meetings since July.
Cahill and Hamercheck are the only elected officials between the township and village who have stood against the agreement.
Proponents of the agreement argue that $189,000 is a fair reimbursement to the $340,000 invested at Station 1 by the district. Approximately 80 percent of that investment is financed through EMS fees or property taxes generated by township residents, proponents have said.
Proponents have said the district could sue the village for unjust enrichment and argue for the full $340,000 figure if village officials ordered the district to vacate Station 1 without reimbursement.
Proponents also have said that if the village hadn’t approached the district about an agreement to take control of Station 1, it would still be used today as a fire station.
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