The Du Page County Forest Preserve Commission voted 17-8 Tuesday to acquire the Brookwood Country Club in Wood Dale and much of the vacant land nearby.
Some officials said they fear that Brookwood area property owners will refuse to sell their land and the commission could face a costly and bitter condemnation suit to acquire the parcels they need.
About 240 acres are involved in the proposed acquisition. The land is controlled by five ownership groups, including one that has had as members the sons of two reputed crime syndicate figures.
Commissioners said the district might have to issue general obligation bonds and levy the resulting new taxes for the purchase.
The commission has $5.7 million remaining from $15 million in general obligation bonds it sold in 1985. In addition, $4.4 million in ”Build Illinois” funds also are available to Du Page County to acquire flood-prone land.
When County Board Chairman Jack Knuepfer urged commissioners in November to consider buying Brookwood and the nearby land, he estimated the value at $8 million to $11 million. But an opponent estimated the cost at $12 million to $15 million, primarily because the tracts surrounding the course are being developed or are on the verge of development.
Commission President Charles Vaughn said he was confident that Du Page residents would be willing to pay more taxes to finance the sale of bonds if it meant preserving some of the county`s vanishing open space.
The commission is seeking to acquire the 113-acre golf course plus 127 acres nearby that are under different ownership. An existing townhouse development that borders the golf course property is not included in the land the commission seeks to buy. One resident of the complex is State Sen. James
”Pate” Philip (R., Wood Dale), Senate minority leader and Du Page Republican chairman. Philip has supported the district`s plan to purchase the golf course.
Thomas Fawell, an Oak Brook attorney representing the country club owners, said he was not surprised by the commission`s action. He disputed the commission`s statement that it was going to purchase the golf course and surrounding property to protect the Salt Creek flood plain.
A covenant contained in a 1980 annexation to Wood Dale provides that the golf course cannot be developed for 50 years. ”There`s nothing happening there which would affect the flood plain,” Fawell said. He said the commission apparently is preparing for a court fight because it already has hired Naperville attorney Stephen D. Helm, who handles condemnation lawsuits for the commission, to represent it in negotiations for the purchase.
But Jerry P. O`Connor, president of J.P. O`Connor & Co. of Northbrook, said he was ”surprised and shocked” by the com-
mission`s decision. The O`Connor company is in the third phase of developing manor homes adjacent to Brookwood. The 11 acres the company has proposed using for its third phase has been targeted for acquisition by the commission.
”Our property is not necessary for flood control and not necessary for forest preserve purposes,” he said, noting that 30 signed purchase contracts already have been negotiated. ”People are in the process of selling their homes in anticipation of moving into our homes.
”This is a desecration to the words `Build Illinois` to be using Build Illinois funds to eliminate development activity in the county,” he said.
Nearly 150 acres of the land targeted by the commission is controlled by groups that include attorney Jack P. Cerone and at one time included attorney Vincent Solano Jr. Both are sons of reputed crime syndicate figures.
Forest preserve commissioners who voted against acquiring Brookwood include Wallace Brown, Gertrude Coit, Kenneth Moy, Judith Ross, Carl Roth, Irene Stone, Pat Trowbridge and Constance Zimmerman.
All other commissioners present voted in favor of the acquisition. Commissioner Lloyd Renfro was absent.
The ordinance authorizing Helm to begin negotiations with the Brookwood owners came before the full commission without prior committee approval.
A secret vote of the Finance and Land Acquisition Committee on Jan. 22 ended in a 3-3 tie.
Most of the commissioners who voted against the Brookwood ordinance objected to the haste with which it was presented to the full commission and what Coit characterized as information that was ”woefully inadequate for a purchase of this magnitude.”
