McHenry man might sue Lakemoor over property blockade

From the Wednesday, August 6, 2008 edition of the Northwest Herald:

McHenry man might sue Lakemoor over property blockade
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com

LAKEMOOR – A McHenry man might sue the village of Lakemoor for placing a police blockade on his family's Lakemoor property, where he had hoped to host a cancer benefit.

Robert Mauch had already spent months organizing a cancer fundraiser when Lakemoor officials rescinded their approval for the event, scheduled for July 26-27. He said he canceled it in early July, but on the weekend of the event arrived on his property to find it blockaded by police.

“It was totally barricaded,” Mauch said. “They said, ‘You don’t need access to your property until Monday.’ ”

Village officials said they didn’t think he would actually cancel the event, and thought it was possible that thousands of event-goers would arrive that weekend.

“We made sure to protect all the children and residents in the area of Lakemoor, that has to be first,” said Virginia Povidas, village president.

Povidas also said proper channels weren’t followed and that a special-use permit was not granted.

Mauch said police were at the property 24 hours a day from July 24-27, and placed a lock on the gate. He also said they banned his family from even entering 28 acres of family-owned property.

Lakemoor Police Chief Wallace Frasier declined to comment on the matter. However, Mauch said, he thinks it was unnecessary and illegal seizure of property.

“I don’t know what they protected them from,” he said. “They burned up a lot of tax dollars.”

Mauch said the village granted him permission to host the event in May, but then rescinded the approval a month later.

Mauch said he decided to cancel the event in early July, after consulting with an attorney.

“I knew all my effort was probably not going to happen,” he said. Mauch estimated canceling the event cost him at least $10,000 he'd spent on booking entertainment and preparing his property for the event, which was supposed to benefit Randy Jacobson.

“I was doing this top notch, first class, so it was a nice deal for my friend,” Mauch said.

However, Mauch said, village officials gave him multiple reasons for why the event could not happen, including noise, availability of port-a-potties and his lack of residency.

He plans to file a lawsuit against the village for withdrawing the event authorization, unlawful restricted use of property or potentially a libel lawsuit, said his attorney, William J. Dennison II.

Mauch said it's an unfortunate series of events.

“This is about a guy whose family’s hurting, who is behind on his bills,” Mauch said. “[But] I’m not going to stand for my rights being stepped on.”