State to look into council's meeting
By Nicholas J.C. Pistor
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Friday, Jun. 29 2007

COLUMBIA, Ill. — Three aldermen said going into a closed-door meeting involving
a proposed Legoland theme park was illegal — and now the state may investigate.

On Thursday, a representative of the Illinois attorney general's office said
the agency would look into claims that the city of Columbia illegally met in
private earlier this week to listen to a theme park proposal for an area known
as Columbia Crossing.

Meanwhile, the city's director of economic development, Mike Hemmer, has
resigned to take a job with Peckham Guyton Albers & Viets, an architecture and
consulting firm involved in the Columbia Crossing project.

Hemmer said he was leaving at a time when the City Council had a different
development vision. He refused to talk about the Legoland project, saying the
city attorney said it would be "against executive session laws."

The City Council voted on Monday night to go into executive session to discuss
the project. The city attorney said the session was held privately because of
"possible litigation."

However, three alderman opposed the session, saying they thought it might
violate the Illinois Open Meetings Act, a law enacted to ensure that public
business is conducted in public view by prohibiting secret deliberations and
actions except in certain circumstances.

To go into a private meeting, a public body "must cite the specific reason" in
an open meeting, said Terry Mutchler, public access counselor for Attorney
General Lisa Madigan.

"If the reason is litigation or land acquisition or personnel issues, they must
discuss only those specific things," Mutchler said.

The three council members opposed to the session were Brad Oberkfell, Jay
Unnerstall and Candace Hejna.

Tom Adams, the Columbia city attorney, did not return calls seeking comment.

Oberkfell said a representative with St. Louis developer G.J. Grewe told
council members in the executive session that the firm was pursuing a plan to
bring a Legoland theme park to Columbia Crossing, now a swath of farmland the
city is developing with Grewe. According to Oberkfell, Grewe gave a
presentation and showed a Legoland video.

"There was no mention of specific litigation," Oberkfell said.

In 2004, Columbia entered into an agreement with Grewe to develop nearly 2,000
acres of farmland near the Jefferson Barracks Bridge off Interstate 255. It had
been promoted primarily as a retail development and labeled Columbia Crossing.

After the closed session, the council publicly voted 5-3 against exploring
incentive packages for the Columbia Crossing development — something that would
be used to lure Legoland to the development. There was no direct mention of the
theme park before or after they voted.

Several other aldermen contacted by the Post-Dispatch declined to comment on
the proposal, saying that Adams advised them that they couldn't speak about
closed-session proceedings.

Oberkfell spoke anyway, saying that he believed the private meeting was
illegal.

Mutchler said Oberkfell can't be sanctioned for talking about the session.

"A public body can't sanction one of its members for discussing a matter that
was discussed in executive session," she said.

Columbia Mayor Kevin Hutchinson said the city "went on the advice of our city
attorney." He had no further comment.

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