Grafton still without attorney, teamwork

The Grafton Township Board met Thursday night only to hastily adjourn about 20 minutes later when an argument broke out among trustees and Supervisor Linda Moore.

Moore argued a special meeting held last week that was called by trustees was not legal because it did not follow the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Trustees had voted on establishing a set of township board rules, but it was only listed as a discussion item before the meeting, Moore said.

Trustee Rob LaPorta presented Thursday night information he received from McHenry County First Assistant State's Attorney Tom Carroll that said if "the spirit of the Open Meetings Act was attempted to be complied with, [the State's Attorney's Office] would not see a violation based upon the facts presented," according to a copy of an e-mail.

The brief but heated public debate on the issue led both the board and Moore to adjourn the meeting early without taking any action on items on the agenda.

Two motions on that list included hiring a new township attorney – who was present at the meeting – as well as negotiating a building lease with the township highway department. The township has been without an attorney since Joseph Gottemoller resigned last week, while the township office's lease agreement expires Nov. 7.

For more on this story, check out Monday's Northwest Herald or NWHerald.com.

– Amber Krosel