The Frankfort Park District Board of Commissioners entered into a closed executive session on Tuesday, May 27, to discuss pending litigation concerning the Five Oaks Park parcel, signaling a deepening dispute with the neighborhood’s homeowners association.

The special meeting was convened with a single action item on the agenda: “Approve Settlement with Five Oaks HOA.” However, when the item came up, it was revealed that no agreement had been reached. The official meeting minutes bluntly state, “No settlement has been agreed to yet.”

Immediately following this, Board President McCarey called for a motion to enter a closed executive session. Commissioner Gentry moved, and Commissioner Ruvoli seconded, to go into the private session for the purpose of discussing “imminent or pending litigation” and “the purchase or lease of real estate,” as allowed by the Illinois Open Meetings Act. The motion passed by a unanimous voice vote.

The board remained in the closed session for 25 minutes, from 7:54 p.m. to 8:19 p.m. Upon returning to open session, commissioners took no further public action on the matter and voted to adjourn the meeting minutes later.

While the specifics of the legal strategy were confined to the executive session, the meeting’s events confirm an active and unresolved conflict between the park district and the Five Oaks HOA over the development of public park land within the subdivision.