Mt. Morris closes on purchase of 1 N. Wesley Ave.

MT. MORRIS – The village of Mt. Morris on Monday closed on the purchase of 1 N. Wesley Ave., one of two properties destroyed in an April 16 fire.

“The village now owns the property,” Village President Phil Labash told Shaw Local News Network. “It is our intention to move to demo as quickly as possible.”

The village did not purchase 3 N. Wesley Ave., he said.

Labash declined to reveal the purchase price of the property. The Ogle County Supervisor of Assessments Office had not yet received documentation of the purchase when contacted by Shaw Local, and property tax records were not yet updated to reflect new ownership.

Mt. Morris Village Board members will review bids for demolition of 1 N. Wesley Ave. at their Nov. 12 meeting, Labash said.

As of Wednesday, the village had three quotes for the demolition, Labash said. All three are less than $25,000, which means the village does not have to solicit formal bids, he said.

“We gathered that information over the past month,” Labash said of the bids.

Both 1 N. Wesley Ave. and 3 N. Wesley Ave. – the latter of which housed Sharky’s Sports Bar – were destroyed in an April 16 fire.

Demolition of 3 N. Wesley Ave. began Oct. 21.

“The owners had a permit for that,” Labash said.

The demolition did not include work on 1 N. Wesley Ave., he said.

As of Oct. 30, Ogle County property tax records list Brock and Heather Swanlund as the owners of 1 N. Wesley Ave., and Double Duce Corp., in the care of Michael Rossi, as the owner of 3 N. Wesley Ave.

Sharky’s Sports Bar is owned by Pamela Rossi, according to court documents.

On Oct. 21, Pamela Rossi filed a complaint for injunctive relief against the village of Mt. Morris and the Swanlunds, asking the court to prohibit the village from purchasing 1 N. Wesley Ave. and to prohibit the Swanlunds from selling the property.

According to the complaint, Rossi intends to sue the village and Swanlunds for negligence, violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, public nuisance and various common law tort claims arising from the fire.

The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law to all people within the U.S. A plaintiff injured by a defendant’s wrongful act can file a tort lawsuit to recover money from that defendant, according to the Congressional Research Service.

If the village of Mt. Morris purchases 1 N. Wesley Ave., it “would effectively complicate [Rossi’s] ability to seek full and fair relief,” according to the complaint.

On Oct. 25, Ogle County Judge John Redington denied Rossi’s request.

Rossi has until Nov. 13 to file an amended complaint, according to Redington’s order. The village and the Swanlunds must respond to any amended complaint by Dec. 4.

A status hearing on the case is set for 11 a.m. Dec. 20.

Labash declined to comment on the lawsuit.

At 1:33 p.m. April 16, the Mt. Morris Fire Protection District was alerted to flames coming from an apartment in the building at 1 N. Wesley Ave. The fire quickly spread to Sharky’s Sports Bar because of strong winds and the absence of a firewall separating the two structures. The fire was extinguished by 5 p.m., with most mutual-aid companies released by 7 p.m.

The Mt. Morris Fire Protection District requested a Mutual Aid Box Alarm System Box 15 to the third-alarm level for additional assistance from Advanced EMS; the Byron, Dixon City, Dixon Rural, Forreston, German Valley, Lanark, Oregon, Pecatonica, Polo, Shannon and Stillman fire protection districts; and Ogle County Emergency Management.

“The cause of the fire has been ruled as undetermined, and the case has been closed on our end,” said JC Fultz, public information officer for the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office.