ALTAMONT – The Altamont City Council approved an almost-$3,000 payment to law firm LegalSolved LLC because the city didn’t respond to Freedom of Information Act requests. However, City Clerk Sarah Stephen said the city didn’t receive the requests.
During this week’s city council meeting, Stephen explained the situation.
The East Central Reporter said the City of Altamont didn’t respond to its FOIA requests, according to Stephen. Supposedly, ECR sent two e-mails, called once and mailed the city a FOIA request. However, Stephen says the city never received these requests.
According to FOIA Section 11(i) Taliani v. Herrmann, the city is obligated to pay the $2,898.96 to LegalSolved LLC – the law firm representing ECR.
“I couldn’t answer what I didn’t have. They don’t have proof that I received it,” said Stephen. “That’s kind of a gap in the FOIA law … And with modern technology now and the ease of sending an e-mail, they can get lost; I have no doubt about that.”
Stephen said this is the first time something like this has happened to the City of Altamont, but other Illinois cities have had this happen, such as the City of O’Fallon.
According to Stephen, O’Fallon’s situation was identical to Altamont’s, even down to the dollar amount. After searching for the e-mail requests that were supposedly sent to O’Fallon, none were found, and O’Fallon paid the fees, said Stephen.
If the City of Altamont doesn’t pay, it would cost more to go to court than the $2,898.96.
“The cost of us fighting this becomes more than $2,898,” said Mayor Mike Walker. “This is low enough [that] I can’t see paying $10,000 in attorney fees to be right.”
“There’s no way in the world we missed four notifications,” said City Commissioner Terry White.
Walker encouraged audience members to write to legislators about the situation, especially because it’s happened in more than one location.
“There’s organizations out there that are trying to get this changed, but it’s sure nice to hear from as many people as we can,” said Walker. “We’re going to pay it, and hopefully, the law will change.”
In other news, the council approved the amendment to the FYE 2026 tax levy amendment that accounted for a $156,000 increase. The new dollar amount includes the $25,000 demolition of the El Rancherito building and the $80,000-estimated demolition of the bank at 102 W. Washington Ave.
Demolition on the El Rancherito building began earlier this week, and the council hopes to use the land for local food trucks. Walker encouraged anyone with a food truck business or knows someone with one to reach out to him or Stephen, saying the food trucks would be “as permanent as anything on wheels will allow.”
Meanwhile, White informed the council that the second of three water filters would be changed this week, and all the algae buoys are now off the lake. However, White says there is a significant water leak at the intersection of Division Street and Third Street, which the city is working on fixing.
Altamont Zoning Board Member Zane Parker was chosen by the council to fill the vacancy on the council since Commissioner Jason Rippetoe’s recent resignation.
The next Altamont City Council meeting is scheduled for Dec. 22 at 6 p.m.