Charging a company $4 for each truckload of clean debris dumped into a former quarry may not sound like much, but when you do the math, as McCook Mayor Terrance Carr said last Monday night, those truckloads add up.
“It’s nothing, but when you’ve got thousands of trucks and years of dumping, it can add up quick,” Carr said.
As a result, Vulcan Materials Co. and Vulcan Construction Materials LLC are paying McCook $1.5 million. The village board voted 6-0 Oct. 7 to accept the settlement, which means the village will drop its lawsuit against Vulcan.
“It’s on the books. There was a fee they weren’t paying, so we sued them,” Carr said. “At that time, they said they didn’t agree with it, but they’re settling. Why? I don’t know. But I guess it’s a common thing. It’s easier for them to settle than go to court.”
As part of the settlement, Vulcan admits no guilt, which is standard, Village Attorney Gary Perlman said after the meeting.
“Part of the settlement is that they don’t agree they owe it. Typically, that’s how settlements are paid,” Perlman said.
Carr had a different perspective.
“Well, if I’m paying, I’m guilty,” he said with a laugh. “But I get where they’re coming from. Legal fees could have been more than $1.5 million if they went to court.”
The materials dumped were typically gravel and dirt from excavations for houses and other buildings, Carr said.
“Our ordinance requires a fee to dump that. They disagreed,” Carr said. “We’re home rule. It’s been on the books since before any of us were here. So, I pursued it.”
Carr was asked if he had plans for the $1.5 million.
“Not right now, because we didn’t know when we were going to get it,” he said.
The money could go toward the village’s centennial celebration in 2026, or be used to purchase land or build an addition to the firehouse, the mayor said.
“We thought we were going to court, and we wouldn’t be out of court until 2026 or 2027. At the last minute, they flew in from Alabama and decided to settle,” Carr said. Vulcan Materials is based in Birmingham, Alabama.
The village filed the lawsuit against Vulcan in 2023, Perlman said.
“They want to put everything behind them,” Perlman said. “It was a good settlement for the village.”
Besides not paying fees, Vulcan was also charged with “parking trucks where they shouldn’t have,” Perlman said.