2004-10•
04/13/04
RESOLUTION NO. 2004- 10
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A REQUEST FOR EXCLUSION
FROM THE LANDLINE DEFENDANT SUBCLASSES
WHEREAS, the Village of Buffalo Grove (the "Village ") has received a Notice of Pendency of Class
Action in the lawsuit styled as PrimeCo Personal Communications, L.P. et al. v. Illinois Commerce
Commission et al., No. 98 CH 5500 (Cir. Ct. Cook County) (the "PrimeCo Litigation'); and
WHEREAS, the Village has tentatively been included as a defendant in the PrimeCo Litigation as a
member of the Landline Defendant Subclass pursuant to the Notice of Pendency of Class Action attached
hereto as Exhibit 1 and made a part hereof, and
WHEREAS, the President and Board of Trustees find and hereby declare that it is in the best interests
of the Village to be excluded from the Landline Defendant Subclasses;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE PRESIDENT and BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF THE VILLAGE OF BUFFALO GROVE, LAKE and COOK COUNTIES, ILLINOIS, as follows:
Section 1. The recitals set forth hereinabove shall be and are hereby incorporated as if said
recitals were fully set forth within this Section 1.
Section 2. The Village hereby exercises its right to request exclusion from the Landline
Defendant Subclass and authorizes and directs the Village Manager or Village Attorney, as its authorized
representatives, to execute any and all documents necessary or desirable to effectuate said exclusion.
Section 3. Any policy or resolution of the Village that conflicts with the provisions of this
resolution shall be and is hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict.
Section 4. This resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval
in the manner provided by law.
AYES: 6 - Braiman, Glover, Berman, Johnson, Kahn
NAYES: 0 - None
ABSENT: 0 - None
PASSED: April 19 , 2004.
APPROVED: April 19 , 2004.
PUBLISHED: April 19 , 2004.
APPROVED:
Village President
ATTEST:
illage Clerk
F Grove\Resolutions\Primeco Exclusion Res. 4- 13 -04.doc
• - • Exhibit 1
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY
COUNTY DEPARTMENT, CHANCERY DIVISION
PRIMECO PERSONAL }
COMMUNICATIONS L.P., et al., )
Plaintiffs, )
VS. )
ILLINOIS COMMERCE )
COMMISSION, et al., )
Defendants, )
DR. WILLIAM SPILLMAN, et al., )
}
Plaintiffs in )
Intervention, )
VS. )
VILLAGE OF SKOKIE, et al., )
Defendants )
in Intervention. )
No. 98 CH 5500
Honorable Patrick E. McGann
Judge Presiding
NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION
TO: ALL ILLINOIS MUNICIPALITIES THAT IMPOSED THE MUNICIPAL
INFRASTRUCTURE FEE PURSUANT TO THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE FEE ACT ( "IMF ACT ") AT ANY TIME FROM
JANUARY 1, 1998 THROUGH FEBRUARY 7, 2002 ON SUPPLIERS OF TELEPHONE
SERVICES THAT MAINTAIN ANY PART OF THEIR TELECOMMUNICATIONS
INFRASTRUCTURE, EXCEPT SWITCHING STATIONS, WITHIN OR UPON THE PUBLIC
WAY OF SAID MUNICIPALITIES (LANDLINE SERVICE):
PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. IT RELATES TO A PENDING CLASS
ACTION AND CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS. THIS
NOTICE IS NOT AN EXPRESSION OF ANY OPINION BY THE COURT WITH RESPECT
TO THE TRUTH OF THE ALLEGATIONS IN THE DESCRIBED LITIGATION OR THE
MERITS OF THE CLAIMS OR DEFENSES ASSERTED.
• . _` 0
Nature of the Litigation
1. In 1998, PrimeCo Personal Communications, L.P. ( "PrimeCo ") and various
affiliates of US Cellular Corporation ( "US Cellular") filed a complaint challenging a municipal
charge on each monthly telephone bill. The municipal charge that was the subject of the
complaint was called the Municipal Telecommunications Infrastructure Maintenance Fee
( "Municipal IM17 ), and it was authorized by an Illinois statute called the Telecommunications
Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Act, 35 ILCS 635/1, et seq. For those municipalities that chose
to impose the Municipal IMF, the fee was applied to both wireless and landline providers of
telecommunications services.
2. The Circuit Court of Cook County allowed customers of wireless service
providers and customers of landline service providers to intervene in the litigation, to challenge
the Municipal RAF and seek refunds. This case is captioned PrimeCo Personal Communications
v. Illinois Commerce Commission, 98 CH 5500.
3. In June 2001, the Illinois Supreme Court held the Municipal IMF to be
unconstitutional as applied to customers of PrimeCo, US Cellular and other wireless service
providers. PrimeCo Personal Communications, L.P., ' et al. v. The Illinois Commerce
Commission, et al., 196 M. 2d 70,750 N.E.2d 202 (2001).
4. The Illinois Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of the Municipal
IMF as applied to landline providers of telecommunications services.
Class Certification
5. On March 28, 2003, the Circuit Court of Cook County certified the litigation as a
class action and identified the following as one of the plaintiff sub - classes: all current and former
customers of telephone service provided by landline service providers who maintain any part of
their telecommunications infrastructure, except for switching stations, within or upon the public
way of a municipality, where the customers' billing address is within the corporate limits of a
municipality that imposed the Municipal IMF ( "Landline Plaintiff Sub - Class "). The Court has
also appointed the law firms of Miller Faucher and Cafferty LLP; Beeler, Schad & Diamond;
Kevin M. Forde, Ltd.; Myron M. Cherry & Associates; Tanner, Lehman & Dean, LLC;
Zimmerman and Associates PC; Holstein Law Offices; and Edward R. Vrodlyak, Ltd., as
plaintiff class counsel for the Landline Plaintiff Sub -Class.
In the related case of Michael Siegel, et al., v. Village of Northbrook, et al., 02 CH 1901,
the Court has also appointed the law firm of Larry D. Drury, Ltd. as plaintiff class counsel for
the Landline Plaintiff Sub -Class members who are residents of or whose billing address for
telecommunications is located in the Village of Northbrook, Illinois.
6. On March 28, 2003 the Circuit Court of Cook County certified the litigation as a
class action and identified the following as one of the defendant sub - classes: all municipalities
within the State of Illinois that imposed the Municipal Il4F on customers of telephone service
2
0 . _. •
provided by landline service providers that maintain any part of their telecommunications
infrastructure, except switching stations, on or within the public way of said municipalities (the
" Landline Defendant Sub - Class "). The Court has also appointed the Village of Skokie and the
City of Chicago as defendant class representatives for the Landline Defendant Sub -Class, and
Jack M. Siegel and Iain D. Johnston of Holland & Knight LLP and Weston Hanscom, Jack Pace
and Lynn Mitchell of the City of Chicago Department of Law as defendant class counsel for the
Landline Defendant Sub - Class.
Rights of Landline Defendant Sub -Class Members
7. If your municipality is a Member of the Landline Defendant Sub - Class, the
municipality has the following options:
A. The municipality may, but is not required to, enter an appearance in the
litigation through counsel of its own choosing at its expense. If the municipality does not do so,
it will be represented by Class Counsel: Jack M. Siegel and Iain D. Johnston, Holland & Knight
LLP, 131 South Dearborn Street, Suite 3000, Chicago, Illinois 60603 and Weston Hanscom,
Lynn Mitchell and Jack Pace, City of Chicago, Department of Law, 30 North LaSalle Street,.
Chicago, Illinois 60602. The Court reserves the right to assess a portion of class counsel's
defense costs, including attorneys' fees, against any settlement or judgment fund. In addition,
the Court reserves the right to assess a portion of the defense costs against members of the
Landline Defendant Sub -Class. For purposes of determining the existence of any conflict of
interest, members of the Landline Defendant Sub -Class, other than the Village of Skokie, shall
not be treated as clients of defendants' class counsel.
B. If your municipality does not wish to be included in the Landline
Defendant Sub - Class, it may request to be excluded. To do so, it must send the Court a written
exclusion request, which sets forth the name of the municipality, current address, and telephone
number, and a statement by an authorized representative that the municipality wishes to be
excluded from the Landline Defendant Sub -Class, with a copy to class counsel Jack M. Siegel
and lain D. Johnston of Holland & Knight LLP, and Weston Hanscom, Lynn Mitchell and Jack
Pace of the City of Chicago, as indicated below, by May 12, 2004. The address for the Court is
Clerk of Court, County Department Chancery Division, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West
Washington, Chicago, IL 60602.
NO REQUEST FOR EXCLUSION WILL BE VALID UNLESS IT IS POSTMARKED NO
LATER THAN MAY 12, 2004, AND ALL OF THE INFORMATION DESCRIBED ABOVE
IS INCLUDED IN ANY SUCH REQUEST.
If your municipality validly and timely requests exclusion from the Landline Defendant
Sub - Class, (a) it will be excluded from the Landline Defendant Sub -Class, (b) it will NOT be
bound by any final order and judgment entered by the Circuit Court in the Litigation, and (c) it
will NOT be precluded, by reason of its decision to request exclusion from the Landline
Defendant Sub -Class, from otherwise being prosecuted for remedies, if any, against the
municipality, at its own expense.
8. For a more detailed statement of the matters involved in this litigation, reference
is made to the pleadings and to other papers filed in this action, which may be inspected at the
office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, Richard J. Daley
Center, Chicago, Illinois during regular business hours of each business day. Any and all notices
or objections referenced above shall be given to the Court located at the address above and to
counsel for the Village of Skokie by sending a copy to Jack M. Siegel and Iain D. Johnston,
Holland & Knight LLC, 131 South Dearborn Street, Suite 3000, Chicago, Illinois 60603, and to
Weston Hanscom, Lynn Mitchell and Jack Pace, City of Chicago, Department of Law, 30 North
LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60602. Other than sending the Notice to the Court, please do
not contact either the Court or the Clerk of the Court regarding this Notice.
Dated: March 12, 2004
This Notice is being sent pursuant to order of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.
Judge Patrick E. McGann
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