April 28, 2025
Local News

Subdivision near Holiday Hills faces another Nunda Township battle

By ALLISON GOODRICH
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The private, 79-home neighborhood of Le Villa Vaupell, adjacent to Holiday Hills, is mourning the loss of their entrance pillars, which they say were removed by the Nunda Highway Commissioner without notification.

The private, 79-home neighborhood of Le Villa Vaupell, adjacent to Holiday Hills, is mourning the loss of their entrance pillars, which they say were removed by the Nunda Highway Commissioner without notification. (Photo provided)

Residents in a private 79-home neighborhood near Holiday Hills are distraught over two subdivision pillars they say the Nunda Township Road District removed without proper notification last week – days after the subdivision had filed a lawsuit against the district.

The two pillars were labeled with the name of the subdivision, “LeVilla Vaupell,” and “Private.” Up until April 15, the pillars stood at the entrance of the neighborhood near Vaupell and Violet drives.

“On [April 15], the township [highway department] came and removed the pillars without even notifying us,” longtime LeVilla Vaupell resident Margee Owens said, adding the removal compromises the country club’s history and identity. “They were first erected in 1931.”

The removal has not been confirmed by the highway department, but a photo provided by residents shows a pillar on the bed of a Nunda Township Road District truck.

Owens and other residents have said the pillars, being property of the country club, should not have been removed without notification or reasoning from the highway department and its commissioner, Mike Lesperance.

Brian Beauban, vice president of the country club’s board of directors, said if the subdivision had been made aware of any issues the pillars were presenting, they would have discussed relocating them.

“But in this case, there was no notification whatsoever,” Beauban said. “If there had been, we would’ve moved them ourselves.”

This is not the first issue between the highway department and the subdivision.

LeVilla Vaupell Country Club is an adjacent, but separate community from Holiday Hills. It received attention after two McHenry County Sheriff's deputies in October were shot nearby in Holiday Hills. The alleged shooter, Scott Peters, now faces numerous attempted murder and weapons charges.

A month after the shooting, dismayed residents watched as a fence separating the two communities was torn down by Lesperance. It was dismembered after police said it interfered with the rescue of the two deputies who were shot, as well as the search for Peters.

According to court documents and the subdivision’s attorney, a lawsuit addressing the fence was filed April 10 against Lesperance and the Nunda Township Road District.

"The allegation is that the township [road district] ventured onto subdivision property and improperly moved the fence," said Michael Coppedge, a Crystal Lake-based attorney representing the country club.

“Prior to filing [the lawsuit], a title search was authorized by the subdivision and those roads have been plated as private,” Coppedge added.

The subdivision turned over road maintenance to the township in the early 2000s, but Beauban said the agreement included a stipulation that the subdivision would still own the strip of land on which the fence stood.

After several messages were left at the Nunda Township Highway Department, the Northwest Herald was told Lesperance did not plan to return the calls.

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