Editing Kildeer, Illinois (section)

===Incorporation===
{{more citations needed|date=November 2017}}
On March 22, 1958, residents held a referendum on the question of establishing the Village of Kildeer. Area residents voted to incorporate the new village with a population of 153, making it the 32nd municipality in Lake County. The polling place for this election was the home of Dorothea Huszagh. Brickman filed suit to have the referendum overturned, asking the support of [[Deer Park, Illinois|Deer Park]] and [[Long Grove, Illinois|Long Grove]] village boards to support the dissolution of the village of Kildeer. They declined, as these villages had been incorporated in 1957 and 1959 as protection against being included in Brickman's grand plan.

The Lake Zurich village board voted four to three against Brickman's county rezoning attempt. Just prior to their vote, the same board had voted to rescind their required $275 contribution per home and 10 percent land dedication by builders. Some analysts thought Brickman had intended to gain rezoning by first annexing his land to Lake Zurich<!-- How is that related to the fee? --> and later disconnecting to form a separate village.<!-- Needs explanation -->

In April 1958 a meeting of Kildeer village residents was held. The following people were selected and sworn in to serve as Kildeer's first officials.
*President - J. Larry Powell
*Village Clerk - Hertha G. Severance
*Trustees - Edwin G. Bradshaw, Harold S. Faber, Richard W. Huszagh, Harry P. Keeley Jr., C. J. Lauer, P. H. Severance
*Police Magistrate - Samuel S. LaBue

About March 12, 1959, the Lake County Board unanimously rejected Brickman's small lot zoning request. He sued to reverse the Board's decision, but in September the [[Circuit Court]] of [[Waukegan, Illinois|Waukegan]] upheld the decision. In November Brickman lost his challenge of the Kildeer referendum; he said he would appeal the case to the [[Illinois Supreme Court]]. On June 9, 1960, the Supreme Court found in favor of Kildeer. The battle was over. Brickman left the area after selling a parcel of {{convert|475|acre|km2}} to the Arthur T. Mcintosh Co., who developed the property as a subdivision called "Farmington".

The new Kildeer village board had many tasks: First, it had to dispose of legal bills accumulated from opposing Brickman. Not having any revenue sources, the board appealed for contributions from the 45 families that made up the village. The funds received fell short by only $362.00, indicating a strong community spirit. The village president and three trustees (because of staggered terms) were appointed to one-year terms only. The first official village election was held in April 1959, at which time a new president, Harry P. Keeley Jr., and three new trustees were elected. These officials, along with the three remaining trustees, went to work establishing commissions, ordinances, codes and sources of revenue. This was no small task. Without a public facility, all meetings were held in their homes and long hours spent on village business.

A small contingent of residents began agitating to abolish Kildeer and merge into the village of Long Grove. The issue became so heated that some members of village commissions submitted resignations. President Keeley wrote a letter to all village officials and staff stating,

<blockquote>"The resignations that have been handed to the village board within the past month are very alarming to me as the President of the Board, and I am deeply concerned over the internal strife which has been going on. It seems to me that as adults, with reasoning power that has been given to us, we should be able to resolve our differences in an adult manner. We are doing to ourselves what Mr. Brickman with all of his law suits could not do. We are being destroyed from within by smear campaigns, rumors, half truths, etc. I am in hopes that the gentlemen who submitted their resignations will reconsider and will realize that our differences can never be resolved by any means other than hard work, gathering of facts, and reasoning." "The Board and I have seen fit at this time to not accept the resignations, a matter on which we shall have to take action at the special meeting that I am calling for next Monday night to finish much business that we were not able to get to at our regular meeting."</blockquote>

President Keeley appointed a special representative to gather information relating to a merger with Long Grove. He went to great lengths accumulating the facts and summarizing his own views on the negative aspects of such a merger in a letter to the Board of Trustees containing the following closing statement. "In light of the facts mentioned above, I feel that though we have won the battle of Brickman, we have lost the war for self preservation and home rule. I feel that your part in this administration is a failure if you condone the merger with Long Grove. I cannot and will not be part of such a movement. Therefore, with sincere regret and much sorrow, I herewith submit my resignation as President of the Village of Kildeer." Records show President Keeley served out his four-year term and the merger with Long Grove obviously did not occur. It must be assumed the majority of the village board supported their President's position and convinced him to withdraw his resignation, but the issue would be sensitive to some for many years to come.