Beach Park man faces fines after altering homes water supply, claims village at fault

BEACH PARK, Ill. - A north suburban man has found himself in hot water – racking up tens of thousands of dollars in fines after changing the source of his home's water supply.

Now, the Beach Park resident is fighting back, alleging that the village is at fault, and telling FOX 32 Chicago that they won't see a dime of his money.

The dispute has been going on for several months, but just last week it ended up in court where Cole Schambari was hit with a $74,000 fine.

It's an astounding penalty that he has been given only 30 days to pay.

It all started last spring when Schambari, who is a water and sewer contractor, says he made an unsettling discovery.

"I live on a dead-end street and the water main was installed incorrectly, it’s not on a loop so the water stagnates inside the water main, and it was turning my water filter green," said Schambari.

Schambari took matters into his own hands and stopped paying his water bills. As a result, he says the village shut off his water. That's when he says he turned to a private water source.

"I’ve got an existing well on the property that’s been serving the homestead since 1951 when it was built," said Schambari.

Schambari says he feels he should have the right to utilize the well instead of the municipal water source.

However, Beach Park Village Administrator Marc Huber tells FOX 32 Chicago their code requires homes to be connected to the public water supply when there is one available.

Huber stated: "The Village issued citations to Mr. Schambari for his failure to pay past due amounts for water service to his home and because Mr. Schambari disconnected his water service from the village’s public water supply, both in violation of the village code."

It all came to a head last week when a Lake County Circuit Court judge ruled that Schambari owed the Village of Beach Park for the 229 days he didn't pay his water bill.

It’s a fine Schambari says will go unpaid.

"Not a lot of people these days have $74,000 that they can pay," he said. "I’m not going to pay it, they’re going to have to foreclose on my home, and that’s going to be that."  

Schambari confronted village officials Thursday evening during the public comment portion of their board meeting.

"I'd like to open it up to you guys, to justify this $74,000 fine," Schambari said. "Are you guys going to let this stand?"

Village officials declined to comment on-camera following Thursday’s meeting, instead referring to their statement.

In that statement, the village spokesman also said: "The case was heard at a trial by a judge in Lake County who found in favor of the Village and issued fines against Mr. Schambari in the amount of $74,000 plus $100.00 for court costs. Mr. Schambari’s claims against the Village are baseless as is evidenced by the Court’s decision."

Meanwhile, FOX 32 Chicago is told that water bills in Beach Park typically amount to about $320 per year. A fine of $74,000 would cover about 230 years of water bill payments.