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Reporter Tim O'Neil: E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 314-340-8132
The village of Hillsdale in north St. Louis County has taken the rare step of heading to bankruptcy court after being ordered to pay $88,000 to a police officer who slipped on ice.
Hillsdale is only the third municipality in the St. Louis area to file for protection under the federal bankruptcy code's Chapter 9, which was written specifically for governments. Neighboring Wellston did so in 1984, and Kinloch followed suit 10 years later.
Alan J. Baker, village attorney, said Hillsdale will continue to exist. He said the village filed in bankruptcy court downtown so that it could negotiate its debts and arrange payments.
Hillsdale, with 1,477 people, is just west of St. Louis and north of Wellston. It was founded as a working-class suburb in 1947 in the early days of the post-World War II building boom. Most of the houses are small, one-story frame homes, and some are boarded-up or falling into serious disrepair.
The City Hall, at 6428 Jesse Jackson Avenue, is no bigger than most of the houses.
On Oct. 30, the St. Louis County Circuit Court ordered Hillsdale to pay $88,269 to William J. Cira, 43, a former police officer. The Missouri Division of Workers' Compensation had awarded Cira that amount because he broke and tore up his right shoulder after slipping on ice on the police station parking lot on Jan. 15, 1999.
Baker...