GIBSON CITY — An attorney for a Mahomet-based contractor hired in 2022 to install a spray-foam roof at Gibson City Hall has threatened to sue the Ford County Chronicle for libel and slander if it does not immediately retract a story it published about the firm’s owner’s unfulfilled promises to the city council to replace that roof — which is now leaking — and immediately “cease and desist” from mentioning the firm in future stories.
The Chronicle this week received a “cease-and-desist” letter from Champaign attorney Kyle Emkes, representing Copper Creek Contractors Inc. and its owner, Jeremy Janes. The letter claimed that an April 22 story published on the Chronicle’s website, written by correspondent Mindy Basi, contained “false and malicious statements” that were allegedly damaging to the firm’s reputation and business and violated the Illinois Slander and Libel Act.
Gibson City Hall, 101 E. 8th St., will soon have a new roof installed, weather permitting, over a projected six-day period by Urbana-based Bash Pepper Roofing Co. The existing roof, installed by Copper Creek Contractors in 2022, has been leaking.
Emkes asked that the Chronicle “immediately publish a retraction of the article removing any and all references to Copper Creek Contractors, Jeremy Janes and all of its affiliated agents and employees” and “immediately cease and desist any further communication oral and written to third parties as it relates to my client, any person or persons associated with Copper Creek Contractors and any employee, agent or business contact associated with their office.”
“Should you fail to meet these requirements it is our intent to file a lawsuit against you to seek enforcement of my client’s rights and recover damages,” warned Emkes’ letter, dated April 24 and addressed to the Chronicle and copied to the Gibson City Council, Mayor Dan Dickey, City Attorney Marc Miller and Tyler Martin, superintendent of water, streets and alleys.
When reached by the Chronicle on Friday afternoon, Janes declined to comment on his attorney’s letter or to clarify or correct the “false and malicious” statements his attorney claimed were published. Janes said questions would need to be directed to Emkes, who did not immediately respond to a message left at his office.
Emkes’ letter pointed to a couple of statements in Basi’s story that he said “constitute slander under the law,” including that Janes had repeatedly promised to get the leaking roof repaired but has not done so, and that Janes admitted to the council that the roof’s installation was faulty and that he was not happy or proud of his work.
“These statements misquote my client, are entirely baseless and have caused significant harm to the reputation and business wellbeing of my client,” Emkes’ letter said.
Emkes claimed that Basi used “false sources” — such as the meeting minutes of the city council’s Aug. 22, 2022, meeting — to “misquote Mr. Janes throughout the article.”
“These statements were clearly taken out of context and intentionally phrased to cause damage to my client’s reputation,” Emkes wrote.
Emkes also pointed out that the story neglected to mention that a subcontractor, Midwest Coatings, did the roof work for Copper Creek Contractors.
“The story fails to indicate that neither Janes nor Copper Creek Contractors Inc. performed the work, but that due to the type of roof selected by Gibson City, Midwest Coatings performed all the work involved,” Emkes said. “Rather than accurately reporting the contractor that performed the work, your newspaper made a conscience decision to attack Jeremy Janes and Copper Creek Contractors. … It is evident that these published statements were made with the intent to cast my client in a negative light or at minimum a reckless disregard for the truth.”
Emkes also took issue with the story’s mention of the city council having discussed potential litigation in connection with the roofing job, saying it “appears to be a published threat against my client” while “there remains an insurance claim and pending insurance investigation.” Emkes also noted that “Janes only ceased communication with Gibson City Council at the request of Mayor Dickey when Janes was asked to leave Gibson City.” Dickey declined to comment to the Chronicle.
Lastly, Emkes seemed to claim that Basi did not give Janes adequate time to respond to repeated calls requesting comment in the week prior to publication of the story. Janes never responded to those calls.
“If the writer intended to present the truth, in a story of this length that involves multiple claims, (it) requires more than a mere attempt to contact (an) essential party of the story, mere days before a Monday publication,” Emkes wrote.
Meanwhile, Basi said she stands behind the accuracy of her reporting and her efforts to get Janes’ side.
“If something — anything — were incorrect in this story, as Mr. Emkes claims, then let’s set the record straight,” Chronicle Publisher Will Brumleve said. “Even now, neither Emkes nor Janes has provided any information to dispute the accuracy of the facts presented in our reporting. Until that happens, there will be no retraction, and I trust that the truth has been reported to the best of our ability, as it will continue to be.”
The story — appearing under the headline “Gibson City Hall’s leaking roof to be repaired this week” — was about a special city council meeting held Wednesday, April 17, when the council voted unanimously to approve an ordinance authorizing a $141,920 contract with Urbana-based Bash Pepper Roofing Co. to install a new roof at City Hall, 101 E. 8th St., after Copper Creek Contractors had installed the now-leaking roof in 2022 — along with the roofs above the adjoining garage and police department — for a cost of $360,000, using an experimental spray foam technology.
The story referenced statements Janes made earlier to the city council, as previously reported by the Chronicle.
“I am not happy or proud of the work I did,” Janes told the council on Feb. 26. “I bought a 33% share in a company that was doing an experimental technique with spray foam. It was a third-party subcontractor. It turned out to be not a good product. I don’t own any of the company anymore, and we are arguing with the insurance companies over who is responsible. … I will do anything to take care of this, with no money for you out of pocket. I am going to replace it with a 50-year rubber roof, but it’s going to take a full restructure redo. We are going to have to chainsaw everything off the roof. I am ashamed from the bottom of my heart, but you have my word I will make it right.”
Janes was unable to provide a timeline for replacing the roof due to what he described as an ongoing dispute between his own insurance company and that of the subcontractor, for which he was part-owner. “But I am going to fix the roof regardless, even if it’s out of my own pocket,” Janes stressed to aldermen.
On March 11, Janes spoke to the council again, saying that a second insurance company would be inspecting the roof later that week, and another engineer had been hired to provide a second opinion on what should be done.
Then on April 8, with extensive ceiling and insulation damage caused by the leaking roof forcing the council to move its meeting to the Moyer District Library, the council met in executive session to discuss probable litigation. After returning to open session, Mayor Dan Dickey told the public that “the city will be taking action to mitigate damages by getting things made right” and “there is a probability that this may include litigation.”
