JOLIET, IL The Joliet City Council voted 6-2 Tuesday night to approve NorthPoints plans to annex 2,300 acres of Jackson Township land to build Compass Business Park, which will consist of a warehouse and light manufacturing. Earlier this year, ODekirk struck a favorable deal with the city of Chicago that will allow Joliet to buy already-treated water from Chicagos water system for 30 percent less than the windy city charges its other municipal customers. That, coupled with the countys 2019 Water Accountability and Equity Act, which capped water bills for anyone at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, allowed hundreds of households to climb their way out of debt. However, in September the Better Government Association, a nonprofit news organization in Illinois, reported that ODekirks checkered past left local municipalities unsure of his trustworthiness and hesitant to sign on over fears of price-gouging, especially if the Joliet mayor would have an outsize say in the handling of water prices and distribution from the pipeline. Click here for a fully interactive Google Map of the project footprint. Grist is powered by WordPress VIP. Caregiving. This is NorthPoint, a controversial mega development that Elwood rejected, but the Joliet City Council later approved in 2020. NorthPoint Development hired well known land use attorney Richard Kavanagh to represent them with their application to the county. In addition to the Republican ODekirk, the development has received support from Democrats across the aisle: State Senator Connor and U.S. Representative Bobby Rush have both come out in favor. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. Rather than using the water crisis to double down on fossil fuels, he argues, it should be used to push for wind and solar power and the electrification of the citys commuting options. Listed on 2023-03-01. A grassroots movement started in Jackson and Manhattan Townships in Will County, Illinois to stop NorthPoint from developing 3,800 acres of industrial warehousing. The Joliet City Council on Tuesday voted for NorthPoint Developments plans to start building a 2,300-acre industrial park while blocking rival developer CenterPoint Properties from continuing development. Rail is a necessary component in the logistics movement because goods are brought in by rail. NorthPoints continued persistence demonstrates their complete disrespect for the community, unabashed greed, and unwarranted arrogance. Donate today tohelp keep Grists site and newsletters free. ODekirk, a former police officer, is no stranger to conflict and controversy. The reason is that the land where the bridge would be built has already been annexed into the Village of Elwood, and as such, Elwood has jurisdictional authority. They would do this by building a bridge. In October 2021, NorthPoint applied for annexation to the City of Joliet for nearly 1,000 new acres to the northwest in order to connect to the railroad yards in CenterPoint via their alternate bridge location. But they arent seeing it. We'll have to see what happens.". Join us in this fight to save our community. Cities biggest obstacle to flood-proofing isnt money: Its 50-year-old rainfall data. As a result of that, the Village of Manhattan sued the Village of Elwood and NorthPoint Development. Feel free to make your comments known at the end of this article. These continued rumors even prompted Joliet Mayor Bob ODekirk to go on record several times emphasizing that there is no deal with NorthPoint and the city of Joliet. Finalizing the bridge to create the closed loop will enable construction, which could begin in early 2022. The company's Joliet development would be the largest of three major industrial and logistics. If constructed, the development would be the citys biggest water user by far. Given the mayor and councilmembers' who voted to approve this project's blatant disregard for the public, this decision does not come as a surprise. The proposed development would be in the general vicinity of Hoff Road and east of Route 53, city officials said. The proposed development would be in the general vicinity of Hoff Road and east of Route 53, city officials said. Meanwhile on October 14th, 2020, the Stop NorthPoint organization filed a lawsuit on behalf of citizens and veterans against the City of Joliet and NorthPoint, and is seeking money for a legal fund, in an attempt to permanently halt the project. Additionally, the roads within the park are not deemed truck routes and consist of gravel roads, unmarked country roads, and tar-and-chip roads, so those would need to be changed as well. In April, the federal government placed Exxons Joliet facility under a federal consent decree requiring it to reduce its Nitrogen Dioxide and Sulfur Dioxide emissions below federal standards and do a more consistent job of reporting emissions during periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunctions. However, on April 7th at 6:30 PM the meeting was scheduled for Monday, April 13th at 5:30 PM as a virtual or online meeting without the publics actual presence being allowed at City Hall. Via EMail rodekirk@joliet.gov and Hand Delivery Mayor Bob O'Dekirk City of Joliet 150 West Jefferson Street Joliet, Illinois 60432 Re: NorthPoint/East Gate Logistics Park Chicago, LLC's Proposed 2,356 Acre Development ("NorthPoint Project") Dear Mayor O'Dekirk, With the help of this development, Will County estimates that freight volumes could reach 600 million tons by 2040, bringing thousands of more trucks through the region and raising concerns about highway and road capacity. In the end, without any questions or deliberation, the Planning & Zoning Commission voted to recommend the project to the board. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. The council voted, 7-1, for the NorthPoint plats, which will allow the developer to begin construction in an area west of Route 53 and south of Millsdale Road. CenterPoint contends that the NorthPoint plans approved by the city violate its 2008 annexation agreement and a memorandum of understanding put in place before CenterPoint launched a joint venture to build the $130 million Houbolt Road bridge over the Des Plaines River now under construction. In fact, she has supported a similar development in Chicago, so the statement has been removed. This means Joliet wont have to build its own water treatment plant along the lake and can use its pipeline to move water that the city of Chicago has already pulled from the lake and cleaned. The NorthPoint project would encompass about 1,625 acres. In a short matter of time, they will be fought over water.. It would be built in. Last December, the Joliet City Council approved plans for the NorthPoint Development to come to Joliet in a 6-2 vote. Council member Pat Mudron was the lone no vote when the council voted 7-1 to deny CenterPoints plan to develop another 476 acres inside the CenterPoint Intermodal Center. Tell your Care Coordinator about all your appointments and tests. Its time for the Joliet board to rescind the NorthPoint hearing and sign a 5-year boundary agreement with Elwood, which gives them time to get a city manager and comprehensive plan in place. NorthPoint will follow all of the aesthetic and landscaping codes of the City of Joliet and has offered a series of additional upgrades which will be detailed in the annexation agreement. Since Joliet refused to extend the boundary agreement with Elwood, after December 31, 2019, Joliet was free to annex the previously held Elwood side of Compass. The orange dotted line borders the Village of Manhattan planning area on the east. Compass is proposed by Kansas City, Missouri developer NorthPoint Development. In addition to Mudron, Jan Quillman, Larry Hug, Sherri Reardon, Terry Morris and newly appointed Herb Lande voted for NorthPoint. read more . JOLIET, IL The Joliet City Council was notified on Friday that the Kansas City-based NorthPoint developers plan to move ahead with a $1.2 billion business park development in Joliet. U.S. If you recall, the lawsuits with Elwood over the bridge are under LB Andersen. Here in Joliet, we have the chance to show the world how to be the best stewards of our planet possible. With Will Countys high warehouse vacancy rates, this is not the right time or place. The plan calls for siphoning virtually all the remaining water that Illinois can draw from the lake under federal law, which precludes other jurisdictions in the region from hatching their own water plans involving Lake Michigan. The Joliet City Council will take up the recommendation at its Dec. 21 meeting. On January 13th, 2021, the Loevy & Loevy lawsuit was officially closed. Due to the location of the rail and where NorthPoint wanted to build their bridge, they would need the Village of Elwood to grant permission. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Job in Chicago - Cook County - IL Illinois - USA , 60290. State Representative Larry Walsh, Jr. supported our efforts, as did Will County Board member Don Gould (District 6). Last year in March of 2017, the ICC proposed to permanently close Walter Strawn Drive. You can view the application materials that were submitted to the village of Elwood here (obtained via FOIA). Its a monster ready to gobble up precious American farmland and spit it out as a foreign concrete jungle gone wild on steroids, Joliet resident Michelle Peterson said at Tuesdays meeting. The Will County civil suit asks a judge to declare void Joliet's pre-annexation agreement with NorthPoint. It does not includes a proposal for a bridge near Breen Road. It was planned and it was voted on. Joliet has agreed to annex 2,300 acres for the Third Coast Intermodal Hub. providence hospital apparel; elex a special piece consequences; salaire d'un maire en cote d'ivoire. The NorthPoint project would encompass about 1,625 acres. (There are an estimated 100,000 jobs in transportation across the region.) The small village of Elwood is trying to block the development in court because it would increase air and noise pollution in the community by sending thousands of additional trucks through the town each day. A lot of people are upset about it, and a lot of people have already moved out.". It may take years after cities commit for that figure to come into view. In the larger deal, Target confirmed it has leased a 1.2-million-square-foot industrial building under construction in the Third Coast Intermodal Hub, an industrial park under construction in. Despite a valiant effort to show City Council what the 103 acres truly was, NorthPoint won that battle. They kept the entire world running during the pandemic and are neglected in the same deadly ways that the environment is., This is why advocates say a more holistic approach needs to be taken to address the problems of pollution, poverty, and the water crisis. The three neighboring towns of Oswego, Yorkville, and Montgomery turned down Joliets proposition in favor of connecting with an already-operational water pipeline spearheaded by the County of Dupage, 30 miles north of Joliet, which they called a more environmentally and economically sustainable option because the pipeline is already up and running. DiDesiderio asked. The Joliet City Council voted 6-2 for NorthPoint Developments latest plan on Tuesday, again after lengthy comments from opponents to the project. Grassroots groups also have gone to court trying to stop the project, contending it will damage communities by adding more truck traffic to the area. (According to a recent survey conducted by WWJ, a majority of warehouse workers in the region are people of color, even though Will County is 63 percent white.) While the environmental effects of the citys potential water partners are sure to be felt by residents, the pipelines impact on the cost of living in Joliet may be even more tangible. Likewise, in 2016 the Illinois operations of the Ozinga Corporation, a concrete mixing company, were put under a similar federal consent decree to reduce particulate matter and dust spewing from its Joliet facility after being fined $38,000 for exceeding federal limits. Joliet City Council voted to approve a pre-annexation agreement for NorthPoint Developments Compass Global Logistics Hub. read more For this reason, the city has floated the idea of expanding and doubling down on the regions biggest industries fossil fuels and logistics to serve as water partners. 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