NorthPoint Wins Approval From Joliet Council 6-3

JOLIET, IL — At Friday night's two-hour meeting, the Joliet City Council voted 6-3 to support the annexation of roughly 1,300 acres for the future Compass Business Park proposed by NorthPoint Development of Kansas City.

Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk spoke in favor of the project. The mayor was joined in support by fellow council members Pat Mudron, Jan Quillman, Terry Morris, Sherri Reardon and Larry Hug.

The three members voting against NorthPoint were Don "Duck" Dickinson, Mike Turk and Bettye Gavin.

"This isn't an issue of the 30 pieces of silver," the mayor said, referring to the Bible passage involving Judas. "The revenues that get raised off this, and again, it is significant. We're talking over the life of it, hundreds of millions of dollars that are going to get pumped back into our community, and not just Joliet, into the community.

"Those revenues are used to pay for the essential services that people need. I'm not just talking about the schools and the park district and the library and Jackson Township roads, but Joliet provides police, fire, water services and ambulances."

Late Friday night, Three Rivers Construction Alliance executive director Tom White reacted to the positive news on the controversial construction project that now has the green light to proceed.

The Will & Grundy Counties Building Trades Council expects to generate at least 1,600 jobs as a result of the NorthPoint Joliet project. Unions that will gain steady work include: Local 151, Carpenters Local 174, District Labor Council 175, the International Union of Bricklayers, Laborers' District Council Labor-Management Cooperation Committee and Ironworkers Local 444.

"I would like to thank the mayor and council members who chose to vote yes for Compass Business Park this evening," White told Joliet Patch.

"Their decision will help to remove many trucks off our roads plus keep our local contractors and trades employed for many years to come."

At the time of the vote, O'Dekirk lashed out at some of the "propaganda" being spread by some members of the opposition to NorthPoint campaign. For the previous four days, the city council conducted a virtual public hearing on the project.

About 240 people, mostly residents from the Elwood and Manhattan area, not city of Joliet residents, called into the meeting imploring the council reject NorthPoint. At least 80 percent of the callers during the four-day public hearing urged Joliet to vote the project down.

On Friday night, O'Dekirk apologized to everyone for the inconvenience that the virtual meetings created, but he said this is the new norm for local government for the next several months because of the new coronavirus health crisis facing Illinois.

He also said Joliet's handling of the virtual public hearing on the NorthPoint issue has generated a flood of calls from other municipalities around Illinois who were thoroughly impressed with how Joliet handled the virtual public meetings.

He said that Joliet is now being looked at as "a model" for other local governments to follow.

"One other thing, some of us have been the subject of a lot of social media attacks, so for what it's worth, Councilman Morris, you never slept during the proceedings. Councilman Hug, you never slept during the proceedings. And I don't care what a caller says, if you want to go to the bathroom you don't need to ask my permission. We're not kindergartners.

"Beyond that, I do thank the council. It's been a long process. I thank the people that participated. I don't know how the vote is going to go, but either way, I hope that after this there will be a way to try to bring our communities altogether."

Quillman said her integrity and ethics have been under attack from some of the people who opposed NorthPoint. She said that she drove to Kansas last month and spent two days investigating the pros and cons of NorthPoint's Logistics Business Park. The company intends to replicate that here on the southern boundaries of Joliet.

Quillman said that her opponents have accused her of taking bribes from NorthPoint to gain her support. "If you really know me, that's not true," she said. "I have taken no money. My pockets are not lined."

She wanted everyone to know that she was voting for NorthPoint because its business park in Edgerton, Kansas, "it's an impressive park. I've done my homework."

Turk and Dickinson said they were voting against the project because they did not believe local roads, notably Interstate 55, Interstate 80 and Route 53, can handle the additional truck traffic.

NorthPoint officials told the city council they expect it will take anywhere from 10 to 20 years for their entire construction project to come to fruition.

Dickinson and Turk also said they heard from numerous people over the past several weeks who urged them to vote against the NorthPoint project, believing it would be bad for Joliet.

Dickinson, who participated in the meeting by phone, said he drove to Kansas in early March to see NorthPoint's existing Logistics Business Park in Kansas.

"I thought their operation was first class, however, the infrastructure was there," Dickinson explained prior to his vote against NorthPoint.

"They are right next to a highway, here, we are not. (Route) 53, 55 and 80 are a mess. We talk about how bad the I-80 bridge is all the time. Nothing's changed with that bridge. I drive on 53 Monday through Friday between the hours of 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. It is a scary, scary road.

"I can only imagine how the kids feel on it when they're driving to Joliet Central. When I go out to eat, to the car wash, to the grocery store, everyone comes up and says, 'Duck, you gotta say no to NorthPoint. We can't handle more trucks. It isn't just Elwood, it isn't Jackson Township, Manhattan, it's Joliet, too, and the overwhelming majority don't want it. With that being said, I'm siding with the residents. I have to say no to NorthPoint."

Friday's meeting started at 5:30 p.m. and voting began around 7:20 p.m.

NorthPoint officials issued a statement after the meeting ended.

“The City of Joliet’s vote to approve Compass Business Park reflects nearly four years of listening to the community in designing a responsible plan that makes local roads safer and puts people to work,” said Patrick Robinson, Vice President of Development at NorthPoint.

“Creating new, long-term revenue for local governments and schools while establishing new career opportunities, is especially important in these challenging economic times where more Illinoisans are out of work than ever before. We are humbled by the approval and look forward to making a significant investment in the community and partnering with the City in taking the next steps deliver for the people Joliet, Will County and the southern suburbs. Now is the time to come together.”

Joliet Patch has previously reported that several of the most powerful Illinois lawmakers issued ringing endorsements of NorthPoint including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Congressman Bobby Rush, Congressman Adam Kinzinger and Congresswoman Robin Kelly.

This article originally appeared on the Joliet Patch