Kendall County Times

The annexation of large parcels of land for a proposed warehouse and distribution project proved to be contentious at the April 18 meeting of the Joliet City Council.

The controversy behind the annexation request centers on Compass Business Park, which will be developed by Northpoint and span over 2,000 acres of land.

During the public comment period of their meeting, Rob Adamski, a trustee from the neighboring village of Manhattan, where Northpoint has proposed an adjoining 1,200 acres of the development, provided the council with input.

He shared a statement from the mayor and board of trustees, asking the council to delay any decisions on the development until further analysis on the impact of the project can be completed. While Admski said they need more infrastructure and industry in the region, they weren’t positive that this project serves the needs of the area.

He asked the council to consider the number of concerned citizens regarding the project with a number of them stating that they did receive a notice of this annexation and the decision made in the middle of the council election.

“I feel that we, the city council, had set standards when we first started to allow Northpoint to move into the Joliet area and that we had said that we would bring this back to planning and zoning, if necessary,” said council member Pat Mudron. “And now we're going against what we told the public we would do. I have no problem believing that legally we could do this, but the perception is not right for me.”

Councilwoman Bettye Gavin made a motion to table the vote until their June meeting when the new mayor and council members would be present, but Mayor Bob O’Dekirk broke the four-four stalemate and voted against the table.

The majority of the council agreed that they needed to treat the annexation as a routine request regardless of who owned the property and that Northpoint could not change the agricultural zoning without appearing before the zoning board. Other council members felt the annexation process had not been fully transparent, however, the annexation was approved with O’Dekirk casting the tiebreaker vote.