Trantina Farm - Clay Fill Project Update

In a continued effort to demonstrate transparency and accountability, Monday night at the Homer Township Board meeting I provided an update on the Trantina Farm Clay Fill Project. Similarly, a week ago, on Wednesday, 8/9/2023, I was asked by Village of Homer Glen Trustee Jennifer Consolino to provide an update on the Project at the Homer Glen Village Board Meeting. She requested for me to speak on the subject during her “Trustee Report” section of the meeting. However, when Trustee Consolino asked for me to step up to the microphone and clarify her comments on the subject, I was told by the Mayor and Village Attorney that they would not allow for me to speak. Surprising, since the newly elected Mayor has had several individuals (politicians, Veterans, architects) speak during her Mayoral Report all with the Village Attorney’s blessing. My intent at this meeting was to provide an update as requested, and inform the elected Village officials and the residents about the facts relating to this project. For months, several Village officials have been creating and spreading false information regarding the project. My repeated attempts to discuss the misinformation publicly and transparently with these Village officials is routinely met with hostility and dismissal of the facts. Last Wednesday’s Village Board meeting was another opportunity where Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike refused open and honest dialogue.

Later, during the “Old Business” section of the Village Board meeting, Trustee Consolino requested again for me to step up to the microphone and provide a status update on the project. Once again, the Mayor told me “it was not necessary” and requested the Village Engineer to provide an update instead. The Mayor did this in spite of her knowledge that I am the Homer Township Representative and Project Manager for the Project, and the Homer Glen Village Engineer has a limited scope of jurisdiction with the Trantina Farm Clay Project - as his involvement is restricted to the Homer Glen Site Permit and maintenance of it.

The Village Engineer’s update stated that the site was clean, graded and stabilized, that it correlated with the Village Permit, all looked good, and all IEPA permits were filed since the site disturbance exceeded 1 acre. After the Village Engineer’s accurate update on the project, Trustee Sue Steilen made several statements based on her opinions and personal speculation of the project. She did not conduct due diligence when forming these opinions and she did not pursue any inquiries for correct information or evidence with myself, and/or staff or elected officials of Homer Township or the Road District. She provided these comments in an unprofessional manner, and even tried to scold the Village Engineer for not requiring pursuit of an IEPA NOI at the start of the project - which was not warranted.

Had I been allowed to speak, I would have conveyed to her that at the start of the project I had a meeting with the Village Engineer and we discussed that if we ever got to a point where we would be close to a 1-acre threshold, we would then start stacking the clay and avoid surpassing the 1 acre threshold, rather than having to file IEPA NOI permit paperwork, to avoid time constraints which would result in drastic reductions in the availability and delivery of the free clay fill and topsoil stripping included in the project during permit filing and processing (typically 6-8 weeks) in which time the IEPA does not allow any site work to occur or clay fill to be delivered to the site.

The truth of the matter is that the IEPA permit is a formality and does not monitor soil quality – but rather simply notifies the IEPA how much soil is being disturbed and moved, and if it has an adequate soil erosion control plan (SWPPP) being enacted when a land disturbance exceeds 1 acre. If I had been permitted to speak, I would have relayed the regulations involved with the IEPA permit process instead of the misinformation that was propagated by Trustee Steilen and her lack of institutional knowledge and experience, and the fact that the Contractor was also aware of the 1 acre threshold and was to notify me when he was getting close to it so we could then start stacking the clay to not increase the disturbance footprint beyond an acre, and that the amount of time (6-8 weeks) it takes to prepare, file and have the permit processed would restrict a large amount of clay fill from being delivered and drastically reduce the amount of savings for taxpayers this project was developed for. Nevertheless, without discussions with myself or the contractor, the IEPA was contacted behind our back by a Village official falsely stating, and without any evidence, that we were violating the Village Permit and that there was contaminated soil being delivered to Trantina Farm – if this was not done there would have never been a need to file the IEPA NOI as we would have started stacking the clay when we approached 1 acre of disturbance, and taxpayers would have never lost out on the rest of the available clay fill in this project.

Yet another piece of misinformation that Trustee Steilen stated after the Village Engineer’s Report, was her repeated statement that based on “her interpretation” of the Clay Fill Borrow Site Geotechnical Report, she still believes the source of the clean clay fill that was delivered to the site was contaminated, and not “suitable” to be used. She continues to perpetuate this false information even though she is NOT a licensed or qualified Civil or Geotechnical Engineer, and evidently thinks she knows more about reading and interpreting a Geotechnical Report than a Professional Engineer with over 34+ years of experience, and the Village Engineer who has more than a decade of experience, as well as understanding how it relates to understanding the United Soil Classification System, unconfined soil compressive strength tests, the IDOT State Spec book on acceptable fills, etc.. If I had I been permitted to speak and provide facts at the Village Board meeting, I would have corrected her publicly and informed her for the 3rd time that the Geotechnical Report indicated quality clay fill (which includes silty clay) at the borrow site before it was loaded into trucks, transported and delivered to the Trantina site, that additional soil field testing was done routinely at Trantina Farm after clay delivery, and even more soil testing will be done again when the Community Center at Trantina Farm is in the Engineering Phase.

In conclusion, I developed this clay fill project in cooperation with the Homer Township Supervisor Steve Balich, and the elected officials of Homer Township, for the sole purpose of saving Homer Township taxpayers (which includes the entire Village of Homer Glen) over $200k+ in site materials and grading costs for the future Homer Township Community Center. I will continue to do my due diligence and continue to update residents on the progress of this project as we push ahead with soliciting additional free clay fill benefitting Homer Township taxpayers for their “referendum approved” Homer Township Community Center project at Trantina Farm in spite of efforts by the Homer Glen “Integrity” party to derail this project. It is a detriment to both Homer Township and Homer Glen residents that the cooperation efforts of Homer Township with the previous term’s Village of Homer Glen Trustees has not yet carried over to the newly elected Village of Homer Glen “Integrity” party officials.

And now that the current source of clay fill is no longer available as we wait 6-8 weeks for IEPA Permit processing/approval, I will continue to look for additional free clean clay fill from other sources to be delivered to Trantina Farm from local contractors to maximize taxpayer savings for site development – if anyone reading this article has knowledge of a project which may generate 3,000 or more cy of clay fill please notify me immediately at b.porfilio@homerhighway.com or 708-301-0246.

God’s Blessings,

Brent Porfilio, PE - Homer Township Highway Commissioner