Elwood Sues Joliet, NorthPoint Over Open Meetings Act

JOLIET, IL — A law firm representing Elwood has filed a lawsuit against Joliet and company officials involved in the NorthPoint Development project that received approval in April from Joliet's City Council. Tuesday's lawsuit, filed by Mahoney, Silverman & Cross, suggests that Elwood would be negatively impacted by NorthPoint's Compass Business Park by having decreased property values and increased traffic congestion from semi-trucks.

The lawsuit named Joliet and East Gate Development as defendants. East Gate is also NorthPoint. The Will County civil suit asks a judge to declare void Joliet's pre-annexation agreement with NorthPoint. The project consists of roughly 1,260 acres on Joliet's southern boundaries near Route 53.

Elwood's municipal lawyers are Jordan Kielian and Jim Murphy.

Kielian told Joliet Patch on Wednesday that the lawsuit is more than just allegations that Joliet violated the Open Meeting Law. "There were a number of factors where we feel the people did not get a fair shake or procedure," he said.

The lawsuit was given an Oct. 5 court date.

The lawsuit contends that Elwood will be obligated to increase its necessary road maintenance and that there will be increased noise in Elwood and an increased burden upon police and fire services. The lawsuit accuses of Joliet officials of violating the Open Meetings Act in the way they conducted the public hearing for the NorthPoint project. The public hearing was held remotely over the span of several days, April 13-17, because of the new coronavirus pandemic.

Elwood's lawsuit indicates that public participation was allowed by the city of Joliet over the telephone.

"Pursuant to the rules, callers were limited to four minutes. Upon motion, participants could be granted an additional four minutes," Elwood's lawsuit stated. "As with the public hearing before the Plan Commission, no witnesses were sworn to testify under oath. As with the public hearing before the Plan Commission, the City Council did not place any time restrictions upon representatives of East Gate.

"As opposed to members of the general public who were limited to presenting their live testimony via telephone, East Gate was provided a video conference feed to present via video," Elwood's lawyers argue.

While Joliet officials allowed NorthPoint officials to utilize a PowerPoint display from their remote location as part of its presentation, "public commenters calling in by telephone were abruptly cut off and disconnected four minutes into their presentations," court documents state. "Members of the public were not allowed to ask any questions.

"During the course of the hearing, Julia Baum Coldwater, called in to offer testimony on behalf of herself and her husband. Mrs. Coldwater specifically stated the interest that she had in the public hearing due to the proximity of the development to her residence."

According to the lawsuit, Coldwater requested more time to address the Joliet City Council regarding her concerns. "Mrs. Coldwater stated the difficulty she had in presenting without the help of visual evidence," court documents state. "The City Council did not entertain Mrs. Coldwater's request for more time pursuant to the procedures the City of Joliet posted. Mrs. Coldwater was abruptly cut off during her presentation."

According to Elwood's lawyers, Joliet's Corporation Counsel Marty Shanahan addressed Mayor Bob O'Dekirk after Julia Coldwater's call was disconnected, saying, "Mayor, as a reminder, if anybody wants ... if four minutes is not enough, if they send to public comment, I will make them a part of the record and send them out to council."

The mayor responded by saying, "OK and I think your recommendation would be if we make an exception for one, we're going to have to make it for everybody."

"That's correct," Shanahan agreed.

According to Mahoney, Silverman & Cross, "This procedure discussed between Mayor O’Dekirk and Mr. Shanahan is contrary to the procedures the City of Joliet published before the public hearing. The discussion between Mayor O’Dekirk and Mr. Shanahan demonstrates that the City Council preemptively chose not to follow the guidelines it published before the public hearing."

Tuesday's lawsuit also notes that Elwood village administrator Julie Friebele participated in the April 15 Joliet City Council public hearing on NorthPoint and the Joliet City Council did not entertain Friebele’s request for additional time.

"Administrator Friebele requested the opportunity to ask questions of witnesses, specifically Tom George, Nathaniel Hagedorn, and City Manager of Joliet, Steve Jones. Administrator Friebele’s request was ignored. Administrator Friebele’s presentation was abruptly cut-off as she was attempting to read a letter from Steve Jones into the public record," the lawsuit stated.

On April 17, the Joliet City Council, by a 6-3 vote, approved the pre-annexation proposal for NorthPoint. O'Dekirk was joined in support of the project 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. The project had received unanimous approval before Joliet's plan commission.