Press release from The Alliance:
Navistar Making Concessions for Possible Move
Navistar officials say they will no longer pursue a diesel engine testing facility as part of plans to move its headquarters to the former Alcatel-Lucent site in Lisle
Navistar officials said Tuesday they are no longer pursuing a much-maligned diesel engine testing facility as part of its revised proposal to move the company’s headquarters to Lisle.
But the attorney for a nearby school catering to autistic children said his clients still won’t support the proposed move, because the truck equipment manufacturing giant won’t promise to never build the facility at the 87-acre complex formerly owned by Alcatel-Lucent along Warrenville Road.
“If it’s going to be off the table now, we want it off the table forever,” attorney Shawn Collins said Tuesday during a meeting of the DuPage County Board economic development committee. “We want something in writing that we can go to court and enforce.”
The operators of the Lisle school said the children who attend are extra-sensitive to noise and other sensory disruptions the testing facility might create. Residents whose homes are near the proposed headquarters also have complained about the testing facility plan, raising concerns about the safety of storing diesel fuel on site and noise pollution.
Navistar spokeswoman Marsha Burton said the testing facility isn’t part of the forthcoming proposal “at this time.”
Navistar is in the process of seeking approval from the village of Lisle to relocate its corporate headquarters from Warrenville to the Lisle building. Company officials pulled the proposal more than a month ago and are expected back before the village next month with revised plans.
The county and Lisle committed $1.5 million to buy a ring road around the campus from the forest preserve district to help spur the company’s move, which is expected to add 2,000 jobs.
County board Chief of Staff Tom Cuculich said Navistar promised to provide county board members with a presentation of the revised plan when it is ready, but hasn’t set a date. Cuculich said he expects Navistar to provide an environmental evaluation detailing the impact of its proposal.
Burton said the company expects to be back in front of Lisle officials by late February and will subsequently offer presentations to the county and forest preserve.
While the county board has given preliminary approval to spend money for the road, the deal isn’t finalized. Cuculich said the county is waiting on commitments from Navistar regarding job creation and the minimum number of years Navistar will use the complex as its headquarters.
Cuculich said county finance officials estimate it will take less than five years for the county to recoup the $1 million it would spend on the road from sales tax revenue generated by the new employees Navistar adds.
Source: https://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=354066
Lisle residents don’t support the move either.
Navistar is seeking a 20+ million dollar TIF and is trying to appeal the appraised value of the property. The appeal seeks to set the TIF baseline at 1/3 of the current value shifting the property tax burden to the homeowners.
Navistar is also seeking 40 million from the State. The State of IL needs every dollar they can get. The level of debt of this State does not justify a 40 million dollar tax credit for a facility that will close down a school and pollute the forest preserve. They only reason Navistar is announcing “no diesel engine testing” is because Springfield is supporting the school and will not give them their 40 million.
No engine testing, no truck testing, no fuel delivery, no fuel storage, no burning of fuel of any kind, no outdoor storage of trucks, no outdoor truck operations, no 16 foot tall walls, no 70 foot tall smoke emission stacks….This is not an industrial area. It is next to a forest preserve, residential community and educational facility. If Navistar wants to move to DuPage County IL, they need to find a Heavy industrial zoned location like they have in Fort Wayne.
If they were indeed a “good neighbor” they would stay in Fort Wayne where their employees have families, friends, spouses that work. Uprooting 1000 people just does not seems like a “good neighbor” to me.
– Lisle Resident