Joliet to Hold Special Sessions Tues Morning & Afternoon

The Joliet City Council will host two special session council meetings on Tuesday to continue the public hearing on the NorthPoint Development. Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk announced that 298 people have signed up to comment on the matter to the Joliet City Council. NorthPoint has asked the city of Joliet to annex more than 12-hundred acres to build their Compass Business Park.

The city council will begin their first session in the morning at 9:00am and that will last two and a half hours until 11:30am. They will then reconvene at 3:00pm and work until 5:00pm. There is also a regularly scheduled council meeting set for 6:30pm

Monday morning saw local groups Just Saw No to NorthPoint and Warehouse Workers for Justice along with Will County Board Member Rachael Ventura announced that prominent civil rights law firm Loevy and Loevy would be filing a temporary restraining order in an attempt to stop Monday night’s Joliet City Council Meeting.

Circuit Judge John Anderson ruled that the Temporary Restraining Order did not meet the burden of proof necessary for the court to approve the order. That ruling will allow the NorthPoint Meeting to move forward. The Judge however did have strong language directed at Mayor Bob O’Dekirk and the city of Joliet stating “It is common knowledge in Will County that NorthPoint is…exceptionally controversial [and] public meetings regarding the development have had hundreds, if not thousands, of people in attendance,” said Judge Anderson in today’s opinion. “The Court was not born yesterday. Having this meeting in the way the City [of Joliet] has decided is shady and does a disservice to the public.”

The Joliet City Council will be unable to vote on the project until the public comment portion of the public hearing will be completed.