Homer Township — 143rd Street Project Stalls as Board Members Lobby against Approved Quick-take Resolution
By Nick Reiher
A successful last-ditch effort to prevent Will County’s development of 143rd Street in Homer Township not only has put the project in limbo, but has some County Board members wondering about how their colleagues lobbied against an official resolution.
The issue began early last year when a growing number of Homer Township residents and Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike heard the county was preparing to widen its portion of 143rd Street to five lanes.
The county already had spent $7 million on the project, which is the last portion of the widening from Interstate 355 to Orland Park to be addressed. The county portion is now two lanes in each direction with a median.
Following several board and committee meetings during which residents opposed the plan in person and with a few hundred emails, the County Board approved a bi-partisan resolution reducing the widening to three lanes.
County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant later said she signed that resolution in error, and vetoed it. A move to override the veto was unsuccessful.
The County Board previously had supported the five-lane widening in nine votes over 30 years, including the most recent five-year transportation plan. That plan included a provision which would allow land needed for the widening to be done by quick-take.
Quick-take just quicker
State law allows counties to use quick-take for specific projects which must be completed by a specified time following the purchase. A court determines the amount of preliminary just compensation owed to the property owner. Not being home-rule, Will County needed legislative approval.
State Rep. Larry Walsh Jr., D-Elwood, included the county’s quick-take request in House Bill 250 after it failed to be picked up as separate legislation. The bill passed the House and headed to the Senate.
Will County transportation officials advocated for quick-take in this case because an allocation of $6 million in federal dollars is due to expire in 2026. Developing new plans for a reduced widening in Homer Township would exceed that deadline, said Bertino-Tarrant in a phone interview.
When the former Democratic senator went down to Springfield during the waning days of the spring session, she learned of a letter drafted and sent by Jim Richmond, R-Mokena, the County Board’s Republican Caucus Chair, to state Sen. Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet. Richmond’s district includes that portion of Homer Township.
Ventura said the Homer Glen mayor reached out to her for help in stalling the bill after talking with Richmond, who had heard she would be receptive to their concerns.
She urged them to send letters, and she would get them to Senate leadership. She also received a letter from Michael J. Pasquinelli, Jr., Homer Glen village attorney, on behalf of Neitzke-Troike.
Originally assigned to another Senator for sponsorship, the bill went to state Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Frankfort, whose district includes that portion of Homer Township.
Bertino-Tarrant said she was able to testify in committee about the need for quick-take for the 143rd Street project. But she had to turn her attention to the state’s transportation bill, which at one point could have cost Will County $39 million in year in RTA subsidy taxes.
As such, the bill never was called.
Walsh, who said Will County officials often ask him to carry Will County transportation issues in the House, was livid about the stall, which he said could cost the county not only the outstanding $6 million federal grant, but mark the county as unreliable for future transportation funding.
“To take a chance on losing those federal dollars, that’s just not right. This County Board … just doesn’t understand how government works.
“So, the road now goes from five lanes to two lanes, back to five lanes. What do they not understand about a bottleneck?”
Bertino-Tarrant said she understands Neitzke-Troike, some County Board members and state officials want to be responsive to the concerns of their residents.
“But I have to be concerned about their public safety. That stretch of road belongs to the county. And I have been told by engineers (the bottleneck) is a public safety issue.”
Bertino-Tarrant and Neitzke-Troike met June 2 to discuss a solution. Bertino-Tarrant said basically, “Homer Glen wants to be left alone. … We are in a holding pattern.”
Farmers Weekly Review has reached out to Neitzke-Troike for comment.
Lobbying or …
The issue of the letter sent May 27 by Richmond to Ventura came up at the board’s June 3, Legislative Committee.
Board Member Kelly Hickey, D-Naperville, said she had heard about the letter, but had not seen it. As a newer board member elected in November, she wondered if it were standard procedure for board members to lobby against a project they had approved and put into their legislative agenda.
While she didn’t dispute a person’s right to lobby, she wondered if sending the letter with the County Board logo, and including the names of others lobbying against it, sent a mixed message to legislators.
The letter from Richmond included the names of board members, “Katie Dean-Schlottman Dist. 1, Judy Ogalla Dist. 2, Frankie Pretzel Dist. 2, Daniel Butler Dist. 3, Steve Balich Dist. 4, Dave Oxley Dist. 5, Sherry Williams Dist. 5, Vince Logan Dist. 7, Raquel Mitchell Dist. 9, Julie Berkowicz Dist. 10.”
Berkowicz said at the Legislative Committee meeting she was not contacted about being included in the letter. “But if board members can talk to Senate staff, why not a caucus?”
At the meeting, County Board Speaker Joe Van Duyne, D-Wilmington, suggested they continue discussion at another meeting, since not everyone had seen the letter.
“But, as a board, we did support quick-take,” he said. Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Tatro added that Bertino-Tarrant did approve the resolution for quick-take for the 143rd Street project.
Contacted later, Richmond said he left the Legislative Committee before that part of the discussion. But he said not every board member listed on the letter was contacted before it was sent.
“But we knew they were opposed to it. You can call them and ask.”
He also defended his position in sending the letter and lobbying against a project the County Board was supporting.
“I have to listen to what my residents want. And they do not want this.”
Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review