E-mail adds fuel to fire in Navistar site debate

"Combustible" is a word best describing both the diesel fuel planned to be stored at the proposed Lisle site of Navistar's international headquarters and the emotions displayed during more than 12 hours of public hearings on the topic.

Monday's public hearing before the village's Planning and Zoning Commission was no different as residents and attorneys spent nearly three hours cross-examining architect Dennis O'Beirne, charged with designing at least two of the buildings to be housed on the new campus, about the dangers of chemicals stored at least 750 feet from their homes.

But the flames of controversy were fanned much earlier in the day at a meeting of the DuPage County Forest Preserve Commission where an internal e-mail between Lisle Community Development Director Tony Budzikowski and Village Manager Gerald Sprecher was presented.

It suggested Forest Preserve President Dewey Pierotti could be talked into supporting the plan for Navistar to take over the long-vacant Lucent Technologies building at 2600 Warrenville Road through "back door politics." The message incensed the group and Pierotti.

"It was a direct insult," Pierotti said. "We don't do business like that here. To make the suggestion that I would be susceptible to making some deal is outrageous."

DuPage County and Lisle have already donated $1.5 million to Navistar to purchase land in the back of the property once owned by Alcatel-Lucent but sold to the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. Navistar wants to regain control of roads on part of that land, county officials said. The county and village money is necessary because forest preserve rules prohibit the sale of land to private industry.

Smelling blood, neighbors of the proposed office and research facility insisted commissioners could vote to rescind the intergovernmental agreement between the forest preserve, the county and Lisle on a land sale that is helping spur the move. But forest preserve attorney Bob Mork asked for two weeks to research the issue before the board takes any action.

"I'm fully confident the forest preserve will do the right thing," said Marylynn Zajdel, a Lisle resident who lives near the property. "We'll be here to make sure they do."

In the meantime, Pierotti and commissioners sent a letter to Lisle asking them to explain the e-mail and stop trying to cut corners in the planning process for Navistar's move.

Commissioner Mike Formento attended Tuesday night's public hearing and read the letter into the public record, demanding village officials to publicly apologize for and explain the controversial e-mail.

Without that explanation and assurances that the residents' concerns about safety and pollution would be addressed, Formento said the district would refuse to move forward with the sale until the public explanation has been provided.

Residents argued that the forest preserve commission agreed to sell the land for the deal only because it would bring white-collar jobs to the area. But Navistar's plans call for on-site testing of large trucks manufactured by the company.

"There have been a lot of concerns, and if those aren't addressed we won't go forward," Pierotti said. "We were told there weren't going to be any major buildings constructed and now there's this four-story structure they want. So we're going to look into possible ways of getting out of this deal."

Commission Chairman Charles Rego declined to comment on the e-mail, saying he had just learned about it at the Tuesday night meeting.

"I'm not sure how we'll act on it right now because I'm just learning about it," Rego said during a break in Tuesday's hearing. "But if the forest preserve district is making an issue of it, I guess we need to respond somehow."

Mayor Joseph Broda also said he just learned about the e-mail Tuesday. Regardless, he dismissed it as a "harmless dialogue between an employee and his supervisor."

"(Budzikowski) was taken out of context in the e-mail where he used the term 'backroom politics,'" Broda said. "I'm sure that's not what he meant, so what's the harm? It's no different from if he would have picked up the phone and told (Sprecher) the same thing."

Broda said the planning and zoning commission was the wrong place for the district to react Tuesday, saying they should have contacted him directly or come to a village board meeting.

As the hearing continued Tuesday night, Rego said he would likely continue it after this evening's regularly scheduled commission meeting.

Flames: Broda dismisses e-mail as harmless