DuPage County OK's $773,000 for Navistar road

The DuPage County board approved a tentative intergovernmental agreement that woould give Navistar control of a road that surrounds its likely future headquarters.

The county agreed to pay the forest preserve $773,000 for the roughly three-acre road that surrounds the former Alcatel-Lucent campus in Lisle.

During the board meeting Tuesday, some past opponents of the Navistar deal balked at the county's willingness to pay the money so soon after asking for the authority to borrow $70 million to pay for several infrastructure projects. Also, they said the state deserves the credit for helping broker a deal acceptable for all parties.

"No one in DuPage County seems to be able to say 'no' to this company," said Coco Luedi, a vocal opponent in the past. "Not the board, not the forest preserve ... It was (Gov. Pat) Quinn and (Illinois Attorney General Lisa) Madigan who said no to the diesel engine testing, who said no to Navistar. And Navistar is still here and everything was a success."

District 1 Representative Rita Gonzalez applauded the opposition group, Citizens for Healthy Development, which spawned from concerns about Navistar's original plan to locate a diesel engine testing facility at their 89-acre campus on Warrenville Road. Gonzalez said the characterization of the group as only concerned with themselves was wrong.

"I'm really proud of the homeowners group that stood up for their issues and their concerns for the environment," she said. "No one was ever against jobs and industry in DuPage County. We want jobs but not at the cost of people's lives and safety and the environment."

The agreement needs forest preserve and village of Lisle approval before it takes effect. Neither group has set a date for discussion on the measure.