Navistar still hot topic at Lisle village board meeting

More than 200 people gathered at Lisle's village hall Monday to either support or oppose Navistar's move to the village.

Not one of the people in attendance was a Navistar representative.

That's because last week, officials from the billion-dollar, multinational company said they were no longer interested in moving the company's world headquarters to Lisle after facing vocal opposition from residential neighbors. And they appear to be keeping their word.

Representatives from trade unions, local business owners and Lisle residents who supported Navistar's move blamed the neighboring residents for the company's decision to walk away from a deal to move to the former Alcatel-Lucent building at 2600 Warrenville Road. They called opponents of Navistar's move "bone-headed" and "scurrilous" while urging the village board to find a way to bring Navistar back to the planning and zoning board.

Meanwhile, the opponents to Navistar's move stressed that they still only wanted assurances about future air quality regulations from a diesel engine testing facility the company wants to build on the campus.

Opponents also suggested Navistar didn't need state tax breaks the company could receive and a special taxing district that would help offset infrastructure costs.

The back-and-forth between the two sides was interrupted by West Chicago Chamber of Commerce and Industry President David Sabathne who told the board that West Chicago would be happy to have Navistar move to that city. He suggested the long-vacant DuPage National Technology Park south of the DuPage Airport would be a perfect fit for Navistar's headquarters or the controversial proposed technology center.

"We've got railroads and an airport, so no one's going to complain about the noise out there," he said. "Come to the tech park. Any of it or the whole thing."

Because there was no item on the board's agenda regarding Navistar, the board took no action.