Navistar-Forest Preserve road deal back on track

A lapsed deal to sell a DuPage County Forest Preserve District road adjacent to the corporate campus that Navistar wants to call home has been given new life.

The DuPage County Board is expected to vote today on an intergovernmental agreement that calls for the county and Lisle to buy the road from the forest preserve district.

The county will pay $773,000 and Lisle will add another $500,000 for the road.

The cost to the county is down $227,000 from the original price set in late 2009 because Navistar doesn't need as much land around the road as previously expected, county officials said.

The forest preserve district has to sell the road to other taxing bodies because it is forbidden by state law from selling its land to private entities.

Under the current proposal the road would remain open to the public and be maintained by Lisle. However, this arrangement has raised concerns from some Lisle residents who question the need for the land deal.

"Why do taxpayers really 'need' to purchase land we already own and maintain?" Neighbor MaryLynn Zajdel asked. "We find it ironic that the county finds funds for this expenditure of over $700,000 just after the county made its case that it needed to issue about $70 million in bonds."

The road is roughly three acres and encircles the 89-acre campus at 2600 Warrenville Road.

The property is owned by Alcatel-Lucent, but the building there hasn't housed any workers since January.

Lisle village leaders and the forest preserve commission also have to approve the new agreement. No dates have been set for either of those bodies to vote on the issue.

Navistar is headquartered in nearby Warrenville. About 1,500 employees work there now. Navistar officials said they planned to bring another 1,400 jobs to the Lisle site, some of which would require hiring. The move also would create hundreds of construction jobs, Navistar said.

Navistar recently announced its plans to relocate to Lisle after pulling back from two previous proposals in the past.

Adjacent neighbors fought the company over a proposed engine-testing facility that now will be built elsewhere.

In exchange for moving the proposed testing facility, the neighbors agreed not to fight Navistar's request for the property to be turned into a special taxing district that allows the use of some of the company's property taxes for infrastructure improvements.

Lisle officials estimated the special tax district would generate more than $20 million for those improvements during its 23-year life.