VFW posts oppose NorthPoint plan for Joliet

Three local Veterans of Foreign Wars posts issued a statement on Monday opposing NorthPoint Development's plans for an industrial park in Joliet.

The statement from VFW posts in Joliet, New Lenox and Wilmington pointed to semitrailers entering Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery when lost and interrupting veterans' funeral processions on Route 53, saying trucks from the proposed Compass Business Park will make matters worse.

Stone City VFW Post 2199 Commander Kevin Pomykala called on veterans to join him at the Tuesday meeting of the Joliet City Council when he plans to make a statement against the project.

"I was actually in a funeral procession a month ago and a semi pulled in front of me in the funeral procession," Pomykala said. "I talked with John Davin, a past state commander, and he said the same thing happened to him several times."

NorthPoint contends its Compass Business Park will reduce truck traffic on Route 53, the main route to the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, by creating a closed-loop system that gives warehouses direct connections to the intermodal yards in Joliet and Elwood.

Spokesman Scott Burnham said NorthPoint also offered to build a truck turnaround near the entrance to the cemetery.

Burnham said a proposed NorthPoint bridge over Route 53 would not have the negative impact on the cemetery that veterans say it will. He said the bridge is 2,000 feet away, and industrial development already planned between that site and the cemetery would block any view of the bridge.

The VFW statement was issued through a news release that also included comments from Tim Terrell, commander of Harry E. Anderson Post 9545 New Lenox, and Terry Cerutti, commander of Wilmington VFW Post 5422.

"Our concern is the negative effect on the dignity and honor of our departed comrades and the effect to their families and friends," Terrell said.

The Joliet City Council is scheduled to vote March 17 on an annexation agreement that would open the door for the NorthPoint project.