(The following story by Laura Michaels appeared on the New Lenox Patriot website on January 12.)
NEW LENOX, Ill. — New Lenox officials are determined to continue their fight against Canadian National Railway’s purchase of the EJ&E Railroad, Village Administrator Russ Loebe said, and plan to partner with another entity in their appeal of the sale.
Will County and the Village of Barrington both filed petitions Monday, Jan. 5, with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to stay its Dec. 24 approval of the $300 million purchase, and Barrington has also appealed the STB’s decision. Loebe said village officials will decide in the coming weeks who to partner with in their opposition, and will file an appeal before the Feb. 23 deadline. Four of New Lenox’s five at-grade crossings are managed by Will County.
In a Thursday, Jan. 8 statement issued by the Will County Board, the executive committee said it would pursue “all legal options” to block the STB’s decision.
“For the sake of all Will County residents, we will continue to fight, object and take actions in an attempt to block this deal,” chairman Jim Moustis said. “Safety and the environment are this board’s top concerns, and CN has failed to address how it plans to mitigate the harmel and dangerous aspects of this sale.”
In December, New Lenox rejected CN’s initial proposal, which offered between $500,000 and $750,000 to partially fund the installation of bushes, berms and fencing for quiet zones but didn’t include provisions for the needed extra gates at silent crossings.
“It was a paltry amount of compensation,” Loebe said of CN’s offer.
The village sent a counteroffer to CN on Dec. 19, which included the request for a grade separation at Gougar Road and funding for silent crossings at Cedar, Nelson, Schoolhouse and Spencer roads. The proposal also requested money for technology that would alert emergency responders to blocked rail crossings.
New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann said he received an e-mail from Mike Mohan of CN Thursday, Jan. 8, that stated the company is reviewing New Lenox’s counter proposal and will respond “soon.” If CN accepts the village’s offer, which Baldermann said he doesn’t anticipate, the village may decide not to pursue an appeal.
“We’ll always talk to them until our attorneys say it’s no longer advisable,” Baldermann said. He added while village officials understand the potential regional benefit if CN reroutes freight traffic in Chicago to the EJ&E line, CN needs to mitigate the issues that will arise in New Lenox from the train-per-day increase from six to 30.
CN did not return calls for comment.
As of The Patriot’s deadline, the village board was expected to address the appeal at their meeting Monday, Jan. 12.