We (individual members of Just Say No to NorthPoint, along with Openlands and Sierra Club) won our motion to intervene in the Elwood case, despite NorthPoint’s objection. This was the motion that was filed at the end of October – it was heard in court today. Since our complaint was so similar, it made sense to join the Elwood vs. Joliet case. After we filed our motion to intervene, NorthPoint objected.
Today, the judge granted our motion. Now, we are co-plaintiffs with the Village of Elwood in the lawsuit against Joliet and NorthPoint.
The judge gave us each 28 days to file new complaints regarding the redo of the hearings that just wrapped up in Joliet, and we will be back in court on March 17th. [As a side note, we are a little more than half-way to our capped $5,000 goal, so a HUGE thank you to those who have helped pitch in for our legal costs.]
The Elwood/NorthPoint ICC case is still open, but as you might have seen in the news, Elwood filed a motion to dismiss the case. On Monday, NorthPoint filed a response motion to stay (not dismiss the case, keep it open), alleging that it is necessary to see how the Elwood vs NorthPoint circuit court case shakes out. For those of you catching up, the Illinois Commerce Commission governs rail crossings, etc. – it’s the same entity that closed Walter Strawn Drive and that would hear a case on whether to approve a bridge over WSD – this case was originally opened when NP was in Elwood in 2018.
The Elwood/NorthPoint lawsuit (in Will County court) over the bridge is still ongoing – they were in court today for a status update. The case was continued for further discovery.
The Stop NorthPoint group’s lawsuit is also ongoing. Their last press release indicated that they subpoenaed Marty Shannahan.
Thank you for sticking with us! We will continue to fight this!
Please allow us the respect, to honor of those who have fallen. What everything that that we have learn this past year is to respect each other, both living and dead.