The September 1 scheduled vote on annexation of 355 out of 1262 acres has been delayed due to a complaint from the Manhattan-Elwood Public Library District for lack of notification.
Quoting the Joliet Herald-News:
… Interim City Manager Jim Hock at a council workshop meeting Monday recommended delaying the vote until Oct. 6 after a taxing body reported not getting formal notice of the annexation.
…
On Monday, city officials also received an email from a Manhattan Township resident questioning the legitimacy of annexation petitions filed by NorthPoint. …
Email from the “Manhattan Township resident”:
Dear Joliet City Council –
I am writing today to express my concern about tomorrow night’s vote on the annexation of a portion of the property for the NorthPoint Development project. As such, I would like to call your attention to the Petition for Annexation submitted by NorthPoint and attached to the City Council Meeting Agenda (here) as “Exhibit A” and posted online here.
The applicant’s Petition for Annexation appears very irregular:
1. The July 16th date of the notarization is one day prior to the July 17th execution of the document. The date of the notarization should match the date of execution.
2. The notary’s signature, “Heather R. Pfender”, does not appear to be the same as Ms. Pfender’s signature on numerous other documents, including the witness on the NorthPoint Pre-annexation Agreement.
Is the City Council prepared to bind Joliet to NorthPoint without fully and thoroughly investigating the seemingly obvious irregularities within this petition?
Attached are a side-by-side comparison of the signatures, Petition for Annexation (Exhibit A), Pre-annexation Agreement, and a PDF containing four independent instances of Heather R. Pfender’s notarizations.
Sincerely,
John W. Kieken
Manhattan Township, IL
1 Comment
JB-C · September 1, 2020 at 3:46 pm
“Opponents are looking for opportunities to reverse approvals with potential litigation and are looking for miscues in the annexation process.” (JHN)
Uh, …these problems with the annexation petitions are A LITTLE BIT MORE more than “miscues”, I would think.