Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant has vetoed three resolutions the Will County Board approved last month that asked the Will County state’s attorney to file litigation to uphold a County Board resolution that stopped the widening of 143rd Street in Homer Glen.
The vetos, which were filed with the Will County clerk Wednesday, are the latest salvo in a months-long dispute over whether or not a portion of 143rd Street should be widened from two to five lanes.
Homer Glen and Homer Township officials and residents have been actively protesting the widening of 143rd Street from State Street/Lemont Road to Bell Road since December. Residents said they believed a five-lane road would adversely affect their quality of life, take portions of their land, disrupt the rural atmosphere and cause an increase in truck traffic.
The county’s Division of Transportation said the expansion will improve safety and traffic flow. Since 2008, other segments of 143rd Street have been widened, and this would match those around it. The widening project is estimated to cost about $60 million, and the county has $7 million in federal funds to put towards it. It has spent $6.2 million on engineering and utility relocation fees since 2009.
In February, the County Board sided with residents and voted to stop the project and urged the transportation department to look into widening 143rd Street to three lanes instead of five.
Bertino-Tarrant inadvertently signed off on the County Board’s actions, but later recognized her mistake and issued a veto. The resolution stopping the widening project had been mixed in with routine documents she needed to sign, and a staff member mistakenly delivered it to the clerk’s office to file, county officials said.
The County Board did not have the votes needed to override the veto last month, but they did approve other resolutions that asked the state’s attorney’s office to intervene.
Eight Republicans and two Democrats voted in favor of asking the state’s attorney to file litigation to decide that Bertino-Tarrant’s original signature that she made in error should be valid and their resolution to stop the 143rd Street widening project should be enforced.
Bertino-Tarrant’s veto this week said the County Board’s actions were contrary to existing law and therefore invalid. She said the executive can exercise veto powers against any unlawful resolution the board passes.
“Illinois law is clear that the County Board does not have the legal authority to direct the Will County state’s attorney to initiate legal action,” she said in her veto message.
The Will County state’s attorney’s office said it represents the county executive and the board and the board has no authority to hire its own separate attorneys. The office has provided written opinions indicating Bertino-Tarrant’s original veto is valid.
“At the end of the day, certain Board Members wish to hold the County Executive to a resolution signed in error on a technicality,” assistant state’s attorney Scott Pyles wrote. “It is highly unlikely that a court ruling on the enforcement of this resolution would invalidate the veto on the resolution in these circumstances.”
Republican leader Steve Balich, whose district includes the 143rd Street project, said he believes it is a conflict that the state’s attorney’s office is representing the executive and the County Board and would like an independent attorney. Balich, who is also the Homer Township supervisor, said the township is pursuing a lawsuit to stop the 143rd Street widening project.
“This is important to people who live there,” Balich said. “You can’t keep holding people back.”
Homer Glen officials have also said they are looking into legal action to stop the project.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
