A unanimous vote by the New Lenox Village Board has ended the town’s border wars with Joliet, at least for the next 10 years.
The New Lenox board’s vote Tuesday follows a unanimous vote this week by the Joliet City Council. The pact takes the western border question out of the courts and places a dividing line in the vicinity of Gougar Road between Smith Road on the south and Bruce Road on the north. The dispute has been over planning jurisdiction in unincorporated areas.
New Lenox Mayor John Nowakowski said the agreement will save both towns court time and legal costs.
Nowakowski doesn’t expect hostilities to resume when the agreement expires in 2007. “Between now and then, most of that (disputed) area won’t be vacant, and that should eliminate all the fears of giving something away,” he said.
No homeowners will be annexed forcibly into either town, and the northwest corner of U.S. Highway 6 and Cedar Road, adjacent to ramps for the proposed interchange of Interstate Highways 355 and 80, will remain in New Lenox Township, subject to annexation by New Lenox. Despite the skirmishes, Joliet and New Lenox have a tradition of cooperation, officials said.