By Stephen Nelson
Three Manteno residents attended the Tuesday, October 10, Kankakee County Board meeting to try and influence the panel to refuse to go along with the EV Battery manufacturing plant, which would be built and run by the Chinese company Gotion in Manteno.
They didn’t receive any sympathy from the board, with Commissioner Steven Hunter characterizing some of the comments made by the residents as false: “I could not sit here and listen to the libelous statements that are not predicated on facts. I vote on facts and data as opposed to hyperbole and salacious allegations.”
County Board Chairman Andy Wheeler clarified for the residents that the only vote taken on Gotion was to raise property taxes on the plant by up to $1 million. He also pointed out the county will receive $5.2 million from the state in worker training funds for those seeking jobs there.
In other business, the board approved a professional services agreement with Hutchison Engineering, Inc., for preliminary design services for the reconstruction of County Highway 9 between U.S. 45/52 and I-57. Plans call for that stretch to be improved to two lanes in each direction, along with a center turn lane. County Board Chairman Andy Wheeler said the project is projected to cost $2 million, and those funds will still have to be acquired and then allocated before construction can begin.