Wheatland Township Board Puts Brakes on New Town Hall

One night after a , the Wheatland Township Board voted Wednesday to stop all spending on a new $1.5 million township hall until a special town meeting with electors can be held.

Residents demanded that action in a 62-24 vote made Tuesday night.

“I believe the people told you how they felt,” resident Tricia Tillotson, who was one of about 130 township residents, most from the Plainfield and Naperville areas, to attend the town meeting. “I hope you will remember what they told you last night.”

Only bills accrued for architectural work already done will be paid, trustees said. That includes a $19,000 payment to Architectural Associates Group of Naperville, the firm that's designed and prepared civil engineering plans for the proposed 7,300-square-foot building. AAG has been paid about $55,000 of an estimated $87,000 fee, trustees said.

Trustee Karl Karontonis, who has opposed the new building as being too expensive when compared to buying or leasing existing office space, pushed for the spending freeze.

“I’m saying put the brakes on it now,” Karontonis said. "I want to impose a moratorium on all work signed for continuation for this building, effective today.”

Trustee Joe Hudetz said his support for the new building is wavering in the wake of the mistrust and ambivalence residents expressed Tuesday.

“After last night, when the voters who put us in office said, ‘No way, we’ve got to have more details before we go ahead,' my mind has changed,” Hudetz said.

Officials have yet to set a date for the next town meeting. It must be occur between 14 and 45 days after the town meeting, and the public must be given 10 days' notice before it occurs, township Clerk Chuck Kern said.

Debra Holscher, a Naperville retiree who gathered petition signatures to hold the special meeting, is to meet with township attorneys Monday to come up with language for the meeting agenda, township Supervisor Todd Morse said.

Trustees also voted to spend $5,000 to create and distribute an informational flier outlining details about the new building, including the project's history, a breakdown of costs, a needs assessment and an analysis of the existing real estate market.

“We will make all efforts to answer all the questions for the sake of transparency,” Morse said.

Plans for a new township hall have been discussed since at least 2004, and the current proposal calls for it to the built on township-owned land at 4232 Tower Court in Naperville. The existing township building at 31W236 91st St. in Naperville is a former equipment garage.

Still reluctant to delay building plans was Trustee Frank King, who has been making most of the arrangements for the new town hall.

Not moving forward with contracts, bidding and permits will push the project into winter months, he said, and that will drive up costs.

“I think we should keep going with our plans until we are directed otherwise legally,” King said.