Politics & Government
Hospital Annexation Agreement Garners Criticism
Local residents plan to organize a coalition in hopes of voicing concerns about the Northwestern Memorial Hospital development.
Approximately 25 people attended a trustee board meeting Feb. 15 in anticipation of a public hearing regarding the consideration of an annexation agreement for Northwestern Memorial Hospital, 2255 Sanders Road.
The proposed development includes a future nonprofit medical office with a nine-story office building and a seven-story parking garage, according to staff reports.
The hearing has been continued until March 15.
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John Myers, a Springfield attorney with Rabin, Myers & Hanken, said several residents are in the process of forming a coalition called Glenview Residents Against the NMH Development, led by Kevin Roos.
The group is concerned about the development's potential water usgae, its proposed tax-exempt status and the fact that "there may be issues with traffic," Roos said.
Find out what's happening in Glenviewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Myers also told the trustees that the group has made repeated public information requests to obtain a draft of the annexation plan.
"Our biggest concern [now] is that we have no information," Myers said. "...This is an annexation agreement that was on the table on two occasions in front of the plan commission on Sept. 28 and Nov. 9. We requested the annexation agreement under the Freedom of Information Act and we've been rebuffed."
Village President Kerry Cummings said the annexation plan approved by the commission was a draft agreement and there would be "ample time" for the group to voice its concerns about the document once the trustee board received it and the document becomes public.
"We will be reviewing those [documents] and we will raise the types of questions residents expect us to raise about traffic, financial and all those sorts of things," Cummings said. "We have a good track record on that."
The plan commission approved the annexation at its Nov. 9 meeting with no public comment, according to meeting minutes.
Trustee Pat Cuisinier asked Myers why there had been no interaction with plan commissioners about the issue and Myers responded that the residents "were not totally aware" of the hearings.
Stay tuned to Patch for an update following the March 15 hearing.
