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Politics & Government

Saia Negotiations at Impasse, Next Steps Unclear

Chestnut Hills residents said the news that an annexation agreement could not be reached was "crushing."

Saia Trucking: The saga involving Saia Motor and Freight's truck depot and nearby residents plagued by its operational noise took a surprising turn at Monday's Burr Ridge Village Board meeting and it appears, after months of progress, to be at yet another stalemate.

At the, village officials seemed confident that an annexation agreement would be ready for approval by Monday's meeting.

However, Village Administrator Steve Stricker announced that negations have reached an impasse and the board would have to reconsider a forced annexation agreement.

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It was also announced that the stalemated negotiations were not between the village and Saia, but with the landowner, Robert Rogulic. According to Stricker, Rogulic and the village disagreed on issues of zoning, specifically, the landowner's wish that would allow the truck terminal to remain in perpetuity rather than establishing a sunset clause, which the the village felt was in the best interest of residents.

“I thought when this started that if there was to be an issue, it would be with Saia,” said Mayor Gary Grasso. “It turns out it isn't.”

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Grasso said the village still did not favor a forced annexation and that he hoped something could be worked out. Addressing Chestnut Hills resident representative Steve Less, he said that he could not tell Less what would happen if a forced annexation occurred at the March 14 meeting or what the exact path forward would be.

“We did not expect this and hoped what we would be discussing was just cutting down the 120 days [until sound wall construction will begin] and bring down that August completion date to maybe June.” For more on the proposed timeline, click .

Less and other neighboring residents spoke outside after the meeting and said they felt as if they were back to square one.

“This is just crushing,” said Less.

Saia representatives at the meeting did not say if failure to reach an annexation agreement would prevent the construction of sound walls.

Check back for further updates on this story.

* A correction has been made in this article. The original article incorrectly stated that the village wished to establish a sunset clause for Saia with set hours of operation.

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