URGENT NOTICE TO RESIDENTS

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URGENT NOTICE to Residents in Homer Glen, Lockport and the Unincorporated Areas of Homer Township:

On Monday, September 12, 2022, the Homer Township Administration took actions that will cause irreparable harm to the Homer Township Open Space Program. All is not lost - Yet. There is still a small window of time for you to help prevent them from selling off over 180 acres of Open Space Lands. The sale would leave us with only one 50 acre parcel of Open Space that was purchased with Open Space Funds. They also want to sell a portion of one piece to adjacent land owners and that should not happen either as it sets a precedent. If we can stop this travesty from happening it requires that you, as concerned residents, act now! You must decide what kind of community you want to live in and advocate for it. 

TAKE ACTION NOW!

If you oppose the sale of these 3 Open Space Properties, consisting of over 180 acres of land, or any portion of the Open Space Properties you must tell the Homer Township Supervisor and Trustees who voted to sell our Open Space Lands that you do not want the lands sold. You must do this now before they sell the properties. Their contact information is listed below. Tell your friends and neighbors to call these officials as well. Share this information with your Home Owners Associations too.

The Homer Township Trustees and the Supervisor can change their minds and decide not to sell the properties and that is what you need to get them to do, right now!  Residents have already stopped the Township from putting a subdivision on the Welter Farm, but now we have to stop them from putting it up for sale. Right now, they have both the Purdy Farm and Paul Farm up for sale! That is 140 acres of land and they will be taking bids for its sale until October 17th. They can accept any offer that comes in that they want and they are NOT even going with the highest bidder. They likely have a buyer or buyers lined up already as they only gave potential buyers one month to discover the properties are up for sale and decide to bid on them. This whole rushed and rigged deal stinks! The only two options to stop them now is public pressure or a legal challenge. Let’s try public pressure this week. A Go Fund Me page has been setup to launch a legal challenge, please donate to it if you can. We hope they get the message this time because a legal challenge is going to cost us all money as they will use our tax dollars to pay lawyers for Homer Township to help them sell Open Space Lands that belong to the people of Homer Township, Homer Glen and Lockport! 

NOTE: YOU CAN DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THIS AS A 2 PAGE FLYER, (print front & back) GO TO OUR "Print Flyers & Docs" page.

STOP THE SALE!

Call, leave a message, email and mail a letter to the following individuals. Tell them you do not want them to sell any of the Open Space. (If this contact information changes you can lookup the information they publicly provide at https://homertownship.com/, under the “Homer Township” tab drop down to “Directory” or “Officials.)

Steve Balich, Homer Township Supervisor

OFFICE: 708-301-0522 

CELL: 815-557-7196

EMAIL: homersupervisor@gmail.com

Mike Bonomo, Homer Township Trustee

OFFICE: 708-301-0522 

CELL: prefers email or office call

EMAIL: bonomoht@gmail.com

Matt Connelly, Homer Township Trustee

OFFICE: 708-301-0522 

CELL: not provided

EMAIL: mjac8204@yahoo.com

Mark Gawron, Homer Township Trustee

OFFICE: 708-301-0522 

CELL: 815-953-2836

EMAIL: mgawron1@comcast.net

Rob Rivera, Homer Township Trustee

OFFICE: 708-301-0522 

CELL: not provided

EMAIL: httrustee.rivera@gmail.com

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP STOP THE SALE OF OUR OPEN SPACE LANDS?
 

1. CONTACT HOMER TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS and tell them to change their minds and not sell the 140 acres of Open Space Land they currently have for sale as well as the additional 40 acres they could put up for sale. They also should not sell any portion of the Open Space Lands because it sets a precedent.

These decisions were made without public input so give them the public input they have deliberately avoided in making their decision. Yes, it really is as simple as them being convinced by all of you to change their minds about selling the land. Tell your friends and neighbors in Homer Township, Lockport and Homer Glen and ask them to contact the Homer Township officials as well.

2. DONATE TO THE GO FUND ME PAGE setup for us, the residents of Homer Township, Homer Glen and Lockport, to launch a legal challenge to stop our own elected officials from selling our Open Space Lands.
 

GoFundMe Link: “Legal fees & costs to stop the sale of Open Space”
https://gofund.me/37f0043d

3.COME TO THE NEXT TOWNSHIP BOARD MEETING, This will most likely be the public’s only chance to have any say at all in the sale of the Open Space properties. Bring others and before the meeting sign up to speak during the public comment section. Each person has 3 minutes to speak. Let them hear from the public!

Homer Township Administrative Office (entrance is on the West side of building).

Date: Monday, October 17, 2022
Time: 7 p.m.

Location: 14350 W. 151st Street, Homer Glen, IL 60491

The deadline for bids and accepting a bid for the sale of Open Space Lands is October 17th, the same day as their board meeting. No opportunity for public comment or discourse will occur other than three minutes per person at the start of the meeting. 

At this meeting the Township Officials will open the bids they get and will likely take-action to pick who they will sell the land to. They said at their meeting they can pick whomever they want. They have not required that it go to the highest bidder. They may go into executive session at some point, it is unclear exactly how the process will go. If that is the case we may have to wait until they come out of executive session to learn more about who they will sell the properties to. They will likely try to keep as much information as possible secreted away in executive session if they can but the state statute may make the whole process and their deliberations public.

4. PRINT these three pages out and distribute them to your friends and neighbors. 

5. SIGNS Put a sign on your property to Save Open Space. We have some signs and are ordering more. You could also make your own sign.
Contact us at www.homeropenspace.com if you want a sign.