Will County Gazette

Frankfort, Illinois, December 2024 - A meeting at Frankfort Village Hall on Friday morning, December 20th, 2024 was abruptly cut short after Mayor Keith Ogle refused support to developers Dan and Mike Rose in gaining water and sewer utility access for their Gardens of Frankfort development. During the meeting, when asked about bringing the issue of water and sewage access to a vote before the Village Board of Trustees, Mayor Ogle said that he would not bring the project to the Village Board for a vote and suggested that The Gardens of Frankfort seek water access via Aqua Illinois Inc., which is not feasible as the source is based 5.5-6 miles away in Monee, IL.

In the years since a Will County Court ruling granted Rose the right to proceed with development on The Gardens of Frankfort site, the Village of Frankfort has thrown up numerous roadblocks to progress at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Roses. The Village has presented Rose with numerous obstacles to proceeding forward with development on the site namely on the issue of water and sewer access. This stands in contrast to Mayor Ogle’s previous commitments to the Roses not to hinder progress on the Gardens of Frankfort modern manufactured housing development.

Mike Rose, founder and president of Location Finders International, and developer of the nearby Gateway Manufactured Housing Community, said: "When I co-developed Gateway, we paid for an upgraded sanitary sewer at a cost in excess of $500,000. The cost was extraordinary because the Village of Frankfort demanded capacity for 2,400 units but Gateway only used 440 units!" When Rose applied to use the system he paid for, Frankfort said it was already near full-capacity and The Gardens of Frankfort can't use it.

Rose commented further: "This is extremely unfair on the surface!"

Mike Rose founded Location Finders International in 1973. He has lived in Frankfort for over 30 years. Dan Rose is a local commercial real estate developer with business enterprises in energy and global building supplies sectors. He grew up in Frankfort and attended local schools like Lincoln-Way East.

Dan Rose said: "LFI has completed hundreds of projects around the state and country and we’ve seen everything in terms of government malfeasance. My father and I tried directly addressing the obstructions to progress with the Mayor and are left with few options, none good for Frankfort. The fact that Ogle wouldn’t even shake my hand after being offered it at this meeting is embarrassing for him and more importantly, Frankfort. The people deserve strong leadership."