A number of Manteno residents and officials were pushing for a request for Gotion to submit a form to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.

It came under scrutiny at Tuesday’s Manteno Village Board meeting.

CFIUS is an interagency body that reviews foreign investments in American businesses and real estate for potential national security risks. It’s overseen by the U.S. Treasury secretary.

Gotion is operating a lithium battery plant in Manteno in the former Kmart distribution center on Spruce Street.

After a brief presentation by Gotion representatives during public comment and discussion among Manteno trustees, the board voted 3-2 against requesting that Gotion submit the form, which would have been voluntary.

After the meeting, Manteno Mayor Annette LaMore said she was disappointed in the vote to not ask for the filing.

“It’s not even mandatory, so even if we ask them to do it, they don’t have to do it,” she said. “It’s something that you have to be willing to do. But it would certainly show good faith if they said, ‘Yeah, we’ll be glad to fill that out.’

“It would have certainly shown good faith of the trustees to say, ‘We think this is a great idea. We want our people to be safe. We don’t want to have to worry about national security or what’s going to happen with Manteno.’”

During public comment, Andy Wheeler, head of public relations for Gotion, introduced David Plotinsky, an attorney with Washington, D.C., law firm Morgan Lewis, to speak briefly on CFIUS.

Potinsky was previously part of the U.S. Department of Justice that managed CFIUS during President Donald Trump’s first administration.

Plotinsky said he wasn’t there to advocate for any particular course of action and would defer to trustees on that. But he did share information on the jurisdiction and the process for CFIUS.

Plotinsky said there are cases where CFIUS is mandatory and others where it’s voluntary. A filing for Gotion would be voluntary for Gotion Illinois, a subsidiary of Gotion Inc., a Chinese company, because its manufacturing site falls under the “greenfield” designation since it’s starting a new battery manufacturing site and not taking over an existing company.

In addition, a CFIUS jurisdiction would be mandatory in a “covered real estate transaction” in which a plant is located in proximity to either a military or sensitive government facility. That requirement would be triggered if the plant was within 100 miles of a military institution or within just 1 mile of a sensitive facility.

“Everything that [Gotion] has done has been in a greenfield, and it’s not within proximity of any military or other installation on that list that CFIUS maintains,” Plotinsky said. “So, to our knowledge, CFIUS simply lacks jurisdiction over anything the company is doing.”

Village trustees were split on whether to ask Gotion to file a CFIUS form.

Trustee CJ Boudreau wasn’t in favor of asking for the filing when there was no jurisdiction under CFIUS. Trustee Joel Gesky asked village attorney Joe Cainkar whether it would hurt the village if trustees voted in favor, given the current litigation with the Concerned Citizens of Manteno on the Gotion plant.

“I don’t see the purpose in it from a pure legal standpoint,” Cainkar said. “As your attorney … I don’t think it’s going to amount to anything.”

Trustees Mike Barry and Peggy Vauhn voted in favor of the motion, while Boudreau, Todd Crockett and Gesky voted against it. The vote was at 2-2 when it was Gesky’s turn to voice his vote. He hesitated for several seconds before saying, “No at this time.”

Trustee Annette Zimbelman wasn’t present at the meeting.

Gesky said he didn’t vote “yes” because the village can’t force Gotion to file with CFIUS.

“I was [hemming and hawing] on it because, just like with the [forensic] audit, I truly believe that everything’s above board,” he said.

Gesky added that if the measure goes through committee and comes up for a vote again, he would only vote “yes” if it was a consensus.

“I don’t want it to be a 4-2, a 3-2 or a 3-3 with the mayor [voting],” he said. “If we’re going to do it, let’s do it.”