FORT WAYNE – Navistar International Corp. is once again engaged in serious discussions with Illinois and Lisle, Ill., officials to consolidate its operations there.

The consolidation project’s leader hopes a deal with Lisle will be signed – or officially ruled out – within about 30 days.

“Our primary focus is Lisle,” said Don Sharp, Navistar vice president and chief information officer. The company will decide whether to relocate operations to the Chicago suburb “before we’d seriously look at other options,” he said.

Late last month the company ruled out any hope that community would be Fort Wayne.

Navistar’s local operations include a Truck Design and Technology Center, a test track and Truck Reliability Center. In all, the company employs about 1,400 in Fort Wayne, including contractors. Local workers would be forced to move closer to the site of Navistar’s consolidation or look for other jobs.

Warrenville, Ill.-based Navistar wants to consolidate its headquarters and other operations in one location. Public opposition in nearby Lisle prompted Navistar to announce in May that it wouldn’t keep fighting to move about 4,000 employees to an 88-acre corporate campus there.

The threat of impending lawsuits created too much uncertainty for the manufacturer, Sharp said then.

But the tide turned considerably after Navistar publicly abandoned the fight.

“I don’t believe we have any lawsuits today,” Sharp said late Wednesday.

Navistar makes commercial and military trucks, diesel engines, school and commercial buses, recreational vehicles and chassis for motor homes and step vans. The company also manufactures truck and diesel engine service parts. An affiliate offers financing services.

Numerous communities – including Fort Wayne – have assembled incentive packages to woo Navistar.

On June 29, Mayor Tom Henry announced Fort Wayne had signed a contract worth up to $95,000 for a site-selection firm to help court the company. The strategy, he said, was to build on ongoing local efforts by finding out what Navistar needs and finding ways to meet those needs.

But that same day, Navistar released a statement to The Journal Gazette that made it clear Fort Wayne’s chances were slim at best.

After Navistar’s announcement that it wouldn’t fight to consolidate in Lisle, city and state officials there rushed to assure Navistar that they didn’t want to lose the chance to get those high-paying jobs.

A much greater percentage of the community wanted the company to come than those who opposed the idea, Sharp said.

But the deal isn’t done.

“I am not aware of any change in status on the Lucent property,” Sharp said. “We have a contract on that property. We have not purchased that property.”

Sharp, who is based in Warrenville, reports directly to the CEO. It’s inconceivable, he said, that a decision would be made without his knowledge.

Sharp said he was “not in a position to answer” details of the impending move, including how long it will be between the official announcement and when Fort Wayne employees would be expected to report for work in the new location.

sslater@jg.net