September and October 2015 Forest Preserve District of Cook County Board Meetings
September 2015
--Due to the budget impasse in Springfield, $4.5 million in grants from
the State have been suspended. These
grants include funding for dam removal to improve stormwater management & habitat
restoration; strategic land acquisitions; invasive species training and control; projects at Brookfield Zoo and the Chicago
Botanic Garden, among other things. Though awarded, these grants are on
indefinite freeze. According to the FPDCC,
the suspension "jeopardizes the State's ability to attract future federal
funding and threatens to waste investments already made..." In response to the suspension, the
commissioners approved a resolution
calling for the release of frozen grant funds, to be sent to Governor Rauner
with copies to IDNR and IEPA. (#15-0531)
--Item #15-0467 addressed a report about expansion of the Conservation
Corps, a strategy for training out-of-school youth (ages 18-24), as well as
those involved with the justice system, which is a priority of the Next Century
Conservation Plan.
--The FPDCC receives 1-2 calls a week from donors wanting to honor or
memorialize someone with a tree or bench in the preserves. The Forest Preserve Foundation will now manage
the tree & bench donation program. (#15-0481)
--Through Chicago Wilderness, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service has given FPDCC a $20,000 grant (with a $20,000 match) to make
FPDCC the premiere birding destination, to promote birding to diverse audiences,
and to provide birding resources to new & experienced birders. (#15-0487)
October 2015
FPDCC access to Lake Michigan water at its largest police facility was
the issue that triggered extensive and heated public testimony as well as much
commissioner discussion--beginning with the September Board meeting and continuing
for more than three hours at the October Board meeting. It is unlikely that FPDCC Superintendent
Arnold Randall anticipated such a vigorous response to what appeared to be a straightforward request. That is, the FPDCC asked the Village of Palos
Park to provide Lake Michigan water to its police substation in unincorporated
Lemont Township because the shallow well that has been providing water is
failing. Additionally, at a future date, Palos Park could be asked to supply
water and sewer services to the nearby FPDCC campgrounds.
In reality, the testimony during discussion of Real Estate Item 15-0198 had little to do with
supplying water through an intergovernmental agreement, as you will read below.
Palos Park's response to FPDCC was that they could only provide water
& sewer services to properties within its corporate boundaries. Thus, FPDCC requested annexation to Palos
Park. (It's worth noting that 30% of the FPDCC's holdings lay within the
corporate boundaries of Palos Park. Annexation
does not involve transfer of land nor any rights to the land by Palos Park.)
The controversy that ensued between Palos Park and Lemont's village
government & many Lemont residents began with the fact that the 152 acre
tract on which FPDCC police facility is located is contiguous to the village of
Lemont but not contiguous with Palos Park.
Large tracts of FPDCC land separate Palos Park's corporate boundaries from
the 152 acres proposed for annexation (the southeast corner of Bell &
McCarthy Rds.).
Given this physical separation, how could annexation to Palos Park
occur? A recent change in state law now
allows for such annexations by
"jumping over" the forest preserves, in essence using them as
a bridge.
Why should the Village of Lemont (which is on well water) care that
Palos Park has been asked to supply Lake Michigan water to the FPDCC police substation? Lemont's real concern is not about providing
water to this 152 acres, but that annexation of this parcel by Palos Park would
give Palos the needed link to annex more than 1,400 acres in unincorporated
Lemont Township. Lemont is concerned about the density of future development and
its impact on Lemont schools, library, & park district; and nearby
homeowners fear smaller lot sizes will affect their quality of life and
property values. However, the three
major owners of the 1,400 acres in question (Cog Hill Country Club, Gleneagles
Country Club, and Ludwig Farms) dispute the claims and characterization of
their future development intentions by Lemont village government and its
citizens; and those three owners prefer annexation by Palos Park rather than
Lemont.
As became abundantly clear during the 3+ hours of testimony in which
Palos Park, the FPDCC, and the major landowners were demonized by some of the
26 public speakers, neither village made any effort to talk with the other
about the proposed annexation--much to the chagrin of the FPDCC commissioners. In
the end, the FPDCC approved the annexation.
Commissioners Richard Boykin and Larry Suffredin dissented, with
Suffredin commenting that their approval improperly injected the FPDCC in the
middle of regional land use planning.
The possible future development of this 1,400 acres is a saga going
back more than 10 years. A more detailed account was reported in the Chicago Tribune.
Other October agenda items of note. . .
--Resting points for users of the North Branch trail will be enhanced
by Friends of the Forest Preserve's donation of up to $42,000 for the purchase
and installation of up to 21 benches and 14 bicycle racks at specified locations.
(#15-0538)
--The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has given a $50,000 grant
for restoration of 22 acres of migratory bird habitat in LaBagh Woods on Chicago's
northwest side. The project is a partnership with the Chicago Park District,
Friends of the Chicago River, Lincoln Park Zoo's Urban Wildlife Institute,
Chicago Audubon Society, Chicago Ornithological Society, the Bird Conservation
Network, and Greencorps. (#15-0545)
--USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has extended through
September 2017 its Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant to improve habitat
for marshland birds at Eggers Woods in Chicago.
The $56,000 grant has a $28,000 match from FPDCC. (#15-0550)
--Also through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, USDA's NRCS is
extending its grant (which requires $42,000 in matching funds) for work at
Turnbull Woods, specifically to improve amphibian habitat and suitability for
migratory bird stopovers. (#15-0553)
--A two-year U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service grant of ~$123,000 (with a $43,000 match by FPDCC) will permit
35 acre habitat restoration of the king rail, an Illinois endangered bird
species, at Barrington's Crabtree Nature Center. The grant also involves the banding &
monitoring of birds (#15-0568).
Submitted by Sheri Latash
