[BCNnet] Cook County land acquisitions

[Judy Pollock]

Forwarded form John Sheerin

Please forward widely:
The Finance Committee, Board and Real Estate Committee of the Cook County
Forest Preserve District will be meeting on Wednesday 3/5. The Board and
Finance committee meet at 10:00. Commissioner Maldonado's Real Estate
Committee will hold its first meeting at 1:30.

The Finance committee is likely to take up two resolutions requesting
management studies of the Forest Preserve Distrcit. The studies would make
available such information as who spends their time doing what -
information that would seem to be natural for a Board to have. However, the
Board must pass resolutions because the administration is not providing
information except per a Freedom of Information Act request - and then only
sparingly and gudgingly. The vote is likely to be close and word is that
Commissioners Murphy and Goslin could be swing votes. 

Also the topic of the search for a new general superintendent will come up
at the Board meeting. More information will follow when the Agenda is
available.

BUY LAND 
Per the Forest Preserves 8/02 report to the Board - the Forest Preserve
bought only 6.15 acres of land through 8/28/02 in CY 2002. That pathetic
pace is too slow. 

The District is committed to $22.9 million to buy ~570 acres of land.
Approximately $19Mil cash is on hand in the land acquisition fund, and
expected gran reimbursements total $4.5Mil leaving available contingency
funds of only $400,000. 
The land in acquisition is: 
Tampier Greenway parcels 4-8, 10-12, 14-16, and 23 for 150 acres 
Wentworth Prairie 40 acres and Radio Unica 35 acres in the Burnham Greenway 
Dan Ryan Conrail bike trail, 15 acres 
Thorn Creek Union Pacific 10 acres 
Sagawau Canyon Addition (2 parcels, 10 acres, assume 5 ea, 1 left to
purchase) 
Spring Lake Greenway 200 acres 
Thorncreek Greenway 115 acres (15 already acquired) 
Wolf Road Prairie Buffer 15 acres

Note the Spring Creek Greenway acquisition is all mixed up though. The
District would receive the bulk of the 200 acres from partners at a no cash
cost. However a developer and the Village of South Barrington are
litigating zoning and the like - so this project is unlikely to move
quickly and there could be funding freed up for other acquisitons 

Real Estate Committee Agenda: 
St. Coletta's potential acquisition will be on the Agenda 
Lake Calumet area acquisitions are on the Agenda

The 40 acre property at Harlem and Irving Park proposed by Commissioner
Sylvestri and supported by Commissioner Quigley is not on the Agenda at
this time. It is possible that the proposal for this acquisition was only
to chase away Home Depot from developing the land. The local Alderman,
Thomas Allen, is supporting use of the land for an addition to Maryville
Academy. Other possible uses for this land are single family homes, small
retail development or new parkland. Is this land identified as an forest
preserve opportunity area on the land acquisition plan? 

Our interest in the Real Estate meeting is to drive home the message "BUY
LAND NOW". The pace of land acquisition is so slow as to be negligable. The
same ~500 acres have been "in the process" of acquisition for years. There
is no reason these transactions cannot be completed timely.

Also, we need to be pushing for a long term funding source to complete the
forest preserve district's acquisition program before all the available and
appropriate land is developed and gone. A funding bill in Springfield SB
1171 (now SB 83) is a good start and it is widely supported by the
environmental community.


Wednesday will be an excellent opportunity to advocate for land
acquisition, and to advocate for an excellent new general superintendent
selected by a real search process. Can you call your commissioner
requesting completion of the Forest Preserve District land acquisition plan
and a true nationwide search for a new General Superintendent?