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| Forest district seeks $85 million to buy more land | |
| Apr 13, 2007 | |
| William Presecky, staff reporter bpresecky@tribune.com | |
| Chicago Tribune | |
| Pertains to Kishwaukee River, Brewster Creek, Huntley, Gilberts, Wayne, South Elgin | |
| KANE COUNTY -- Camp Tomo Chi Chi Knolls, a decades-old Boy Scout camp near Gilberts, will reopen as a campground for youth groups this summer under new ownership -- the Kane County taxpayers. The $8.5 million purchase of the 260-acre camp by the Kane County Forest Preserve District was among the last of the land acquisitions, totaling more than 3,000 acres, that it made after voter approval two years ago to sell $75 million in open space bonds. Pending the outcome of a referendum measure Tuesday to sell an additional $85 million in bonds, the district is hoping to add 3,000 to 4,000 acres countywide, including another kids camp near South Elgin that was put up for sale late last year. The former Boy Scout camp connects two existing Kane preserves in Rutland Township with a combined total of 968 acres. Although the west suburban-based Boy Scouts council that owned the camp had several prospective buyers, mostly private developers, the ability of the Forest Preserve District to pay cash for the site and knowing that it would remain open for recreation helped seal the deal, said council spokesman Bill Seith. A smaller, similar property, the 27-acre Camp Tu-Endie-Wei, on Illinois Highway 25 near Stearns Road, is among the sites the district has targeted for purchase should the new funding be approved. "That's up on our priority list, so we're hoping we can get it done," said Forest Preserve Commission President John Hoscheit. The Elgin YWCA board of directors had voted reluctantly, for financial reasons, to put the 77-year-old camp up for sale, said YWCA Chief Executive Officer Julia McClendon. "If the price was right, we would like to be able to sell to the forest preserve. It's contingent on the passing of the referendum. We have to look at all the proposals," said McClendon. "We have a gamut of interest in the property," she said. This month's referendum question marks the third time in eight years that the Kane district has sought voter approval to sell bonds to pay for additional open space purchases. Both a $70 million bond sale in 1999 and a $75 million sale in 2005 were approved overwhelmingly. Along with some non-referendum bond funds and a smattering of state and federal grants, the district managed to leverage the proceeds from the 2005 sale to acquire more than 3,100 acres, including the former Scout camp. Combined with the more than 5,700 acres it purchased between 1999 and 2005, the district has expanded its preserves to nearly 17,000 acres. Approval of the $85 million bond sale would result in additional property taxes of about $25 a year on a $250,000 home in Kane, according to district projections. |
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