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| Open space continues its appeal | |
| Apr 18, 2007 | |
| Lisa Smith, Staff Writer lasmith@dailyherald.com | |
| Daily Herald | |
| Pertains to Blackberry Creek, Ferson Creek, St. Charles, Batavia | |
| For the third time in eight years, Kane County voters on Tuesday approved a tax rate increase to preserve land. The Kane County Forest Preserve District's $85 million bond sale was authorized by a 3-to-2 margin with all 294 precincts reporting, according to unofficial election results. A total of 32,708 people voted for it and 18,640 against. "It shows the public still favors open space by a large majority," Forest Preserve Commission President John Hoscheit said. "Our track record -- what we accomplished -- is getting us the vote." The measure will add an estimated $23 to the annual tax bill of the owner of a $230,000 house, the county's median home value. Forest preserve officials hope to be able to purchase 3,000 to 4,000 acres with the $85 million. Kane County's forest preserves now comprise 16,624 acres. Among the properties on the district's wish list are two located in St. Charles Township, an 84.5-acre parcel adjacent to LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve on Dean Street, and the Elgin YWCA's 25-acre Camp Tu-Endie-Wei along Route 25 near South Elgin; a 205-acre site just north of Nelson Lake Road and Main Street in Geneva Township; and an 80-acre site two miles southwest of there in Blackberry Township. "We're going to invest this money quickly because we've got several properties lined up," Hoscheit said. "The rewarding part is that we'll be able to close on those deals now." District officials also are eyeing undisclosed parcels near existing forest preserves in the county's "critical growth area," the north-south swath of land between farmland on the west and the populous Fox River corridor on the east. Voter-approved bond sales to acquire open space land totaled $70 million in 1999 and $75 million in 2005. That allowed the forest preserve district to purchase 5,700 acres and 3,000 acres, respectively. Both measures passed by a 3-to-2 margin. Like the two previous bond sales, these bonds are proposed to be paid off within 15 to 20 years. |
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