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| Prairie Green Preserve to offer walking trails, wetlands, prairie | |
| Oct 18, 2005 | |
| Brenda Schory bschory@kcchronicle.com | |
| Kane County Chronicle | |
| Pertains to Mill Creek (Kane Cty), Geneva, St. Charles | |
| Aldermen approved a plan Monday to develop 580 acres of open space with wetlands, prairie, an oak and hickory savannah and trails in the Prairie Green Preserve. By BRENDA SCHORY bschory@kcchronicle.com GENEVA -- Aldermen approved a plan Monday to develop 580 acres of open space with wetlands, prairie, an oak and hickory savanna and trails, among other amenities. Community Development Director Dick Untch said the final plan came after two years of work from volunteers on a steering committee and then open workshops to seek public input. Third Ward Alderman Ray Pawlak praised the plan as ideal. "We have created our own Central Park," Pawlak said. "A hundred years from now, people will say someone had the foresight and left us this." The Prairie Green Preserve extends from Keslinger Road near the railroad tracks on the south, on parts of Peck Road on the east, up to Bricher Road to the north with a portion in the City of St. Charles. Voters approved a $10 million bond issue in 1997 to buy 540 acres for open space. The Kane County Forest Preserve District bought the remaining 40 acres for the site. In addition to providing open space as a hedge against more development, the land is also intended to provide regional storm water management, officials said. The city has applied for a $250,000 state grant to build the hiking and biking trails. The city also applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create a 75-acre wetland mitigation bank, which will allow th city to "sell" credits. Developers buy the credits so they can fill in wetlands. The proceeds would be used toward phasing in the amenities. Untch said the site can be developed into prairie, walking and biking trails, water retention and bird nesting sites over a five- to 10-year period. Preliminary estimates put the cost at $4 million to $5 million, he said. "The idea is to allow this site to evolve over time," Untch said. "And there will be some expensive aspects to this site ... we can fund it over time and be creative." For example, instead of buying $1 million worth of prairie seed, Untch said the city can reduce its cost by harvesting seeds from the 75 acres of prairie already planted. First Ward Alderman Charles Brown suggested establishing a committee of volunteers to harvest seed, among other projects, to develop the site. "This project is ripe for sustained citizen involvement," Untch said. "This is a wonderful legacy we could leave behind," Brown said. [GPDB added Link:] City of Geneva's Prairie Green Preserve page |
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