Thursday, May 12, 2005
Pioneer Press
by BY ANDREW SCHROEDTER

Cook County Forest Preserve District last week approved a list of capital improvement projects to be funded through the sale of $100 million in general obligation bonds.

Of that amount, more than $27 million was earmarked for projects in the county's 13th district, which extends from Chicago's North Side to Glencoe and includes the suburbs of Lincolnwood, Glenview, Niles, Morton Grove and Skokie (see chart).

The Chicago Botanic Garden will receive $25 million for numerous infrastructure projects, including renovations to its education building and a massive reconstruction of its north lawn area.

Under Senate Bill 83, approved by the Illinois General Assembly in 2003, the district was allowed to issue up to $100 million in bonds for entities like the garden and Brookfield Zoo. The district's commissioners approved May 4 the list of projects to be funded through the bond sale.

County officials allotted $600,000 to improve sections of the North Branch Bicycle Trail in Skokie and Morton Grove. Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, D-13, of Evanston, said for years
he's hustled to secure
funding for a rehab of the bike trail, but excess funds were scarce.

The district's funding approval came at an opportune time, as routine maintenance at many of its facilities had been ignored because of a lack of funding. Suffredin said the district hadn't adopted a capital program since the 1990s.

The east diversion ditch is an extreme example of that delay.

The ditch, on district property, essentially acts as drainage canal for homes and streets in the western end of Glencoe and Winnetka, routing excess storm water into the Skokie Lagoons. But the ditch had never been cleared since its construction in the 1930s and was badly clogged with 12,000 cubic yards of silt and debris.

The obstruction was cited as the main culprit last summer when streets and basements in Glencoe were badly flooded and wouldn't drain.

Glencoe officials worked with Suffredin for several years before county officials agreed to earmark $1.1 million for the ditch's cleaning. Work is set to begin January 2006.

"I am particularly pleased that the forest preserve district allocated funds to rebuild the east diversion ditch in Glencoe," Suffredin said in a statement. "The village of Glencoe and I have worked for more than two years to obtain financial support for this project which will help alleviate some of the flooding problems in Glencoe."