Kane forest board, Dundee Twp. supervisor locked in war of words

Potential gravel pit mining at the Brunner Forest Preserve in Dundee Township paved a rocky political road Tuesday when a Kane County Board endorsement turned into public meeting debate fodder.

Kane County Forest Preserve District President John Hoscheit and Commissioners Cathy Hurlbut and John Fahy launched into a 13-minute rant against letters and an endorsement penned by Dundee Township Supervisor Sue Harney. Harney is backing Hurlbut's Democratic challenger Jim Shales. But the trio of seated commissioners said the campaign literature goes too far in suggesting a secret deal has already been penned to guarantee gravel mining at Brunner.

“That is not the case, Hoscheit said of any deal. “There was some discussion in the past about creating lakes on forest preserve property. At this point we don't have any programming in place or any specific planning for gravel mining on any of our properties. If we ever chose to do that, we'd go through a long, open discussion process. What's happened here is this has become part of the election process propaganda.

Hurlbut then used the forum to take a position against gravel mining at Brunner. The idea behind the mine is to save money on the gravel needed to build Longmeadow Parkway and use the quarry as a man-made fishing lake once complete.

“I will not ever support a lake at Brunner, Hurlbut said. “I may support a lake at other forest preserves. I just don't think Brunner is the proper place for it.

Too little, too late in Harney's mind. She said she's sticking with her endorsement of Shales despite her own Republican status. Shales had already pledged to vote against any gravel mining at Brunner.

Harney also stands by her fears that a dangerous path toward mining at Brunner has already begun. Harney said other county board members told her forest preserve officials already met with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to discuss how to get a permit for gravel mining on forest preserve land.

“What I have said is that the groundwork is being laid to do this, and I believe it is, Harney said. “To buy a place like Brunner and even consider mining the area is just awful. If they wanted to do this, then it should've been part of the referendum language for the money to buy the property. It is absolutely wrong to ask voters for money to buy forest preserves, and then turn around and say what we're really going to do is build a road and mine gravel.

Hoscheit promised a full public debate if any formal consideration of gravel mining at Brunner begins. He vowed the district would never do any mining that harmed forest preserve or adjacent property.