Forest preserve projects likely to be delayed

More than $24 million in work may be delayed by the Lake County Forest Preserve District because of falling property values.

Several board committees have agreed with staff recommendations for which projects should continue and which should be deferred if bonds approved by voters in 2008 are not issued as originally scheduled.

About $75 million in bonds may need to be deferred for a year until October 2012 and 2013, meaning the money for projects on the books wouldn't be available as soon as originally planned in the district's five-year capital improvement plan.

The move is expected to be approved by the full forest board Tuesday. A decision on the bonds won't be made until next year, when property value picture is clearer.

Issuing the bonds would incur debt payments, an expense the district wants to avoid because property values are expected to drop. With less money coming in and the stated intent not to raise property tax rates to fund the bonds, the emphasis will be on controlling spending.

Should the bonds be delayed, several approved projects, including the implementation of a master plan for Hastings Lake between Lindenhurst and Lake Villa, would be affected.

“The whole project is deferred,” said Mike Fenelon, the district's director of planning, conservation and development.

At more than $8.5 million, the construction of a trail around the lake, fishing piers, restrooms and other amenities at Hastings Lake was the largest of the projects that may have to wait.

Trail and crossing projects, including those at Wilson Road and Rollins Road also would be delayed, as will yet-to-be-determined work at the Fort Sheridan and Lakewood forest preserves.

Maintenance cost, improving existing facilities versus new ones, and grant funding opportunities were among the factors used to prioritize the projects.

About $11.5 million will be available to continue with other projects that have been in progress, including a plan to drain Rasmussen Lake and restore North Mill Creek at the Ethel's Woods Forest Preserve near Antioch. Planning for underpasses or overpasses for separate trail projects at Grand Avenue and Gilmer Road also will move ahead as a result of more than $5 million in state grants awarded in late October.

Ongoing projects including the Greenbelt Cultural Center expansion, the consolidation and moving of district offices to a different location in Libertyville, and three extensions of the Millennium Trail will not be affected.

“We are going to experience a huge reduction in our budget because of the EAV (equalized assessed valuation),” board President Bonnie Thomson Carter said recently. “This is very significant to the forest preserve. We're looking at more ways to tighten our belts.”