DuPage forest preserve doesn't want land annexed

DuPage County Forest Preserve officials don't want district land included in plans to expand Bensenville's borders.

The village is offering to replace the aging water delivery system for a neighborhood of about 280 homes if the property owners agree to annex into Bensenville.

Forest preserve officials, however, were surprised when the village extended its offer to the district because a small part of Fischer Woods Forest Preserve is located within the area targeted for annexation.

"We have a policy that we prefer not to be annexed into municipalities," said Kevin Stough, the forest preserve's manager of land preservation.

So the district plans to notify Bensenville about its policy and decline the annexation offer.

Bensenville officials said that shouldn't be a problem.

Village Manager Mike Cassady said excluding the forest preserve land will have no impact on a proposed $7 million project to replace water mains in the White Pines neighborhood.

Cassady said the small triangular parcel was included because it's along Route 83, which is a boundary line for a proposed special service area. The SSA would be created to raise money from property owners to help pay for the water main project.

But forest preserve officials say there's no benefit to having the district parcel in the SSA because the site is vacant and doesn't need access to Lake Michigan water.

"It would be very easy for them (Bensenville) to cut our parcel from their proposed annexation and SSA," Stough said.

Indeed, the village is focused on reaching out to White Pines residents to see if they're interested in the annexation idea. The village is planning to send forms to all the residents later this month.

In a recent letter to White Pines residents, Bensenville officials said the water system is in "very poor shape." In addition to frequent water main breaks, the system produces substandard water pressure to combat fires.

Still, a group of homeowners opposed to annexation are hoping DuPage County replaces the water system so the White Pines subdivision can remain unincorporated.

Cassady said Bensenville won't make a final decision on whether to pursue annexation and the SSA until February or March.

"We're just going to begin the petition process and see if there's a majority of residents who would want to participate," Cassady said. "Once we get to that point, then it will go back to the village board."