Sanitary district files lawsuit against Campton Hills

A rural sanitary district has filed a civil lawsuit seeking to maintain separation from the village of Campton Hills.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Kane County claims the Wasco Sanitary District is not entirely within the municipal limits of the newly incorporated village, and therefore must maintain its independence as a taxing body.

Village officials have said the sanitary district, which supplies water and sewer service to about 1,000 residents, would be taken over by the new municipality this year unless district residents voted to remain separate via referendum. That plan was based on a state statute that requires sanitary districts to be dissolved if their entire jurisdiction incorporates, as Campton Hills did recently.

But the district's attorney, Charles Muscarello, said Wednesday that about 95 acres west of La Fox Road are actually outside the village.

Muscarello declined to say how or when the discrepancy was discovered. The lawsuit, tentatively set for a hearing Tuesday, seeks a judge's decision in favor of keeping the district's independence.

"I believe the village has made statements and made known that they believe the sanitary district should be dissolved into the village, and we don't believe that's the case," Muscarello said.

Village attorney Bill Braithwaite declined to comment on the specifics of the suit Wednesday, saying he had not yet reviewed it.

"It's going to be a case of finding out factually if that (the lawsuit's claim) is correct," Braithwaite said.

Founded in 1971, the sanitary district is a multimillion-dollar operation that provides hundreds of thousands of gallons of potable water a day to Wasco and the Fox Mill, Fox Creek, Norton Farm, Prairie Lakes, Campton Trails and Campton Crossings neighborhoods.

It draws on aquifers more than 1,000 feet underground for the potable supply and processes about 6 million gallons of wastewater a month, officials said.