Long Grove makes final decision on lift station; residents still unhappy with plan
The Long Grove village board made a final decision Wednesday morning to keep a controversial lift station where it is, but affected residents said they're not giving up their fight to have it moved.
The board called a special meeting Wednesday to talk about the station on Checker Road. The facility would service the Menards building being put up at Lake-Cook Road and Old Route 53 and residents of Country Club Estates, if they ever need to connect to a sewer line.
However, the residents of nearby Country Club Meadows are unhappy that the station is so close to a wetland and an S-curve on Checker Road, calling the location a safety hazard and environmental risk.
"The village has tried to say, 'We're listening,' but they have not been listening," said Rick Bingham, whose house is near the proposed site. "(The site) encroaches on a wetland. The economic impact will be real."
Village President Maria Rodriguez said the village has explored multiple options, and the Checker Road site is the only one that is viable.
"There's no reason for us to request a change unless we find a compelling reason," Rodriguez said. "The reality is, this is the best place for it." Rodriguez said she talked to the Lake County Forest Preserve, as several residents had suggested, about putting the lift station on its property.
"We would have to prove that we have no alternatives," she said. "We heard what residents said and went back and took a second look. We came back over and over again to the same decision. It was chosen based on firm and sound engineering decisions." However, Joanne Pence, a resident of Country Club Meadows, said she and others believe the village has not taken their concerns seriously.
"It was all very one-sided in regard to what was wrong with every other site, but there was nothing wrong with this site," she said. "To me, there's a lot of things wrong with this site." She said that even though the village and Menards engineers have moved the station 40 feet to the west to handle the safety issues, that still isn't enough to guard against people running into trucks entering and leaving the station.
"It really flies in the face of everything Long Grove says they stand for," Pence said. "It sets the stage on how the village will be handling commercial development." Rodriguez said the issue is over as far as the village board is concerned and the board will not be hearing more resident concerns on the location. However, residents have said they will continue to fight the location on Checker Road.