Lake Co. board candidates debate wisdom of $23 million county facility

Former Grayslake mayor Pat Carey says Lake County Board member Terese Douglass made a poor decision when she voted to approve $23 million for a centralized Lake County Forest Preserve maintenance facility.

Carey, a Democrat who is challenging Douglass for the seat Nov. 4, said Douglass should have rejected the expenditure because the bid came in $10 million more than the county anticipated.

However, Douglass said the maintenance facility is important for the forest preserve and that it will be an asset to centralize the county maintenance facilities.

Douglass, a Republican, was appointed to the county board in 2007 after serving on the Grayslake village board. Carey, the former mayor, has been out of politics since 2001.

District 11 includes Grayslake and Gages Lake, and portions of Waukegan and Gurnee.

The issue came up during a candidate endorsement interview held by the Daily Herald. Challengers were asked to discuss a vote the incumbent made that they felt should have been handled differently, with incumbents granted time to rebut.

In February, Lake County Forest Preserve officials approved building the $23 million maintenance facility at the Fourth Lake Forest Preserve along Grand Avenue near Lindenhurst. It is not yet completed.

Forest board commissioners - who also serve as county board members - originally expected the cost to come in around $11 million.

Carey said the maintenance facility was not a critical need and it would have been wise for county officials to keep money in the bank.

"From a business perspective, something is radically wrong if you think its going to cost you $10 to $11 million and you bring a bid back and its $23 million," she said. "I wouldn't do it in this economy. Yes, they are not increasing property taxes to (build the maintenance facility), but we are absolutely going to have to make some serious decisions in terms of our spending and I would not have spent that 23 million dollars."

Douglass, however, said it is necessary to bring operations of the 26,000 acres of forest preserve land under one roof.

"If we have 26,000 acres, we need to have a building, a place that is centrally located where we have the operations and the safety, which is like a police building," she said. "If we are really committed in the forest preserve to maintaining our property the way we should, then we need to maintain the people who work for us."

She added the building is no "Taj Mahal," and handles all the needs of the forest preserve. But, she also admitted the $23 million price tag was more than commissioners expected.

"It was a shock for everyone," Douglass added. "I feel comfortable with my vote, because I feel like we did the most efficient thing we could."