Fox Lake, Spring Grove border agreement

Fox Lake and Spring Grove officials have approved an agreement that addresses undeveloped land along their shared border.

“We cannot always pick our neighbor, but I think we have a great neighbor. Thank you Spring Grove,” Fox Lake Trustee Jack Kiesgen said before the board unanimously approved the agreement Tuesday.

Tim Hartnett of SEC Group Inc., an engineering consulting firm for Spring Grove, said the written document took a year of work by both communities.

Spring Grove Police Chief and former village president Tom Sanders called it “a momentous occasion.” Current Village President Mark Eisenberg said the goal was for both towns to work together and not allow developers to control their future.

Spring Grove approved the agreement Dec. 21.

The agreement allows neither Fox Lake nor Spring Grove to annex areas across a border defined mostly by Wilmot Road, State Park Road and Main Street.

The exception is either town may annex areas west of State Park Road, north of Route 12 and south of Main Street as long as it is not forced and it does not cut off contiguity of Spring Grove to the north or Fox Lake to land along Route 12.

Highlights of the agreement include:

&bul; Continued police jurisdiction as recognized by the 911 emergency boards, with mutual aid and backup as it is currently.

&bul; The Kattner farm, when developed, will have residential zoning of three units per acre and property owners will choose in which town to annex. Nippersink Elementary District 2, Richmond-Burton High School District 157 and the Nippersink Library will collect fees from the property development no matter in which town it is annexed. Both towns will split sales tax revenue from any commercial development on the site.

&bul; The Tall Oaks sewage treatment plant on Grass Lake Road will cover development of the unincorporated areas until it reaches capacity. After that, developed areas may be served by a regional sewage treatment plant expansion or a new facility on the Thelen property near the Illinois-Wisconsin border.

Fox Lake Trustee Nancy Koske said border agreements are the future for municipalities.

“We have to work together to get anything done,” Koske said. She noted Fox Lake has a sales tax sharing agreement with neighboring Volo that has worked well for both communities.