Wauconda to refine water plan

Wauconda officials will meet to refine plans to bring Lake Michigan water to the village.

Mayor Mark Knigge said Bill Balling, project manager of the North-West Lake County Lake Michigan Water Planning Group, and Barbara Adams, a county attorney, will attend the village committee of the whole meeting to present an outline of the project. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Wauconda village hall.

The meeting is another step for village officials to gather as much information as they can about the project, said Knigge, who described obtaining Lake Michigan water as the biggest public works project Wauconda will face.

“We will not rush into this,” he said. “We want to make sure we understand all aspects of this project.”

Earlier this year, Wauconda and nine other municipalities that make up the water group were awarded Lake Michigan allocations by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. However, after recent meetings within the group, village officials became concerned with the direction by the county and other municipalities to establish a governing process. Currently, all the lawyers and engineers working on the project have been hired by the county, leaving village officials unsure about their input, village attorney Rudolph Magna has said.

Wauconda village Trustee John Barbini asked if the village can prepare questions in advance to present to Balling to make sure he is prepared to address their concerns.

“I don’t want to sit here for 40 minutes and hear a paid advertisement,” Barbini said.

Magna said he has told Balling to be prepared for tough questions, and added he expects a lively and civil discussion on the matter.

“He knows he is not coming here for a dog and pony show to address the glory of the project. He knows he is coming here to address key issues,” he said.

Magna added this is not something new the village is pitching. Village officials have stated on the record the direction they would like to see the project progress.

Knigge added the water group’s general policy committee will meet Thursday at the Volo village hall. Mayors will be presented with bills to pay and will discuss options to form a water commission.

“Something that is very dear to us in the village of Wauconda is governance,” Knigge said. “We will be looking to putting that into place as soon as possible.”