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Editorial: A good partnership for a new park

Illinois often gets a bad rap for its many overlapping layers of government, but our local governments less frequently get credit for joining together to do something right.

That's why we want to tip our hats to public officials of the village of Mundelein, the Mundelein Park and Recreation District and Lake County, who worked together to eliminate a potential eyesore and create a neighborhood park.

It took some creativity to realize the potential in a long-vacant house that had $70,000 in liens filed by Mundelein, $30,000 in delinquent taxes owed to the county and a yard that was being maintained by the village.

The single-story, yellow house was "an extreme case" that was "more or less abandoned," Mundelein Village Administrator John Lobaito said.

But thanks to the cooperative efforts, the nearly half-acre site will be a park by next summer, the first in an area of Mundelein north of Route 176 and east of Route 45 where residents now can only reach such oases by crossing busy, major roads.

Daily Herald staff writer Mick Zawislak wrote that a deal began to take shape when Lobaito contacted parks Executive Director Margaret Resnick. Lobaito was aware that finding a site near the Holcomb subdivision was on the park district's wish list. But it isn't easy to come up with land for a park in an established neighborhood.

Together, the two hatched a plan.

The village of Mundelein acquired the property at a sheriff's sale, then wrote off the liens.

Lake County waived the unpaid taxes.

An owner sold an adjacent piece of land at a reduced rate.

In all, the park district will pay about $25,000 for the property and estimates it will spend $150,000 to $250,000 to create the park, depending on the amenities, which neighborhood residents will be invited to weigh in on.

"It really is meant for the neighborhood to walk to from their homes," Resnick said. "We've got a couple of designs for the park to take to residents and see what they prefer."

The collaborative effort resulted in an award this month from the Illinois Association of Park Districts for intergovernmental cooperation.

Beyond that, the effort solved a problem and will provide a bit of communal ground for the neighborhood, improving residents' lives for years to come. That's a pretty nice payoff that deserves our congratulations.

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