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Trial date set in Lake in the Hills Sanitary District dispute with county

A Sept. 19 trial date is set to determine whether the Lake in the Hills Sanitary District had authority to annex a strip of roadway across county lines.

McHenry County Judge Thomas Meyer on Wednesday granted a preliminary injunction barring the sanitary district from buying 13.88 acres of Kane County farmland for more than $950,000.

McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks filed the injunction because he believes the sanitary district's land grab attempt would have thwarted efforts by the county to consolidate the entity with the village of Lake in the Hills.

"Judge Meyer saw through the Lake in the Hills Sanitary District's underhanded attempt to stretch its boundaries over the county line and buy a piece of land they had no use for, other than preserving their status quo," Franks, a Marengo Democrat, said after Wednesday's hearing. "Taxpayers should be outraged, and sanitary district officials should be ashamed of themselves."

At a special meeting in July, two new sanitary district trustees - appointed in June by Franks - voted to reverse the previous board's action to annex the right of way along Square Barn Road in Huntley in Kane County.

Former sanitary district board President Shelby Key and current Trustee Terry Easler, who supported the annexation and land purchase, are contesting the legal authority of those newly appointed trustees. Key's term expired April 30 and was not renewed by Franks.

Derke Price, special counsel for the sanitary district and the attorney representing Key and Easler, could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Price has said the county board didn't have authority to appoint new board members since the sanitary district became a multicounty entity with the April 27 annexation and proposed land purchase. He contended that because the district is in two counties by the annexation, only a member of the General Assembly could appoint board members.

If Meyer voids the annexation on Sept. 19, Franks' appointment of sanitary district trustees Eric Hansen and Kyle Kane will be upheld.

The Lake in the Hills Sanitary District provides wastewater collection and water pollution control - funded through taxes and user fees - to roughly 40,000 residents within 11 square miles. It has 11,700 mostly residential customers in Lake in the Hills and parts of Crystal Lake and Huntley.

Lake in the Hills village trustees must approve of any consolidation. Sanitary district residents also could force the issue through a referendum.

As a former state legislator, Franks wrote the new state law that allows the McHenry and Lake county boards to eliminate taxing bodies within their jurisdictions if they appoint a majority of the trustees for those entities. McHenry County has more than 120 taxing bodies.

Earlier this week, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation granting all county governments throughout the state consolidation authority.

Lake in the Hills considers taking over sanitary district

McHenry County moves to halt Lake in the Hills Sanitary District land purchase

  McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks has been advocating for the consolidation and elimination of the Lake in the Hills Sanitary District as a separate taxing body. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
  A Sept. 19 trial date has been set to determine whether the Lake in the Hills Sanitary District had authority to annex property across county lines and purchase 13.88 acres along Square Barn Road in Huntley within Kane County. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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