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Long Grove approves funding to sustain Midwest Sustainability Group’s push on stalled state land transfer
Summary
Trustees approved an additional funding request for Midwest Sustainability Group after the group reported delays in an anticipated IDOT-to-IDNR land transfer; the board authorized the request after staff discussion and roll-call votes.
The Long Grove board voted to provide additional funding to the Midwest Sustainability Group to sustain advocacy work after a promised interagency land transfer stalled.
Barbara Clip, representing the Midwest Sustainability Group, told trustees the group had been asked to stand down while a deputy governor for IDOT and a deputy governor for IDNR worked on an interagency transfer. "Since I sent you that report, they assured us some of this land was going to be transferred in the next two weeks. That would have been last week and it hasn't happened," Clip said, describing shifting information about parcel counts and acreage.
Clip said the organization had been told at various times that as much as a thousand acres would move through agency channels; more recent accounts reduced that estimate to 150 acres. The group scheduled a meeting with the DNR deputy director and coalition representatives to reconcile the conflicting accounts and to press for movement before the fall veto session.
Trustees discussed process questions about parcel ownership and federal corridor designations that can impose restrictions on private parcels; staff said the Forest Preserve District and other partners are engaged and Openlands contributed renderings for proposed open-space and trail development.
Board members moved and seconded a request for frontloaded funding (Barbara described a $36,750 frontloaded request for advocacy work). The motion passed on a roll call with unanimous recorded 'yes' votes. The board asked staff to keep Village President Jacob informed of the outcome of the upcoming agency meeting.
The board’s action funds near-term advocacy and coordination while state-level transfers and any required legislative steps remain unresolved.
