Farmers Weekly Review

By Nick Reiher

Believe it or not, after more than 35 years of covering Will County Board on and off, there are things I still don’t understand.

For instance, at their scheduled monthly meeting on September 19, the board will be considering an ordinance that the drafter – Steve Balich, R-Homer Glen – believes will improve the notification process when the county transportation department plans work in their districts.

The proposed ordinance, which must be approved by the full board, offers these requirements:

1. Property Owner Notification by letter: Notify all property owners within a ½ mile radius of the PROJECT by letter that shall include the following information:
2. The reason for the contact -identify the PROJECT;
3. Property affected by PROJECT

iii. Scope of PROJECT;

1. Scheduling of PROJECT;
2. Where to get more information about PROJECT;
3. Notification by letter shall take place every two (2) years consistent with the election of County Board Members.
4. Notification by letter shall take place no later than December 31st of the same calendar year as the election of County Board Members.
5. The requirements of this Ordinance do not negate requirements of the Illinois Department of Transportation or the Federal Government regarding notice procedures for transportation projects in Will County.
6. The Will County Department of Transportation shall present at the January County Board meeting, of the following calendar year, and provide a project list, a list of property owners notified per project along with County Board District affected, and the public comments received by the DOT for each PROJECT.

Now, if you made it to the end of the list, you might well believe the county’s transportation department works in a vacuum without notifying residents, County Board members or even their closest friends.

That is not the case. According to WDOT officials, affected residents and landowners are notified by mail.

Typically, notice is given to the properties that are adjacent to the roadway project and maybe a few down a side street, one project did 250’ either side, not a ¼ mile off the roadway itself. The radius of notification depends on the kind and scope of the project, which, if federal dollars are being used, must be a quarter mile, according to Chapter 21 of the IDOT Bureau of Local Roads Manual.

County projects are included in the plan detailed each year by Jeff Ronaldson, the county’s Transportation Director. He presents this to the Public Works and Transportation Committee, of which Balich is a member through his position as board Republican Caucus leader.

I often tune in to Public Works remotely, to see what’s going on. Frequently, the agenda includes a lot of projects to be approved. At the end of the meeting, or at other appropriate times, Ronaldson will update the committee on where the projects stand.

He also will send a copy of the projects and updates to the County Board office for distribution to those who did not attend the meeting.

So, could notification of county-related projects be better? Sure. But one question I have is, how much will extending mail notification to all affected landowners within a half-mile radius cost in comparison to what is done now?

The other question I have includes a comment. Someone at one of the meetings jokingly said going door-to-door was the best way to notify. But then, what do you County Board members do when soliciting votes before elections?

And heck, I’ve seen you guys don’t even need to go through all that trouble. At least a couple of you, including Mr. Balich, have websites and other ways to make sure people attend county meetings when there are big doings going on in your districts.

Through whatever means, Mr. Balich got dozens to show up for hearings on the renovation and widening the county’s portion of 143^rd Street, a project that had been going on, and voted on by the board, for some 30 years.

Yet, that project somehow seemed to escape the attention of a vocal group of landowners there concerned widening would bring more trucks; not make it easier for the trucks that will come anyway to pass through more safely.

Mark Revis, R-Plainfield, used social media networking to not only draw a crowd for a proposed decrease in the Forest Preserve’s tax rate (Board members are also Forest Preserve Commissioners), got them to believe it was a tax increase; one that drew hundreds of emails opposing it.

More recently, Mr. Balich brought in some opponents to residents who wanted to ride off-trail in a Forest Preserve District preserve. They knew when and where the committee meeting was going to be held.

So, County Board members, you have the power to gather information, hopefully disseminate it correctly to your constituents and make them aware of any meetings the county would be holding on the issue.

Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? Or is that too much work?

Nick Reiher is editor of Famers Weekly Review.