(A) General.
(1) There is need, and it is in the best interests of the County of Lake, that a Department of Public Works be organized to exercise the powers and authority prescribed by An Act in Relation to Water Supply, Drainage, Sewage, Pollution, and Flood Control in Certain Counties (55 ILCS 5/5-15001 et seq.), and there is hereby created the Lake County Department of Public Works, and that the Chairman of the Board is authorized to take all necessary action as provided by law in order to organize the Department.
(2) The county is hereby prohibited from levying any tax to pay for the operation of the Department; all recipients of the services of the Department of Public Works shall pay for the entire cost of the operation.
(3) The county hereby will, in a manner and to an extent consistent with the county’s interest and responsibility, provide financial support in the form of loans to projects which, by resolution of the Board, are deemed to be in the best interest of the growth and development of the county.
(4) The Department of Public Works is hereby prohibited from exercising its powers in any area where similar services are available from another agency or governmental unit, unless expressly requested by that agency or governmental unit to provide the services in that area.
(5) From and after this date, notice of any proposed revisions, amendments, or alterations of this section which establishes a Department of Public Works, shall be sent by registered mail to the presiding officer of each incorporated municipality within the county and all township supervisors 60 days prior to consideration by the County Board.
(6) If and when requests for withdrawals or transfers from the County General Corporate Fund to the Department of Public Works are proposed, all members of the County Board shall be notified in writing ten days prior to the meeting wherein the request is presented.
(7) Any and all monies advanced or transferred from the County General Corporate Fund to the Public Works Department as established by this section shall be repaid to the County General Corporate Fund from revenues derived from the Department of Public Works facilities, established with financial support from the county, as the revenues become available.
(1977 Code, § 7:1)
(B) Considerations and principles relating to intergovernmental agreements for sewer and amendments to existing agreements.
(1) Premises.
(a) The County is a regional government.
(b) County decisions often have regional effects that should be evaluated.
(c) In addition, as the primary regional government in Lake County, the County has a special responsibility to encourage intergovernmental cooperation.
(2) Decision-making process.
(a) In order to give appropriate consideration to intergovernmental impacts of decisions, the external effects of decisions should be thoroughly evaluated through consultation with affected or potentially affected governmental units, agencies, and departments.
(b) Decisions should be made with due consideration to the objectives of the County’s Framework Plan.
(c) Decisions should also be made giving due consideration to the direct and indirect effects of such decisions, including the totality of the benefits and impacts of the decision on affected governmental units, agencies, and departments.
(d) Ultimately, the County as a regional government must exercise its legislative discretion in determining what it believes is best for the County and its residents as a whole.
(3) Factors to be assessed relating to sewer service decisions.
(a) The County is not a public utility, but it provides certain public services with the goal of enhancing the well being of all Lake County residents. This goal is ordinarily achieved through the use of regional publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities.
(b) In making decisions related to sewer service, the County should evaluate both direct and indirect effects from both a policy and practical perspective. Those effects may include without limitation:
1. Consistency with the Framework Plan;
2. Impact on other affected public bodies;
3. Consistency with relevant municipal plans;
4. Fiscal and related benefits;
5. Available and committed capacity of system;
6. Level of support/opposition to proposal;
7. Impact on County roads and other services;
8. Specific environmental concerns.
(c) Coordination of concerns of affected governments is important to achieve appropriate planning and wise investment of public resources. This is increasingly important as development spreads throughout the County and actions of one community are more likely to affect other communities.
(d) To better ensure that decisions are made based on understandable parameters, sewer service agreements and amendments to such agreements should ordinarily be based on specific limitations on the County’s obligations to provide such services. Those limitations should be expressed in terms of capacity and, when appropriate, the nature of the development to be served. In addition, amendments to existing sewer service agreements should ordinarily be considered in the context of specific developments to be served.
(e) Although past practices are important, the considerations and effects of sewer decisions are ever-evolving and cannot be made based on static models of precedent.
(C) Pollution policies. The following are hereby adopted as the present policy of this Board of Supervisors of Lake County, Illinois.
(1) The main purpose in development of the county-wide facilities are eventually to eliminate intolerable pollution problems, to reduce existing problems to acceptable levels, and to prevent the formation of new problem areas in a manner that provides adequately for the growing population.
(2) The County Public Works Department shall implement the provisions of providing the proposed facilities to collect, transport and treat sanitary wastes in accordance with said master plan and policies.
(3) The master plan should be implemented with negotiations with municipalities and/or sanitary districts for the operation and maintenance of existing treatment facilities.
(4) The Public Works Department will cooperate with all local, state and federal agencies in the achievement of the goals set forth in this master plan.
(5) The County Public Works Department shall implement the provision of local sanitary sewer service in unincorporated areas of the county.
(6) The location of the interceptor sanitary sewers and sewage treatment facilities shown on Plate 1 will depend and will be subject to change based on availability of easement and land, and economic factors which can only be determined after detailed field survey, but will as near os feasible be the location shown.
(7) The proposed sewage treatment plant shall be designed to meet all state and federal regulations and will be designed as near as practical in a manner which will provide for improvement to full water reclamation facilities by the year 1985. The equipment, installation and operation of the sewage treatment facilities will be in accordance with the highest water pollution control standards.
(8) The Public Works Department will complete a study on each existing sewage plant at the proper time to determine the following:
(a) Whether or not to vacate or relocate the facilities;
(b) Whether or not to expand the present facilities and provide additional interim capacity;
(c) Whether or not to utilize the facility for pretreatment of industrial wastes;
(d) Whether or not to utilize the facility for treatment of storm water flaws. Generally, the policy shall be to vacate these plants as soon as possible except where they may be utilized for pretreatment of industrial wastes and/or treatment of storm water flows.
(9) The Public Works Department should pursue all practical methods in obtaining ways in financing the construction of the necessary facilities. The financing of the facilities shall be by user fees and/or general taxes that spread in the area serviced.
(10) Any new sewage treatment facilities or interim sewage facilities shall be built only with the approval of the Public Works Department and ownership will be in the County of Lake.
(11) The Public Works Department shall pursue through various local, state and federal agencies a program to provide water for low flow augmentation on the Des Planes and Fox Rivers to clean the water of these streams to good recreational standards for the benefit of the Lake County Forest Preserve, land owners and public use of these natural water resources.
(12) (a) The priority of construction of these facilities shall be as follows:
1. Priority 1: Northwest Area;
2. Priority 2: Southeast Area;
3. Priority 3: East Central Area;
4. Priority 4: Southwest Area;
5. Priority 5: Northeast Area.
(b) Land acquisition should be accomplished immediately for all sewage treatment plant sites. These priorities may vary dependent upon the financial ability of the various areas to issue revenue bonds. The entire proposed facilities should be constructed by the year 1974.
(13) The Public Works Department will provide a continuing study of the existing sanitary conditions and facilities needed for water pollution control and abatement and will submit a written report updating the master plan every five years to the County Board, or at any time that changes in the county growth pattern or other planning factors would require a major revision.
(14) The said master plan and the policy statements contained herein should be revised from time to time by passage of an appropriate resolution by this Board of Supervisors.
(D) Master plan update. The Supplement to the 1962 Comprehensive Report ion the Existing Sanitary Conditions and Proposed Facilities for Water Pollution Control and Abatement, as amended December 17, 1968, is revised and amended to show the new master plan as prepared by Consoer, Townsend & Associates, a copy of which is attached to the resolution codified herein and made a part hereof, shall be adopted as the Lake County master plan west of the North Shore Sanitary District boundaries, more particularly, Plate #1 of the said Supplement to the Comprehensive Report shall be adopted as the County master plan.
(Res. passed 10-9-1962; Ord. 1968.12.17, passed 12-17-1968; Ord. 1971.05.27, passed 5-10-1971; Res. 2005.04.04, passed 5-5-2005)