Watch County Update:
An Inside Look at Naval Station Great Lakes |
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Naval
Station Great Lakes, located in North Chicago, has been
a tremendous asset to Lake County for more than 100
years. Many Lake County residents may not realize that
on any given day, more than 20,000 military and civilian
personnel work, train and live at the naval station. It
contributes more than $748.8 million to our local
economy, which includes payrolls, government purchases,
and contracts. In
this edition of County Update, Captain Randall Lynch,
Naval Station Great Lakes Commanding Officer, gives us
an inside look into Naval Station Great Lakes and what
goes on behind those gates.
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Lake County Opens New Veterans Center |
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 The
new Veterans Center of Lake County officially opened on
March 19. The center is co-located with the Veterans
Assistance Commission (VAC)
at 20 S. King Ave. in Waukegan.
The
center features an Internet café for veterans and their
families to check Veterans Assistance (VA) claim status
and health care records, and receive one-on-one
assistance from VAC employees, as needed. Also, by
enhancing the ability for veterans to access records,
the VAC can submit all of the required documentation
with a claim, which significantly reduces the amount of
time for that claim to be processed by the VA.
Veterans will be able to learn about other available
services and programs, including: peer-to-peer
counseling through the Lake-McHenry Veterans Family
Services, Veterans Treatment Court, the Emergency
Assistance program, the Dental Treatment Program, and
the American Legion Family Assistance Program, as well
as other assistance programs.Click
here to learn more about the center from this video from
the opening ceremonies.
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Lake County's Website Gets an A+ for Transparency |
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 For
the third straight year, Lake County has received a
"Sunny Award" and an A+ transparency grade for its
website. Sunshine
Review, a national non-profit organization dedicated
to government transparency, reviewed more than 6,000
government websites and recently announced the 2012
winners. Websites are graded on having items such as:
budgets, meetings, lobbying, financial audits,
contracts, academic performance, public records and
taxes. Lake County is one of only six counties in
Illinois to receive this top grade. Visit the Lake
County website at www.lakecountyil.gov!
Also, check out our new OpenGov
page on
our website. You can access Lake County's public records
from one, convenient place.
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Senior Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemptions |
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This
week the Chief
County Assessment Office mailed the 2012 Senior
Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption
Applications to all homeowners currently receiving the
Senior Homestead.
The
qualifications are:
- 65 years old or
older during the tax year
- Own the property as
your principal residence for the last two Jan. 1st
- 2011 total household
income is $55,000 or less.
Need
help filling out the application? Visit one of the
scheduled Outreach
Sessions. Applications need to be filed by July
2, 2012. For forms or additional information
please visit the Chief
County Assessment Office website.
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Programs for Affordable Home Ownership |
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Beginning April
15, Lake County in association with a number of
Illinois communities will offer a two-pronged approach
to assist eligible homebuyers. The Assist program
provides families with funds to pay all or most of their
closing costs and down payment, and the mortgage credit
certificate ("MCC") program reduces the homebuyer's
ongoing cost of borrowing. Homebuyers must been certain
eligibility criteria, including purchase price and
income limits. Read
this flyer to learn more about how these programs work.
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Forest Preserve Approves New Ft. Sheridan Approach |
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 At
its March meeting, the Lake County Forest Preserve Board
of Commissioners approved a resolution requesting that
the Army remove the golf course deed restriction at the Fort
Sheridan Forest Preserve and
allow the District to use that land as open space for
recreational trails, habitat restoration and scenic
overlooks.
The
construction, financing and operation of the proposed Fort
Sheridan Golf Course have
been extensively discussed by the Forest Preserve
District since the early 2000s. During that time period,
the Forest Preserve has examined and analyzed many
alternative golf plans: 9 holes, 18 holes, different
levels of course quality, length, configuration and
attributes; and evaluated various financial plans and
green fee rate structures consistent with course
attributes.
Although many options were reviewed, the Board of
Commissioners deemed no plan was financially viable and
affordable for the residents of Lake County.
The
Board of Commissioners determined that building a golf
course at Fort Sheridan has proven neither financially
prudent nor practical, given that a golf plan that was
affordable to Lake County residents, and one in
which revenues covered all operations and debt service
costs and green fees, could not be developed in this
economic climate. Additionally, no proposals from the
private sector were received, and the local golf market
continues to be stressed with rounds declining 23
percent over the past five years at District-owned
courses.
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Six New Degrees Available at University Center |
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 Six
new degrees were added to the University
Center of Lake County's program array. The group
includes the first bachelor's degree for off-campus
students developed by the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. Each of the six degrees is offered by
a different University Center member institution, four
by public institutions and two by private non-profit
institutions.
The
newly-added programs are:
- An online BS in
Earth, Society and Environmental Sustainability
offered by the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign,
- A BS in Early
Childhood Education (Type 04) with a preschool
special education approval offered by Northern
Illinois University,
- An online BSN
completion program offered by University of Illinois
at Chicago,
- An online BA in
Legal Studies offered by Dominican University,
- An online MA in
Legal Studies offered by University of Illinois at
Springfield, and
- An MA in
Differentiated Instruction offered by Concordia
University Chicago.
More information is also
available at www.ucenter.org or
by contacting the University Center at 847.665.4000.
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Lake County Holds Open Houses on Application to Rezone
Property at Rt. 12 and Old McHenry Road |
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The
Dimucci Family has applied to Lake County to develop its
approximately 109 acres of property at Rt. 12 and Old
McHenry Road located in southwestern unincorporated Lake
County. The request is for a rezoning from residential
to commercial with a planned unit development to allow
for up to 53 acres of high quality commercial
development, surrounded by about 50 acres of open
space.
On
March 3 and March 21, many residents attended Lake
County's first two informational open houses on the
project. Residents had an opportunity to ask questions
about the proposal, learn more about the process, and
provide input. There will be one additional open house
on Tuesday, March 27 from 5
to 8 p.m. at
Concorde Banquets, 20922 N Rand Road in Kildeer.
In this video, you can learn
more about the information provided at the open houses.
Watch now (4
minutes). You can also visit www.lakecountyil.gov/dimucciproperty to
view materials from the open houses, and submit
comments.
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As
winter comes to an end, the