SB1211eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1211 Engrossed LRB094 04862 LCB 34891 b

AN ACT concerning civil law.

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois owns certain real property in the City of Chicago in the Dunning Community Area in Cook County, located in Township 40 North, Range 13 East, Section 18, that is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Human Services for the operation of the Chicago Read Mental Health Center; and

WHEREAS, Approximately 30 acres of the Chicago Read Mental Health Center property contain 2 wetlands, an emergent wetland, and other open space that benefit the protection of the Des Plaines watershed; and

WHEREAS, State-owned wetlands are governed by and must be managed according to the Interagency Wetlands Policy Act of 1989 and provisions of Part 1090 of Title 17 of the Illinois Administrative Code; and

WHEREAS, The mission of the Illinois Department of Human Services is to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life of Illinois citizens; and

WHEREAS, Parks, open spaces, and forests are important components for the health and well-being of urban residents, contributing to the prevention and amelioration of illness not only by facilitating improvements in physical fitness through exercise, but also by facilitating positive emotional, intellectual, and social experiences; and

WHEREAS, The Dunning Community Area, in which the property is located, has been identified as underserved by open space and parks in the Land Policies Plans completed by the City and the Chicago Park District, that note that 2 large segments of the Dunning Community have no open space or parkland whatsoever; and

WHEREAS, The Dunning property was originally donated to Cook County in 1868 by the Dunning family for health and social purposes and was operated by the County as a "poor farm" and a facility for the mentally ill until 1912; and

WHEREAS, In 1912 Cook County conveyed the 235-acre Dunning property to the State of Illinois to be used for health and social purposes as stated in the original land covenant; therefore

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Department of Human Services is hereby authorized to grant and convey a permanent conservation easement to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources on a parcel containing 30 acres, more or less, that is located in Section 18, Township 40 North, Range 13 East of the third principal meridian, Cook County, Illinois, situated to the West and South of the Chicago Read Mental Health Center, for the purpose of preserving and protecting the wetlands and forested area for the benefit of the patients of the facility, the community, and the general public, this 30-acre parcel being more particularly described under Section 10 of this Act.

Section 10. A parcel containing 30 acres, more or less, located in Section 18, Township 40 North, Range 13 East of the third principal meridian, Cook County, Illinois, situated to the West and South of the Chicago Read Mental Health Center, a more accurate description to be made by an Illinois professional land surveyor, the cost of the survey to be paid for by Friends of the Parks.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.