99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
HB3099

 

Introduced , by Rep. Deborah Conroy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
70 ILCS 805/3a  from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 6305
70 ILCS 805/3c
70 ILCS 805/6  from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 6309

    Amends the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act. Provides that if the boundaries of a district are co-extensive with the boundaries of a county having a population of more than 800,000 but less than 3,000,000, the county board shall serve as the district board of commissioners of the district beginning the day after the 2018 general election. Provides that terms of the district commissioners elected prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act shall be extended until the day of the 2018 general election. Further provides that the president or chairman of the county board shall appoint an environmental liaison to the county board who shall advise the county board on environmental issues and other duties as defined by the county board. The environmental liaison shall be appointed only after the president or chairman consults with and is advised by the local branch of a non-profit, member supported, environmental organization that is governed nationally by a fifteen-member board of directors. Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.


LRB099 07894 AWJ 28034 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB3099LRB099 07894 AWJ 28034 b

1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Downstate Forest Preserve District Act is
5amended by changing Sections 3a, 3c, and 6 as follows:
 
6    (70 ILCS 805/3a)  (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 6305)
7    Sec. 3a. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, and
8except as provided in Section 3c, 3d, and 3.5, the affairs of
9the district shall be managed by a board of commissioners
10consisting of 5 commissioners, who shall be appointed by the
11presiding officer of the county board of the county in which
12such forest preserve district is situated, with the advice and
13consent of such county board. The first appointment shall be
14made within 90 days and not sooner than 60 days after such
15forest preserve district has been organized as provided herein.
16Each member of such board so appointed shall be a legal voter
17in such district. The first commissioners shall be appointed to
18hold office for terms of one, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years, and until
19June 30 thereafter, respectively, as determined and fixed by
20lot. Thereafter, successor commissioners shall be appointed in
21the same manner no later than the first day of the month in
22which the term of a commissioner expires. Except as provided in
23Section 3c and 3d, a vacancy occurring otherwise than by

 

 

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1expiration of term shall be filled for the unexpired term by
2appointment of a commissioner by the county board chairman with
3the advice and consent of the members of the county board. In
4the one district in existence on July 1, 1977, that is managed
5by an appointed board of commissioners, the incumbent 5
6commissioners shall complete their respective terms as
7originally prescribed in this Act. However, upon the expiration
8of the terms of 2 of the incumbent commissioners on January 1,
91978, they or their successors shall be appointed to hold
10office for terms of 3 and 5 years, and until June 30
11thereafter, respectively, as determined and fixed by lot.
12Furthermore, upon the expiration of the terms of the remaining
13incumbent commissioners on January 1, 1980, they or their
14successors shall be appointed to hold office for terms of 2, 4,
15and 5 years, and until June 30 thereafter, respectively, as
16determined and fixed by lot. Thereafter, each successor
17commissioner shall be appointed for a term of 5 years. Each
18member of the board before entering upon the duties of his
19office shall take the oath prescribed by the constitution. From
20the time of the appointment of the first board of
21commissioners, such forest preserve district shall be
22construed in all courts to be a body corporate and politic by
23the name and style determined as aforesaid and by such name may
24sue and be sued, contract and be contracted with, acquire and
25hold real and personal estate necessary for its corporate
26purposes and adopt a seal and alter the same at its pleasure.

 

 

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1    In case the boundaries of a district are co-extensive with
2the boundaries of any county, city, village, incorporated town
3or sanitary district, the corporate authorities of such county
4(until the commissioners elected under Section 3c and 3d take
5office), city, village, incorporated town or sanitary district
6shall have and exercise the powers and privileges and perform
7the duties and functions of the commissioners provided for in
8this Act and in that case no commissioner shall be appointed
9for that district. The corporate authorities, other than
10members of a county board in counties under township
11organization having a population of less than 3,000,000 and
12members of a county board in a county not under township
13organization who were elected prior to July 1, 1965, shall act
14without any other pay than that already provided by law. The
15members of a county board of a county under township
16organization and members of a county board of a county not
17under township organization who were elected prior to July 1,
181965, who also act as commissioners of a forest preserve
19district in counties having a population of less than 3,000,000
20may receive for their services as commissioners of a forest
21preserve district a per diem fee to be fixed by such board, but
22not to exceed $36 per day, which shall be in full for all
23services rendered on such day, or an annual salary to be fixed
24by such board, but not to exceed $3,000, plus mileage expenses
25at a rate not more than the amount allowed for members of the
26county board of such county, as fixed by the board, for each

 

 

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1mile necessarily traveled in attending meetings of the board of
2such district, plus any expense incurred while, or in
3connection with, carrying out the business of such district
4outside the boundaries of such district, payable from the
5forest preserve district treasury. The president of the Board
6of Commissioners of the Forest Preserve District in counties of
7less than 3 million may receive in lieu of a per diem fee an
8annual salary to be fixed by such board. No Forest Preserve
9Commissioner shall file for a per diem payment for services
10rendered on the same day for which he filed for a per diem
11payment as a county supervisor. When the county board also acts
12as such commissioners, a member of the county board of a county
13under township organization and a member of the county board of
14a county not under township organization, who is elected prior
15to July 1, 1965 may, with the permission of the county board,
16work alone as such a commissioner and be paid in the usual
17manner.
18    Unless otherwise qualified, the term "board", when used in
19this Act, means the board of commissioners of any forest
20preserve district, or the corporate authorities of any county,
21city, village, incorporated town, or sanitary district, when
22acting as the governing body of a forest preserve district.
23(Source: P.A. 96-239, eff. 8-11-09.)
 
24    (70 ILCS 805/3c)
25    Sec. 3c. Board Elected board of commissioners in certain

 

 

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1counties. If the boundaries of a district are co-extensive with
2the boundaries of a county having a population of more than
3800,000 but less than 3,000,000, the county board shall serve
4as the district board of commissioners of the district
5beginning the day after the 2018 general election. The terms of
6the district commissioners elected pursuant to this Section
7prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th
8General Assembly shall be extended until the day of the 2018
9general election. The president or chairman of the county board
10shall appoint an environmental liaison to the county board who
11shall advise the county board on environmental issues and other
12duties as defined by the county board. The environmental
13liaison shall be appointed only after the president or chairman
14consults with and is advised by the local branch of a
15non-profit, member supported, environmental organization that
16is governed nationally by a fifteen-member board of directors.
17all commissioners of the forest preserve district shall be
18elected from the same districts as members of the county board
19beginning with the general election held in 2002 and each
20succeeding general election. One commissioner shall be elected
21from each district. At their first meeting after their election
22in 2002 and following each subsequent decennial
23reapportionment of the county under Division 2-3 of the
24Counties Code, the elected commissioners shall publicly by lot
25divide themselves into 2 groups, as equal in size as possible.
26Commissioners from the first group shall serve for terms of 2,

 

 

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14, and 4 years; and commissioners from the second group shall
2serve terms of 4, 4, and 2 years. Beginning with the general
3election in 2002, the president of the board of commissioners
4of the forest preserve district shall be elected by the voters
5of the county, rather than by the commissioners. The president
6shall be a resident of the county and shall be elected
7throughout the county for a 4-year term without having been
8first elected as commissioner of the forest preserve district.
9Each commissioner shall be a resident of the county board
10district from which he or she was elected not later than the
11date of the commencement of the term of office. The term of
12office for the president and commissioners elected under this
13Section shall commence on the first Monday of the month
14following the month of election. Neither a commissioner nor the
15president of the board of commissioners of that forest preserve
16district shall serve simultaneously as member or chairman of
17the county board. No person shall seek election to both the
18forest preserve commission and the county board at the same
19election. The president, with the advice and consent of the
20board of commissioners shall appoint a secretary, treasurer,
21and such other officers as deemed necessary by the board of
22commissioners, which officers need not be members of the board
23of commissioners. The president shall have the powers and
24duties as specified in Section 12 of this Act.
25    Candidates for president and commissioner shall be
26candidates of established political parties.

 

 

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1    If a vacancy in the office of president or commissioner
2occurs, other than by expiration of the president's or
3commissioner's term, the forest preserve district board of
4commissioners shall declare that a vacancy exists and
5notification of the vacancy shall be given to the county
6central committee of each established political party within 3
7business days after the occurrence of the vacancy. If the
8vacancy occurs in the office of forest preserve district
9commissioner, the president of the board of commissioners
10shall, within 60 days after the date of the vacancy, with the
11advice and consent of other commissioners then serving, appoint
12a person to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term. The
13appointee shall be affiliated with the same political party as
14the commissioner in whose office the vacancy occurred and be a
15resident of such district. If a vacancy in the office of
16president occurs, other than by expiration of the president's
17term, the remaining members of the board of commissioners
18shall, within 60 days after the vacancy, appoint one of the
19commissioners to serve as president for the remainder of the
20unexpired term. In that case, the office of the commissioner
21who is appointed to serve as president shall be deemed vacant
22and shall be filled within 60 days by appointment of the
23president with the advice and consent of the other forest
24preserve district commissioners. The commissioner who is
25appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of president shall be
26affiliated with the same political party as the person who

 

 

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1occupied the office of president prior to the vacancy. A person
2appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of president or
3commissioner shall establish his or her party affiliation by
4his or her record of voting in primary elections or by holding
5or having held an office in an established political party
6organization before the appointment. If the appointee has not
7voted in a party primary election or is not holding or has not
8held an office in an established political party organization
9before the appointment, the appointee shall establish his or
10her political party affiliation by his or her record of
11participating in an established political party's nomination
12or election caucus. If, however, more than 28 months remain in
13the unexpired term of a commissioner or the president, the
14appointment shall be until the next general election, at which
15time the vacated office of commissioner or president shall be
16filled by election for the remainder of the term.
17Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a vacancy occurs
18after the last day provided in Section 7-12 of the Election
19Code for filing nomination papers for the office of president
20of a forest preserve district where that office is elected as
21provided for in this Section, or as set forth in Section 7-61
22of the Election Code, a vacancy in nomination shall be filled
23by the passage of a resolution by the nominating committee of
24the affected political party within the time periods specified
25in the Election Code. The nominating committee shall consist of
26the chairman of the county central committee and the township

 

 

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1chairmen of the affected political party. All other vacancies
2in nomination shall be filled in accordance with the provisions
3of the Election Code.
4    The county board and environmental liaison president and
5commissioners elected under this Section may be reimbursed for
6their reasonable expenses actually incurred in performing
7their official duties under this Act in accordance with the
8provisions of Section 3a. The reimbursement paid under this
9Section shall be paid by the forest preserve district.
10    Compensation for the county board and environmental
11liaison president and the forest preserve commissioners
12elected under this Section shall be established by the county
13board of commissioners of the forest preserve district.
14    This Section does not apply to a forest preserve district
15created under Section 18.5 of the Conservation District Act.
16(Source: P.A. 94-617, eff. 8-18-05; 94-900, eff. 6-22-06.)
 
17    (70 ILCS 805/6)  (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 6309)
18    Sec. 6. Acquisition of property. Any such District shall
19have power to acquire lands and grounds for the aforesaid
20purposes by lease, or in fee simple by gift, grant, legacy,
21purchase or condemnation, or to acquire easements in land, and
22to construct, lay out, improve and maintain wells, power
23plants, comfort stations, shelter houses, paths, driveways,
24public roads, roadways and other improvements and facilities in
25and through such forest preserves as they shall deem necessary

 

 

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1or desirable for the use of such forest preserves by the public
2and may acquire, develop, improve and maintain waterways in
3conjunction with the district. No district with a population
4less than 600,000 shall have the power to purchase, condemn,
5lease or acquire an easement in property within a municipality
6without the concurrence of the governing body of the
7municipality, except where such district is acquiring land for
8a linear park or trail not to exceed 100 yards in width or is
9acquiring land contiguous to an existing park or forest
10preserve, and no municipality shall annex any land for the
11purpose of defeating a District acquisition once the District
12has given notice of intent to acquire a specified parcel of
13land. No district with a population of less than 500,000 shall
14(i) have the power to condemn property for a linear park or
15trail within a municipality without the concurrence of the
16governing body of the municipality or (ii) have the power to
17condemn property for a linear park or trail in an
18unincorporated area without the concurrence of the governing
19body of the township within which the property is located or
20(iii) once having commenced a proceeding to acquire land by
21condemnation, dismiss or abandon that proceeding without the
22consent of the property owners. No district shall establish a
23trail surface within 50 feet of an occupied dwelling which was
24in existence prior to the approval of the acquisition by the
25district without obtaining permission of the owners of the
26premises or the concurrence of the governing body of the

 

 

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1municipality or township within which the property is located.
2All acquisitions of land by a district with a population less
3than 600,000 within 1 1/2 miles of a municipality shall be
4preceded by a conference with the mayor or president of the
5municipality or his designated agent. If a forest preserve
6district is in negotiations for acquisition of land with owners
7of land adjacent to a municipality, the annexation of that land
8shall be deferred for 6 months. The district shall have no
9power to acquire an interest in real estate situated outside
10the district by the exercise of the right of eminent domain, by
11purchase or by lease, but shall have the power to acquire any
12such property, or an easement in any such property, which is
13contiguous to the district by gift, legacy, grant, or lease by
14the State of Illinois, subject to approval of the county board
15of the county, and of any forest preserve district or
16conservation district, within which the property is located.
17The district shall have the same control of and power over
18land, an interest in which it has so acquired, as over forest
19preserves within the district. If any of the powers to acquire
20lands and hold or improve the same given to Forest Preserve
21Districts, by Sections 5 and 6 of this Act should be held
22invalid, such invalidity shall not invalidate the remainder of
23this Act or any of the other powers herein given and conferred
24upon the Forest Preserve Districts. Such Forest Preserve
25Districts shall also have power to lease not to exceed 40 acres
26of the lands and grounds acquired by it, for a term of not more

 

 

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1than 99 years to veterans' organizations as grounds for
2convalescing sick and disabled veterans, and as a place upon
3which to construct rehabilitation quarters, or to a county as
4grounds for a county nursing home or convalescent home. Any
5such Forest Preserve District shall also have power to grant
6licenses, easements and rights-of-way for the construction,
7operation and maintenance upon, under or across any property of
8such District of facilities for water, sewage, telephone,
9telegraph, electric, gas or other public service, subject to
10such terms and conditions as may be determined by such
11District.
12    Any such District may purchase, but not condemn, a parcel
13of land and sell a portion thereof for not less than fair
14market value pursuant to resolution of the Board. Such
15resolution shall be passed by the affirmative vote of at least
162/3 of all members of the board within 30 days after
17acquisition by the district of such parcel.
18    The corporate authorities of a forest preserve district
19that (i) is located in a county that has more than 700,000
20inhabitants, (ii) borders a county that has 1,000,000 or more
21inhabitants, and (iii) also borders another state, by ordinance
22or resolution, may authorize the sale or public auction of a
23structure located on land owned by the district if (i) the
24structure existed on the land prior to the district's
25acquisition of the land, (ii) two-thirds of the members of the
26board of commissioners then holding office find that the

 

 

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1structure is not necessary or is not useful to or for the best
2interest of the forest preserve district, (iii) a condition of
3sale or auction requires the transferee of the structure to
4remove the structure from district land, and (iv) prior to the
5sale or auction, the fair market value of the structure is
6determined by a written MAI-certified appraisal or by a written
7certified appraisal of a State certified or licensed real
8estate appraiser and the appraisal is available for public
9inspection. The ordinance or resolution shall (i) direct the
10sale to be conducted by the staff of the district, a listing
11with local licensed real estate agencies (in which case the
12terms of the agent's compensation shall be included in the
13ordinance or resolution), or by public auction, (ii) be
14published within 7 days after its passage in a newspaper
15published in the district, and (iii) contain pertinent
16information concerning the nature of the structure and any
17terms or conditions of sale or auction. No earlier than 14 days
18after the publication, the corporate authorities may accept any
19offer for the structure determined by them to be in the best
20interest of the district by a vote of two-thirds of the
21corporate authorities then holding office.
22    Whenever the board of any forest preserve district
23determines that the public interest will be subserved by
24vacating any street, roadway, or driveway, or part thereof,
25located within a forest preserve, it may vacate that street,
26roadway, or driveway, or part thereof, by an ordinance passed

 

 

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1by the affirmative vote of at least 3/4 of all the members of
2the board, except that the affirmative vote of at least 6/7 of
3all the members of the board is required if the board members
4are elected under Section 3c of this Act. This vote shall be
5taken by ayes and nays and entered in the records of the board.
6    The determination of the board that the nature and extent
7of the public use or public interest to be subserved is such as
8to warrant the vacation of any street, roadway, or driveway, or
9part thereof, is conclusive, and the passage of such an
10ordinance is sufficient evidence of that determination,
11whether so recited in the ordinance or not. The relief to the
12public from further burden and responsibility of maintaining
13any street, roadway or driveway, or part thereof, constitutes a
14public use or public interest authorizing the vacation.
15    Nothing contained in this Section shall be construed to
16authorize the board of any forest preserve district to vacate
17any street, roadway, or driveway, or part thereof, that is part
18of any State or county highway.
19    When property is damaged by the vacation or closing of any
20street, roadway, or driveway, or part thereof, damage shall be
21ascertained and paid as provided by law.
22    Except in cases where the deed, or other instrument
23dedicating a street, roadway, or driveway, or part thereof, has
24expressly provided for a specific devolution of the title
25thereto upon the abandonment or vacation thereof, and except
26where such street, roadway or driveway, or part thereof, is

 

 

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1held by the district by lease, or where the district holds an
2easement in the land included within the street, roadway or
3driveway, whenever any street, roadway, or driveway, or part
4thereof is vacated under or by virtue of any ordinance of any
5forest preserve district, the title to the land in fee simple
6included within the street, roadway, or driveway, or part
7thereof, so vacated vests in the forest preserve district.
8    The board of any forest preserve district is authorized to
9sell at fair market price, gravel, sand, earth and any other
10material obtained from the lands and waters owned by the
11district.
12    For the purposes of this Section, "acquiring land" includes
13acquiring a fee simple, lease or easement in land.
14(Source: P.A. 97-851, eff. 7-26-12.)
 
15    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
16becoming law.