Letter to Ed.: Heuer

Dear Editor:

Will County Board Chair Judy Ogalla is advocating a locally-led alternative land use plan for seven-square-miles of eastern Will County countryside bought up over the past couple decades by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT).

Ogalla’s proposal comes in response to Peotone news from Springfield. The Third Airport lobby is pushing a state law (HB2531) requiring IDOT to consider offers from cargo airport developers.

IDOT struck out on two previous rounds of bid solicitations. Proponents now say: It’s in the public interest for the state to determine if there is a legitimate interest among investors for a privately financed airport.

Existing airports meet regional air freight needs, the Chicago Sun Times reports in this April 30 editorial: “Lawmakers shouldn’t rush to spend more money on flawed Peotone airport plan.”

A great question appeared in a headline atop this March 27 Chicago Tribune editorial: “When will the ghost of the Peotone Airport folly finally stop haunting Illinois?”

The answer begins with Will County filling the leadership void by moving the discussion in a more productive direction. Ogalla wants Will County to lead a public-private partnership to consider the highest and best use of IDOT’s seven-square-miles of land (or, to be exact, +/- 4,554.78 acres).

For starters, she offers four options:
• Investing in local sustainable Ag production and meat processing
• Returning land to private ownership/property tax rolls
• Deeding treed land acreage to the Will County Forest Preserve
• Providing education, training, and land access to young farmers

The infrastructure investment aspect aligns with a Farm Bureau wish list. Several years ago, the Will County Farm Bureau Board identified these six potential initiatives:
• Vegetable oil processing
• Soybean or wheat milling plant
• Ethanol plant for corn processing
• Livestock processing and packaging
• Cold storage facilities for food distribution
• Ag manufacturing equipment

Exhibit A for the planning process could be the agriculture component of a western Iowa land trust. The Whiterock Conservancy combines recreational land uses with 1,900 acres of farmland managed in increasingly regenerative ways. Here’s Whiterock’s presentation: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=thaK9R_iTbk

Whiterock’s agriculture work is giving ideas to land trusts in Illinois. It’s also informing partnership building for the Chicago Wilderness Alliance. CWA is a conservation coalition operating in the four-state Lake Michigan Basin region. Last June, the CWA Ag Team led a two-bus tour through Will County for this Growing With Agriculture Field Day.

A multitude of networks is ripe for organizing around a shared vision to advance a community reinvestment plan that prioritizes public health, soil health, water quality, and local economies.

Bob Heuer

HNA Networks

Evanston