With developers in communities pitching projects from solar to data centers, warehouses, and other uses to local government, community members are speaking out, decrying the loss of farmland and urging elected officials to deny those applications.
“Anytime there’s a large-scale zoning case, the public is there to tell us they don’t want to see the farmland be lost,” Manhattan farmer John Kiefner said. He’s also a commissioner on the Will County Planning and Zoning Commission.
“But what we’re lacking in Will County is any program to prevent it. There’s nothing the farmers can do to prevent their land, upon their passing or retirement, from ever being converted,” Kiefner told the Manhattan Village Board. He said he gave a similar presentation to officials in neighboring Elwood.
A program could exist, however, and Kiefner is hoping officials and community members can help get it off the ground so local farmers who want to keep land in their family — or simply keep it as productive farmland — can do so. It would also curb developers from turning the oft-quoted “prime farmland” into an undesired development.
He explained Kane County has a successful program that has preserved more than 7,000 acres of farmland. He said a local program must be established, and then federal and state funds can help operate the program. The villages wouldn’t have to bear the entire cost of instituting a program on their own, once created.
“Kane County and the U.S.D.A. through its federal farmland protection program have invested more than $32.6 million dollars in Kane County to permanently protect its rich farmland in agricultural conservation easements,” the Kane County website for Farmland Protection states.
Currently in Will County, one-in-three farms is being willed to the forest preserve upon death because people don’t want to see the land turned over to development, Kiefner said. He brought up that once transferred to the forest preserve, the land would no longer bring in tax revenue to the community.
“Imagine if we had a program that offered some money, or we had a program that people knew they could actually keep the land in their family, yet still know that upon their passing, for perpetuity, it would be protected,” Kiefner continued.
He explained the property could be bought and sold, but it would be protected, and it would pay taxes.
“Jim Robbins saw a list of farmers, and he’s like I know some of these people. He made the phone call, and they all sounded off. Love the program,” Kiefner said of fellow area farmer Robbins, noting an indication that the program could be successful if implemented.
To help get it off the ground, Kiefner wants residents and local officials to contact the Will County Board Members, who represent them, to urge them to help.
He provided a document to the board offering sample statements like “I [undersigned name] would love to see our county have a program for permanent farmland preservation.”
Board members and members of the public can contact county officials through mail, email, public comment, and personal conversations to express that they desire a program that will guarantee farmland can be preserved for generations. The www.willcountyboard.com/ website lists all county leaders and their emails, Kiefner explained.
The board listened and some seemed receptive to the idea.
“Thank you, John, for coming and explaining the project you’re working on. I know I talked to you about it before, briefly, but it is very interesting. So, hopefully, we can assist you with that,“ Mayor Mike Adrieansen said
Additionally, Trustee Clint Boone expressed an interest in learning more and said he thought it could be beneficial.
Following Kiefner’s presentation, the board tended to regular business and heard departmental reports.
Police Chief Ryan Gulli said accidents within the village are not trending in the right direction.
“In January, they tripled from last year and, in February, they doubled. We’re ticketing people, we’re stopping them. We’re trying to slow them down, but they’re in a rush to get to the next red light or stop sign, and it’s literally killing people,” Gulli said.
“The accidents rising are just terrible, and the injuries are even worse. So we’re working on it. We’re trying to figure it out,” Gulli added.
Village Engineer Carrie Pintar provided an update on the IEPA permit, through the state, for water quality. The unfunded mandate requires communities to obtain a Notice of Intent and outline six control measures.
The six control measures include public education and outreach, construction site runoff, post-construction site runoff, pollution prevention and good housekeeping, public participation and involvement, and illicit discharge detection and elimination.
“These are all things we’re already doing,” Pintar said, explaining those actions go into the report required by the state.
Additionally, the board approved MFT funds to be utilized to fund, in part, the resurfacing of roads within Leighlinbridge subdivision, including Carlow Circle, Celtic Circle, Leighlin Lane, and Ashford Street. Local funds cover the remaining costs for the resurfacing project.
The board also approved the purchase of an hydraulic, sensor-equipped valve exerciser trailer from MacQueen Group, for $58,900, for use by public works. The village is trading in its existing, unused Ditch Witch trailer.
Finally, the board updated its zoning map, which is required by law. The new map includes the recent annexation and rezoning of Round Barn Farm Park property, Butternut Ridge South subdivision, and the new Manhattan Fire Protection District Station 81 property.