Cook County Forest Preserve District Continues Focus on Land Acquisition and Services to Public

Cook County Forest Preserve District (CCFPD) Board Meeting
February 7, 2023

Board Action:

• Items approved for land acquisition, 3 parcels (23-0109, 23-0110, 23-0111). 2 funded through AARPA.  authorizes creation of new Forest Preserve near Sweet Woods. (23-0109)
• Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) donated a 5-7 acre parcel adjacent to Wolf Rd Prairie (23-0123).
  
• Approved Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Morton Grove regarding redevelopment of small parcel (23-0113).
• Status Report on Model Policing (23-0139) was Received and Filed. During FPD Law Enforcement Committee meeting, discussion of changes in hiring/training, social media outreach, SafeT Act Mandates and their impact took place. Training for CCFPD takes longer than Sheriff’s police; IDNR provides additional training for officers’ work in forest preserves.
• Interagency Agreement Between Chgo. Zoological Society and CCFPD for increase in admissions and parking fees at Brookfield Zoo to support its 2023 budget proposal  (23-0183).  Approved.

Items of Interest:

• 3 new Members were approved to join Conservation and Policy Council, an independent advisory group to CCFPD: Daisy Feidt, Megan Bang, Ryen Nagle. (23-0132)
• Finance Committee:  Final Corporate Expenditures for 2022 are anticipated to be below estimates for the year (2022). Report to be completed by the end of the month. Property tax collections are now up to date.  PPRT collected is $14.5 M over last year, total was $23.7M. 

Carolyn Cosentino - Observer