HR0934 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0934 LRB098 20603 MST 57223 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Senate Bill 2696 of the 98th General Assembly has been proposed to dissolve the Fox Waterway Agency; and

WHEREAS, Many have significant concerns on how Senate Bill 2696 will negatively affect real estate values and quality of life issues along the Fox River and the Chain of Lakes; and

WHEREAS, The Fox Waterway Agency is not funded with any tax dollars and the Agency's primary source of funds are user fees and grants used to fund specific projects designed to improve the waterways within the Agency's area, which it has been undertaking successfully since its founding in 1984; and

WHEREAS, The Fox Waterway Agency has been successfully working with the State to provide dredging and related services to the waterway and boating public, and no State department is currently equipped to handle such tasks; and

WHEREAS, On average, the Fox Waterway Agency annually dredges 100,000 cubic yards of silt from the waterway to provide boater access to the water; and

WHEREAS, The Fox Waterway Agency, being a local government body, has been able to focus specifically on the Chain of Lakes, its 45 miles of waterways, and over 30 bodies of water, and to quickly address issues arising within the Chain of Lakes to continually enhance the quality of the Chain of Lakes; and

WHEREAS, The Fox Waterway Agency has been implementing necessary and reasonable rules to improve and maintain the recreational boating resources of the waterway area to help control flooding of land adjacent to the waterways and prevent waterway pollution, to enhance or improve the quality of the waterway, and to promote tourism; and

WHEREAS, Senate Bill 2696 seeks to dissolve the Fox Waterway Agency, an agency made up of dedicated local officials who are in the best position to make relevant decisions and react quickly to best serve the people who the Fox Waterway and Chain of Lakes serves; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we object to the passage and enactment of Senate Bill 2696 and encourage all Illinois State Legislators to vote against the bill; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Fox Waterway Agency Chairman Wayne D. Blake.