Public Act 094-0653
 
SB1211 Enrolled LRB094 04862 LCB 34891 b

    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois owns certain real property
in the City of Chicago in the Dunning Community Area in Cook
County, located in Township 40 North, Range 13 East, Section
18, that is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Human
Services for the operation of the Chicago Read Mental Health
Center; and
 
    WHEREAS, Approximately 30 acres of the Chicago Read Mental
Health Center property contain 2 wetlands, an emergent wetland,
and other open space that benefit the protection of the Des
Plaines watershed; and
 
    WHEREAS, State-owned wetlands are governed by and must be
managed according to the Interagency Wetlands Policy Act of
1989 and provisions of Part 1090 of Title 17 of the Illinois
Administrative Code; and
 
    WHEREAS, The mission of the Illinois Department of Human
Services is to improve the health, well-being, and quality of
life of Illinois citizens; and
 
    WHEREAS, Parks, open spaces, and forests are important
components for the health and well-being of urban residents,
contributing to the prevention and amelioration of illness not
only by facilitating improvements in physical fitness through
exercise, but also by facilitating positive emotional,
intellectual, and social experiences; and
 
    WHEREAS, The Dunning Community Area, in which the property
is located, has been identified as underserved by open space
and parks in the Land Policies Plans completed by the City and
the Chicago Park District, that note that 2 large segments of
the Dunning Community have no open space or parkland
whatsoever; and
 
    WHEREAS, The Dunning property was originally donated to
Cook County in 1868 by the Dunning family for health and social
purposes and was operated by the County as a "poor farm" and a
facility for the mentally ill until 1912; and
 
    WHEREAS, In 1912 Cook County conveyed the 235-acre Dunning
property to the State of Illinois to be used for health and
social purposes as stated in the original land covenant;
therefore
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Department of Human Services is
hereby authorized to grant and convey a permanent conservation
easement to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources on a
parcel containing 30 acres, more or less, that is located in
Section 18, Township 40 North, Range 13 East of the third
principal meridian, Cook County, Illinois, situated to the West
and South of the Chicago Read Mental Health Center, for the
purpose of preserving and protecting the wetlands and forested
area for the benefit of the patients of the facility, the
community, and the general public, this 30-acre parcel being
more particularly described under Section 10 of this Act.
 
    Section 10. A parcel containing 30 acres, more or less,
located in Section 18, Township 40 North, Range 13 East of the
third principal meridian, Cook County, Illinois, situated to
the West and South of the Chicago Read Mental Health Center, a
more accurate description to be made by an Illinois
professional land surveyor, the cost of the survey to be paid
for by Friends of the Parks.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 8/22/2005