By TESA CULLI
tesa.culli@register-news.com
BENTON — As some residents of Waltonville, McClellan and Elk Prairie Township debate whether they should be a part of the Rend Lake Conservancy District, board members want to know if it’s possible for territory to detach from the district.
“As we move forward, I think we should avoid second guessing what a board did over 40 years ago,” RLCD General Manager Keith Thomason told the board on Monday.
The question first surfaced in October, after board member Jere Shaw revealed he had discovered court documents from 1968, which annexed a portion of Hamilton County — 16 sections of Dahlgren Township and three sections of Knights Prairie Township — into the district. Earlier this month, it was found by the RLCD management team that a resolution made by the board in 1973 removed those properties from the district. Shaw continues to question whether the move in 1973 was legal, but board member Jim Rippy and others want to know if removing property from the district can be done today.
“Back then there were revised statutes, and now we operate in Illinois under compiled statutes,” RLCD Board member and attorney Don Lucas said. “The only information the board needs now is, as of today, under the compiled statutes, can the board allow the boundaries to be changed by petition of those who want to detach from the district?”
Former Waltonville Mayor George Gifford has begun a grassroots campaign to have the village, McClellan and Elk Prairie Townships petition to detach from RLCD asserting the area “receives no benefit” from being a part of the district since it has to purchase water from Mt. Vernon under terms of a contract between the village and the city and a contract between RLCD and Mt. Vernon.
Thomason said those in the areas in question have received benefit from RLCD.
“They receive benefits whether they are a water customer of ours or not,” Thomason said. “This lake and district were formed primarily due to drought prevention. Would this area have had industry if there had been the past drought conditions? What about the tourism dollars that come to the area from the lake? ... I don’t know how they would disconnect from the district, and I recommend that we don’t allow that.”
Board member Jim Dolwick said he wanted an answer to the question because he was looking to the future, not the past.
“We have heard there are people wanting to opt out of the district,” Dolwick said. “I want to know if it can be done.”
According to RLCD attorney Larry Sanders, the River Conservancy Act lists specific steps for territory wishing to annex into the district, however, Thomason added the issue of detaching territory from the district is not specified.
Thomason told the board his recommendation would also be that if the board decided the past board “did something it shouldn’t, put [the Hamilton County residents] back in, send them a tax bill, and if they disagree with it — and they will — they can seek legal action and a judge will settle it.”
However, the board has directed Sanders to research and determine if there is a legal way for a section of the district to detach itself from within the district boundaries.
