Hi, I'm calling to order the planning, building, zoning, and environment committee on June 3rd, 2026 at 1034.

Welcome everybody.

Um Member Wasick, can you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Okay, can I get a roll call, please?

Uh Chair Altenberg?

Here.

Member Campos?

Here.

Member Frank?

Member Kniesnik.

Vice Chair Peterson is absent.

Member Schlick is absent.

And Member Lasik.

Here.

Okay.

All right.

We have a quorum.

Any addenda to the agenda?

No addenda to the agenda.

Okay.

No public comment on an item not on the agenda.

Correct.

We do have a public comment on an item on the agenda.

Right.

Okay.

I have no remarks today.

Any unfinished business.

No unfinished business.

Okay.

Can I get a motion for the consent agenda 8.1?

Motion by Member Campo, second by Member Wasig.

All in favor.

Aye.

Okay.

Motion passes.

Okay.

Um yes, I'm getting a motion.

No, we're gonna just have he wants to make a oh, all right.

Statement.

Um thank you, Chair.

I just wanted to just for the sake of everybody's time, and I know we have uh people who are interested in this topic and so who are online.

Uh wondering if I could make a motion to move up 8.9 and 8.10 on the agenda.

Okay.

Motion by member campos.

Can I get a second?

Second by member Frank.

All in favor.

Aye.

Okay.

Motion passes.

So we are going to go straight to 8.9 with Eric Wagner, Director of Planning, Building and Zoning.

Uh, and Chair Altenberg, we do have public comment, but what we'll go ahead and do is have the presentation first.

Um, and then we will invite the public comments, which is online, and then we will have the committee discussion.

Sounds perfect.

Thank you.

Okay.

Welcome, Director Wagner.

Krista, welcome.

Okay.

So we need a motion to put eight nine on the motion.

Can I get a motion?

Motion by member campo, second by member Wasick.

Okay.

Good morning, Eric Wagner, planning, building and development director.

Join with me is Krista Brown, a planning and zoning administrator and deputy director.

Uh this morning I'd like to uh briefly summarize um eight, nine and eight ten together because they're sort of companion actions.

Uh they both uh relate to the topic of data centers.

Uh data centers are uh unique and evolving land use that uh continues to generate increased scrutiny um in recent months, and these facilities are sort of designed to store and process and manage digital information.

There's a lot of usage in the area of AI, for example.

Uh the the impact of these facilities are becoming more and more known as the sort of the the industries expands across the country.

Um, and there are definitely some infrastructure demands and operational impacts that could uh could impact surrounding areas.

And given the fact that there are these impacts, there's an increasing interest and and concern uh regarding how they're uh developed and regulated.

Though at the current uh point in time, the county's unified development ordinance and the lake county code does not either define nor specifically regulate data centers.

Um and given the fact that this is a land use that's um present within the region and a possibility that um these facilities may uh be looking for for land to develop in uh the unincorporated area.

Um however, this is a very complex uh topic.

It's the the field of a data center incredibly is um full of a lot of a lot of uh very nuanced information.

There are a lot of different ways that communities across the country handle data center regulation.

Um and there's really there's a lot of uh there's a a lot of variability in how these facilities are actually built and how they're operated.

And so in light of that, there is a need um on in staff's opinion to take some time to to go through the very thoughtful deliberative exercise of researching best practices relating to data center regulations so that we could come back to the board with um uh a regulatory approach that is practical, reasonable, and fully encompasses all of the potential impacts that um that a data center might have on unincorporated areas.

Um in order for for us to have that time to do the research into um into the field of data center development, and in order for us to develop appropriate policy prescriptions for the the board's review, staff is recommending that we amend the Lake County Code of Ordinances to specifically establish a temporary moratorium on new data center applications and approvals within unincorporated lake county.

Um that's a uh based on the advice that we've received from the state's attorney's office.

That is an approach that we have the legal option to pursue.

And so staff is recommending this approach to the committee.

We've prepared two actions for the committee's consideration this morning.

The first is a resolution that would direct the zoning board of appeals to conduct a public hearing on proposed text amendments to the Lake County Unified Development Ordinance that would both define data centers and establish uh a proposed eight-month temporary moratorium on such uses in unincorporated Lake County.

So that's a zoning process that would result in an amendment to the ordinance that would establish a temporary moratorium for an eight-month period.

Concurrent with that uh action that we're we're looking for the committee to endorse and then the board to approve.

We are recommending also a committee action effective immediately upon the board's action on the ZBA resolution that would authorize the planning building and development director to impose a 120-day maximum temporary administrative deferral on any applications uh that would be materially affected by the proposed moratorium amendment.

Um again, that's a 120-day max or a four-month maximum temporary administrative hold on any data center applications while the while the county is going through the moratorium-related text amendment to our ordinance.

To be clear, this temporary administrative deferral would be in effect during the process of reviewing the proposed text amendments.

The moratorium would take effect after those text amendments were approved.

And so the cumulative total of uh time in which data centers, if both of these actions are approved, um, would not be allowed to proceed in unincorporated Lake County would be one year at maximum, or slightly shorter if uh the um if the the board takes action on the moratorium zoning text amendment prior to the duration of this 120-day period.

So the moratorium specific text amendment, it's it's it's going to take at least two to three months to get through the process simply because we have to schedule the public hearing before the zoning board of appeals, they have to conduct the hearing, has to go back to the committee for review and then to the county board for action.

So we're looking at you know potentially August or the time frame for that zoning text amendment to take effect if the board ultimately chooses to adopt it, which would then trigger the moratorium for that following eight months.

Okay.

So that's a summary of uh the two actions that are proposed for the committee's review of action this morning.

Thank you.

All right, we're gonna take a public comment and then we're gonna have our own discussion about these resolutions.

Um we have uh Susan Pribble um is online, and if we can pull her over to make a public comment, that would be great.

And I have a quick statement to read before that.

An individual has three minutes of cumulative time to provide their public comments.

Public comment must be related to the business of the county board and not redundant or political.

When appropriate, matters raised by public comment shall be referred to the appropriate standing committee.

The public shall refrain from commenting about private activities, lifestyles, or beliefs of others, including county employees and elected officials that are unrelated to the business of the county board or county government in their public comment.

Comments that are uncivil, rude, vulgar, profane, or otherwise or otherwise disruptive will not be allowed.

Candidates running for public office must refrain from including comments that are political in nature or that promote or support a candidate, including refraining from identifying oneself as a candidate for public office.

I'm looking to see if Ms.

Privilege.

Excellent.

Susan, can you uh are you able to speak?

Yes, I'm here, Roseanne.

Thank you.

Excellent.

Um we're gonna go ahead and start the timer.

You should see it on the screen.

I do indeed.

Good morning again.

I am Susan Prible, resident of Unincorporated Lake County.

And I just wanted to give a very sincere thank you to Director Wagner, Deputy Director Krista Brown, and their team for moving ahead quickly with this proposed moratorium on both applications and approvals for new data centers in unincorporated Lake County.

I mean, whether it's fill sites, large warehouses, or data centers, we've seen how these issues can rise up in our communities quite quickly.

And the ability, the prudency of being able to pause and take time to establish appropriate and necessary regulations.

This is paramount.

As you are all well aware, the rapid growth of these facilities in some of our local villages has just stunned many Lake County residents.

So we truly appreciate when the county can serve as a model for smaller local jurisdictions who lack the staff to research the many significant potential environmental and community concerns that are associated with these types of developments.

We applaud both the Lake County staff and the Lake County Board for continuing to ensure that Lake County leads by example.

Thank you for voting in favor of both this resolution and the related next agenda item, which will allow the county to move forward with a moratorium on data centers.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Susan.

Okay.

Um no other comments?

No other comments.

Okay.

So now we are going to proceed.

Does anybody have discussion or questions regarding what Eric has shared with us?

Member Frank, followed by Member Campos.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Chris Director Wagner.

I I really think this is a thoughtful approach.

Uh, when I first asked the question, it was really based on the fact that uh I had concern about um sort of our you know lack of understanding of the impact of what these types of developments would have.

And um we don't we don't want to outright, nor can we outright prohibit any specific type of development, but we do need to understand it so that we can regulate it properly and appropriately.

And I think this is a really important step.

Uh really appreciate the work that your team has done.

Uh thank you, Chair, for bringing it forward today.

I'm supportive.

Okay, member Campos.

Uh thank you, Chair.

Um I think today's work is pretty uh very important.

Uh it kind of seems like the wild, wild west out there across the country with all of these data centers being popped up very quickly and without lots of transparency.

And I believe that industry relies on relies on that type of uh inability to uh have meaningful restrictions on them or meaningful uh ordinances, et cetera.

And so I'm glad that we're looking at this and we're taking the time, putting a pause on it and taking the time to regulate it properly.

Now, as far as my question regarding uh these items, um, and my apologies if I missed it in your in your opening statements.

The public uh hearing that we're going to have is do we have a time frame in order to um be um you said something about August, if you could restate what you said in your opening statement.

So following the county board's adoption of the ZBA resolution or the resolution directing the ZBA to conduct the public hearings, once the draft of that um text amendment is is fully prepared and the ZBA is scheduled for their hearing, uh there's a uh 15-day notice period we have to publish um uh to make sure that we meet the open meetings act requirements and then that's statutory.

Um following that the ZBA conducts its hearing, the ZBA could make a decision on day one, or they could continue the hearing to a later date if they need more time to deliberate.

Um, but after that comm after that zoning board of appeals public hearing is concluded and they make a recommendation on the proposed text amendments, it then proceeds to the PBZE committee for review and recommendation to the board, and then it goes finally to the county board for a for final action.

We project that based on you know the time frame between now and when we anticipate the board taking action, it's going to be at least like a two to three month cycle.

So we're we're thinking perhaps August.

We're not entirely sure.

I can't pin that down at this point.

And it a lot of it depends on the ZBA schedule and how many hearing dates we end up um needing for that particular proposed amendment.

Sure, understood.

Uh and I just wanted to um if we could have the location enough for perhaps maybe close to 100 people, because I'm assuming this is going to be a very popular, uh very popular meeting, a public meeting, uh, unlike our other public meetings that we've we've had uh for our other projects.

Uh, I believe uh this one's gonna be a very popular one, so I just want to keep that in mind.

Um I'm totally supportive uh on both both agenda items.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Um member Wasick.

Thank you.

And Eric, thanks for pulling this together.

I I know it's we're kind of on a fast track here, but it's of a deep concern to at least my community and many others that uh we need to ask very thorough and thoughtful questions as to what these facilities mean.

Um but just if I can dig a little bit further, I know we're on the front end of this, but will you be consulting with say uh SMC on wetlands protection, uh CLC Java on water usage, comed, uh the grid, uh are all those all of the above.

All the above.

And then and then more.

And and what just kind of frame for me the kind of inquiry you're going to make uh into their involvement and use of resources.

So the as we've mentioned to the committee and and in previous engagements, um, there are a number of specific impacts that uh data center facility may have on the surrounding area.

First being the the type of cooling system that it uses may require a significant amount of water um for for that purpose.

And there are different types of technologies that are in that are in use right now in the data center industry.

So water use is a water usage is a key consideration for any analysis.

Um likewise, the extent to which there's power um needs, power infrastructure needs to support a data center development.

Um while the county cannot get directly involved in regulating the power-related concerns.

We want to make sure that there are you know uh infrastructure improvements in place to accommodate um a facility as part of the process and just sort of understanding that regulatory framework, you know, at the regional level, how how um the electric market works and how that impacts data center development and usage.

Um in addition to those two impacts, we're gonna be looking at the community benefit agreement model, which is an increasing approach uh that communities seem to be taking across the country that um attempts to sort of quantify or assess the impact of a facility on a given community or communities, and then uh seek um some sort of um community benefits uh from the actual uh the developer, you know, uh that would in some ways offset some of those, some of those impacts.

That's a really interesting area that we we're now starting to explore as part of sort of best practices.

And then there's sort of the typical attendant questions and concerns about sort of the scale and the sort of quasi-industrial nature of these types of facilities, things like massing and setbacks and visual buffering, the noise that these might create, what kind of technologies would have would be involved, that sort of thing.

So there's a really there's a broad range of different types of considerations that we're going to be looking at.

Um both land use and operational that could be potentially subject to regulation.

We just need time to look into the nuances around each of those impact areas so that we can come back to the board with a really thoughtful and fully fleshed out approach for your consideration.

Okay.

I just have one follow-up chair.

Thank you.

If I may Eric, I know that much of the work you've done on the UDO is often framed in in the context of a possible model ordinance that other municipalities can adopt.

Is this the same track that you're looking at?

Or we thought that we quite there yet.

We think so.

It's this is a um much like some of our other um amendments that we've gone through over the last few years, both on the zoning and building code side.

Um we we are happy to have a staff um that is both you know best and brightest in their field, but also we have sufficient capacity to do some of these uh research assignments that local governments in smaller local governments may not have.

They may not have the resources to carry out this kind of you know, um very thorough in-depth and longitudinal type of assessment of of different land use and zoning and policy-related issues.

And so the county has, in some ways, that we're uniquely situated to provide guidance to others, and they can choose to follow up with suit or or go their own way.

But we found in the past that um by creating um regulations that could be modeled in other local communities, um, we do have the opportunity to lead by example, and in some cases that that um that work, you know, ends up resulting in companion or comparable or similar types of approaches in in other local communities.

Thanks so much.

I really appreciate it.

And I've full you have my full support on this.

Thank you.

Okay, cheer her.

Thank you very much.

Um I also just want to give a shout out to the state's attorney's office.

When we were talking about this, or I was with staff not last week, but the week before.

Hey, can we change our 120-day moratorium, right?

What does that look like?

You know, all of these things.

When we see it, it's the finished product, right?

But they have to go through all of these um checking in with people, checking our policies, checking with states' attorneys, sometimes checking in with the state.

Um, and so I I just really appreciate uh staff's hard work and working with state's attorney's office and really state's attorney's office, um, sort of prioritizing this conversation.

We are all hearing about data centers, perhaps none of us as much as John Wassick every day.

And I think there's a lot of um misinformation out there that was like, oh, well, Lake County can stop this.

You know, Lake County can stop what's happening in Grays Lake or whatever, you know.

Um, so having this, I hope, um, will uh help give the public some uh maybe sigh of relief, perhaps, that at least here in Lake County, we're going to be extremely um cautious about what we approve.

Um, and we're going to make sure, as Eric said, that we look at every single angle is Eric's response to to John.

Um, I also want to say thank you so much to Paul, who I think it was a number of months ago said, hey, we should be talking about data centers.

So thank you to Member Frank for bringing that up.

And then we all received an email.

We get a ton of emails, but it was from Patrice, and she just talked about the public input process.

And also identify a centrally located hearing venue designed for maximum attendance, and we'll be looking into the possibility of live streaming.

Um, because we do have a ZBA public hearing process, and it's really important that we stay within processes and and treat all of these things that come before us the same way, while at the same time making sure that the public is aware of what's going on.

I'm thinking about the um cannabis.

I'm thinking way back when chickens, right?

That was uh over a hundred people and came and went beyond after midnight.

So anyway, I really appreciate your hard work on this.

And um, I don't have a vote on this committee, but I'm definitely supportive of this moratorium.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Member Kasmin.

Thank you.

Um I also wanna concur um with Chair Hart.

Thanks, thanks to your team.

Thanks for this, thanks to the state's attorney's office and everybody who worked on this.

I think it's important to be prudent at this point.

Um, there's there are unknowns out there, and I I like this approach.

Um I think it's important for us to lead by example as well.

Um, and I'm fully supportive of this.

And I'm glad you brought that up, Chair Hart.

Um, that we have no levers of control over the Grays Lake project, but we do have control, some amount of control over what happens in unincorporated Lake County.

I'm glad to see that that you've put this together.

I'm fully in favor.

Not that I vote, but fully in favor.

Thanks.

Thank you.

So I agree with what everybody said.

This is when we go um to our national conferences.

This is the number one issue that's being talked about right now across the country.

Every county in the country is grappling with this right now.

All of a sudden, they've got to build data centers.

You know, it's it just seems like it's it's an urgency.

And everybody's dealing with um a topic that people didn't know that much about, and everybody's learning about it very, very quickly.

Um it is super important that we prioritize this.

And I cannot say enough about our incredible staff and Eric's team.

Um they're amazing, and they have they are looking at every angle of data centers.

And not only for the benefit of the county, but we plan to be sharing our research, our data, our information that we're learning with all of the towns in Lake County.

So they have good information and they're able to make really good decisions going forward.

Um we have learned that our utilities um are going to be uh burdened a bit by these data centers.

They need a lot of energy, they need a lot of water, and that requires a lot of forethought on the part of the county and on the part of all of our towns when it comes to a data center locating in your area.

What are the resources it's going to need?

And we have to be very vigilant for our taxpayers, our constituents, on what it means for them.

We don't want to burden them in any way.

And uh, we need to protect ourselves and make sure that we are doing our due diligence and making the best decisions possible of what we are letting locate on our land in our areas.

So um I think there is going to be a lot of discussion and a lot of people coming to these uh hearings this summer as we start scheduling things.

Um I'm very happy that the county is in the forefront of this, and we're doing our due diligence for our constituents.

Um did you have another comment?

Very quick process question.

I didn't see this on the uh finance uh agenda.

So I'm assuming uh if we approve this, it goes straight to the board next week.

Yes, correct.

Since there's no financial impact to this, it goes straight to the board for this item.

The other item is strictly a committee action.

Got it.

Which one?

8.10.

The second one.

The second one.

Okay, got it.

Right.

Member Kasman.

Thanks.

I forgot to ask the question.

Um right now is it I it's I think it uh data centers need um light industrial zoning.

Is that correct?

So we we haven't undertaken a formal analysis of like how they fit into our current regulations.

It would be sort of a an industrial type use.

So that's not something that the state has said.

I mean, sometimes they're oddly specific about what can go into what kinds of um so this the state um provides for general zoning authority to counties under the counties code and essentially provides for broad um discretion of part of the counties um in the rezoning regulations to sort of create zones and decide which land uses go in which zones.

So that that's that is part of the broader context of the of data center regulation and land use regulation in general, only where the statute prohibits local governments from taking specific actions or puts boundaries around local actions, is where there's where we sort of sort of are prevented from exercising our full zoning authority.

One of those examples is is another item that's on the agenda this morning, which is changes to the statutes for solar and wind that um we are required to implement at the local level that that are part of the zoning and development review process.

Okay, I I'm I was thinking of the vape shop and how that's considered general commercial, and we can't really do anything about that.

Okay.

Um the other thing is so if would they abide, would they be allowed um in industrial zones by right at this moment?

So if we didn't take this action, they would be able to apply and and they would have a by right.

We would have to conduct an analysis of a specific proposal at a specific location in order to answer that question at this point.

That would require an interpretation essentially.

Right.

So we're doing this.

Thanks.

And can you give any guidelines about what uh it's so the legislation it's pending, which is the only power act, is not currently um moving forward.

It's it's uh it is in stasis.

Uh it's it's very likely that it could be brought back in the veto session, but we expect this is gonna be a because of the complexities around the around the industry.

We expect this is gonna be um some somewhat attenuated legislative process um related to that specific topic.

So is the power act giving certain guidelines that uh each county has to follow or each town has to follow?

Among other things, there are some sort of you know, um, sort of there's direction to local governments and and their roles and responsibilities as it relates to to data center development for sure.

And does it also offer protections in there?

There are some protections in the statute.

Okay, and that of course, that's all of that is subject to change and amendment, so right.

We don't know what the final outcome of that process is gonna look like.

Right.

And it looks like that might not even take effect at the earliest until January or or later.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Any other questions, comments?

Okay.

So should we take uh both together?

Um, should we do each we could do them both together, but we could yep, we can do it one at a time.

We've got a motion and second for 8.9.

Okay.

So let's do that.

All right, so let's do 8.9.

All in favor.

Aye.

Okay.

Motion passes.

And 8.10 committee action authorizing a temporary administrative deferral for applications related to establishment of data centers.

Can I get a motion?

Motion by member Kenijnik, second by member Campos.

All in favor.

Aye.

Okay.

Motion passes.

All right, thank you very much.

All right.

We are moving to 8.2 with Mike Priscilla, supervisor for watershed planning.

And we have our SMC head.

Kurt, how are you?

Great.

Good morning.

Okay, good morning.

So Mike Priscilla is at the American uh well, no, he's on there.

How's the conference, Mike?

Yeah.

Uh yeah, we have the uh American floodplain and stormwater managers conference going on at Milwaukee.

Right now, I was up there yesterday, but Mike's got the uh the full conference action going on.

Oh, give me one second, Kurt.

Sorry.

Okay, so this is a joint resolution authorizing a grant agreement and an emergency appropriation of 176 million, five hundred seventy-six dollars and nine.

Wait, I didn't say that right.

176,576 and 94 cents for the Timber Lake Shoreline Stabilization Project by the Stormwater Management Commission, SMC, funded by the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, non-point source implementation program through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Can I get a motion, please?

Motion by member Kenisnik, second by member compost.

Okay, go ahead.

Sorry.

Thank you.

Uh, I'm gonna pass this over to Mike since he is on, but I just want to thank Mike and all the planning staff for all of their work to secure these EPA 319 grants, which are primarily for addressing water quality impairments.

We've been very successful in getting these grants through the EPA.

Uh, the project partner here, the Timber Lake Civic Association, they'll provide um the land and address water quality impairments that will affect uh a waterway that extends through Cuba Township into Tower Lakes and ultimately into the Fox River.

So uh yeah, with that, I'd like Mike if you have an opportunity to provide some details on the project itself.

Yeah, sure.

Thanks, Kurt.

So yeah, this uh like Kurt said, this authorizes um the this action will authorize SMC to execute that grant agreement with Illinois EPA as well as appropriate the funding uh for the project.

Um it is a uh shoreline stabilization and water quality project, so it'll stabilize over 200 feet of shoreline along Timber Lake, as well as install uh what's called a sediment for base.

So that'll reduce sedimentation uh in the lake as well as uh in the um in that surface water uh system downstream into the Fox River.

Uh another note on this is that uh of that grant funding, uh SMC will receive uh approximately $18,000 uh for administrative reimbursement and uh the required local match will be provided entirely by the Timber Lake Civic Association.

So uh those are kind of the highlights.

Um, and yeah, I'm happy to answer any questions about this project.

Any questions?

Any questions?

Okay, no questions.

All in favor.

Aye.

All right, thank you, Mike.

Enjoy your conference.

Thank you, Kurt.

Do we have another thing?

Yes, okay.

So we're gonna move on to 8.3.

Oh, it is your annual update today.

SMP man executive director Kurt Wolford giving an update for SMC, Stormwater Management Commission.

Thank you.

And the clicker works.

Okay.

So I'm gonna run through this pretty briefly.

We've had a very busy year, and uh big highlight that I'd like to focus on is our DCO projects, which uh we've been successful in receiving the second round of funding, second $30 million tranche to fund an additional 16 projects.

Um the overall grant through the state was 122 million dollars, and the uh state implementation bill that was just passed did show the uh remaining funds being reappropriated.

So that was good news to see that there's still life uh this program through the state, uh, but it is a very cumbersome process.

The um funding in the bill will need to be uh released by the governor's office.

Then DCO will need to send us a grant application.

We need to apply, send them our projects, receive a grant agreement, enter into intergovernmental agreements with our partners, then move forward with the projects.

So uh say that we have been so excited that we received 122 million dollar grant a couple years ago for a myriad of stormwater management projects from our legislature.

So we've gotten 60 million so far.

62 billion.

Uh and I wouldn't say we've received it yet, but we've obligated it.

There it's in an agreement, and that project list should be winding down in October.

So that's when we should hit that full 62 million dollar mark is in this fall.

How many projects were you able to do with that 62 million?

Uh, that is probably around 28 projects.

That's amazing.

And without that money, we wouldn't have been able to do any of them, right?

I doubt we would have been able to do much of that work.

So it was very fortunate to receive the funding, but also to have the projects to have our partners and demonstrate the need why we need to do this work.

I mean, we've done tons, it's flood prevention.

A lot of it.

It is, and I think the next slide, we get into some of the numbers and the benefits.

So all of all those projects, uh, 4,600 plus properties have benefited.

And whether flooding is affecting somebody's home or uh they can't access their property, or it's uh nuisance related.

Uh there will be benefits not only to homeowners and property owners, but also people who travel on our roadways, um, visitors.

So it has a wide-ranging benefit.

Um there are still 33 projects that remain unfunded, and we have that book that we uh shop around.

I just met with the village of Lake Barrington last week.

So we're prepping another project on Casmore Drive that experienced um significant flooding again uh last month during the Fox River major flood event that we had.

Um, but the remaining projects, we want to continue to develop engineering plans, bring them to shovel ready status, and then when we get the next funding round, we're ready for construction.

It's not practical, it's not efficient to start working on a design once you receive the money because design is the lower cost of the construction project.

It also takes potentially 12 to 18 months, and that would just delay the future rounds.

So we want to get projects shovel ready, then the grant hits.

We spend a lot during construction, and the state knows how much we're st spending, and then we're ready for the next round.

So far, so good.

We've been successful in leapfrogging through this.

And an expectation of when you're hoping to get the next third 30 million.

Well, uh I don't I've been asked that question for round one, round two, and yeah, there's no expectation, there's no guarantees.

Um, there's a lot of good uh work that's been put in place and recognized, so we hope that it'll continue.

Okay.

Um with that said, though, we we don't want to just stop the process.

We want to continue on with design.

And we do have um funding to proceed with that design right now, and we want to do that.

Um shifting down to our smaller grant program.

We have our watershed management board program that's been ongoing for a very long time, and it's successful in funding these lower cost projects with homeowner associations, smaller government bodies.

These are typically projects in the range of $5,000 to $50,000.

Um, but we had another slate of great projects in FY26, and we look forward to continuing this program.

The uh projects that were approved for the watershed management board are shown on the screen.

Uh the policies that we adhere to is funding is allocated based on these major watersheds.

So the Fox River watershed, the Displains River, the North Branch, and the Lake Michigan watershed.

And based on the equalized assessed value of the properties within those watersheds, it's not based on size.

That's how we allocate these funds, and that's uh also in alignment with state statute.

So these are the four watersheds we primarily look at look at.

I will say though, that the Lake Michigan watershed is always challenged.

We don't receive proposals in the Lake Michigan watershed.

So we normally have to shift those funds out of the Lake Michigan watershed, which we don't like doing.

But this was another year where we didn't get any projects in the Lake Michigan watershed.

The North Branch watershed is also the second runner-up for uh the least proposals received.

Uh so displains, heavy competition, Fox River, heavy competition, North Branch, not so much.

Uh so SMC, we submitted a project for the North Branch for the Delmar Woods concept stormwater management plan.

Uh so we want to work with the county and also work with the Delmar residents to identify a solution for their stormwater issues.

Yes.

Thank you.

So can you speak?

This has been an ongoing problem for over a decade, right?

With uh entities in the Lake Michigan watershed not pursuing funding for projects even after you guys made the change and allowed ravine restoration in there, right?

So do you know what to I'm just getting ready to send an email?

Like what do you attribute that to?

And maybe that's an offline response.

Because the need is great.

Well, let's talk later.

I I have ideas, I have thoughts, but I'd say it's pretty much community specific.

So some communities might not even have the bandwidth to take on a project, and other ones have ultra bandwidth.

They know what they're doing.

They're locked in, they know what to do, they don't need help.

But that includes, I mean, North Chicago, which they're doing some work.

I was just at a ribbon cutting.

Um, so North Chicago, that's Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Highland Park, right?

Highwood.

I mean, these are communities.

I'm not saying everybody, you know, everybody's busy, I understand, but um, because that money then you redistribute into the other watersheds, and then there's no matching funds for these municipalities.

Correct.

Yeah, it's been a trend that we'd we would like to keep the money allocated in Lake Michigan, but right, we can't force people to apply with their proposals either.

So yeah, okay.

Thank you, sir.

If there's if there's uh outreach and effort that uh anyone else can help with we should, you know, talk about that offline.

Maybe there needs to be some kind of outreach effort to just remind them that there is that money.

Yeah, and they should be thinking about it.

Right.

And I do I used to send emails and I don't anymore because all the municipalities get the information.

Right.

So they make that they get it.

You know, sorry.

Anyway, thank you.

Oh, member Frank.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh I know we're talking about the matching funds here, and it's not the same as the state funded program, but uh to your point, Chair, about certain municipalities like not always being at the table.

It's a great opportunity to highlight the fact that you and your team and your board patting myself on the back because I'm like uh really took into consideration which projects to fund the geographic and population, you know, diversity.

And so if you look at the map of where the state funded projects are, they are all over the county, communities all over the county.

And so it's it's uh just a really important factor to consider and appreciate you doing that.

So yeah, no, that is something important to highlight that we've you know, we took on this huge amount of projects, and they're it's not like one specific area.

It's all it's been all over, and we should definitely remind people, and I love to remind people that we were getting 122 million dollars.

We're doing so much flood prevention, and you know, we really um getting we're trying to get ahead of flooding, which has exponentially increased in size to an amount that we couldn't even imagine so quickly.

So it is important to get ahead of you know, get ahead of it in a lot of these areas because I've watched the flooding, it's really devastate a whole a whole lot of our areas in Lake County.

So as much as we can do for prevention, it's the smartest thing we can do.

I think it is very smart.

Um, the conference that Mike's at right now, I was there yesterday, and it's the 50th anniversary of the American floodplain state floodplain manager association, and they had some of the original founders of the association, and they kept telling us that the weather, the flooding and the flood insurance losses are going to increase.

Uh, the work that we're doing in Lake County, though, I feel is we are minimizing the damages.

So we had this big flood event last month, but there wasn't widespread damage.

It was a different type of event, but flooding will continue.

Flooding, I think will continue to get worse, but flood damage is actually reducing it in Lake County, and that's what really matters.

Um I feel you on that because I used to cover, oh my God, so many areas, especially north that were just underwater every time.

People near the Displains River, near the Fox River.

And um, I feel like we've done such a great job in prevention and in these areas that used to be trouble every time and nothing now.

Now it's you know, we've done our due diligence.

Yeah, and I I know my predecessor at the commission, he would talk about Gurney being a flood damage-free community.

And then we said, well, what if Lake County was flood damage free?

Well, that's a lofty goal, but that's kind of the direction we're heading.

So if he was underwater every time they've done so much there in prevention.

The school used to be just like a floating island every time, and finally we've taken care of that.

So I mean, it's uh we've done a lot of smart things in the last in the last 30 years, really.

A lot of a lot of forethought.

Yep.

And uh we had the uh Bangs Lake ribbon cutting ceremony that I know a lot of folks here attended.

And uh one additional benefit that gets overlooked is not only the property owners, the visitors, the people on our roads, but the local responders that have to go to people's homes during emergencies or to deliver medicine or to pick up garbage or to drop school children off on the bus.

These impacts also are gonna be those are folks that'll be benefited too.

So the response that we have to provide during flood response, hopefully that also gets less as well.

The services that we need during it definitely has been.

And we've seen that.

All right.

So I'll keep moving along.

The next slide here is our surf program.

So our stormwater infrastructure repair fund is another program that we administer internally within our operating budget.

And we have a couple projects here.

These are projects within the range of maybe 50,000 to 200,000.

Uh, so we try to cover the whole funding spectrum.

And so surf's a good program.

And we've been working with the Village of Green Oaks, also the uh Highland Park High School District.

Um, then also the wetland restoration fund.

We are continuing to see monies come in because of the change in jurisdiction from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Wetlands are regulated by the uh Army Corps of Engineers if they're waters of the United States.

If they're not, they're isolated waters under our countywide ordinance that we regulate isolated wetlands and their impacts.

And when they are impacted, which they do get impacted, and they are allowed to be impacted, they need to be mitigated appropriately.

And our ordinance does have provisions that require a no net loss policy in Lake County.

So, what does that mean?

That means the wetlands that have been lost, and over 90% of wetlands have been lost in the state of Illinois since settlement times.

But in Lake County, these wetlands are stormwater management features that provide flood damage reduction.

So we want to hold on to what we have left.

And developers that are proposing to impact wetlands, if it's a tiny amount, like a tenth of an acre, they might be able to get away with that and not need to mitigate.

Okay, fine.

You get a certain amount of wiggle room.

Then when you start to impact a larger wetland, that threshold might trigger other requirements.

Like you need to physically mitigate and create another wetland to offset the loss of that other wetland.

And then when wetlands get to a certain size of an acre or more, or 16 acres, they're large enough that it triggers another requirement, a different categorical process that requires public hearings and feedback from the public, which I think is also a topic that is being discussed.

Um, so there is another process through the regulatory program with wetlands, and we've been re regulating wetlands for a long time, and we've regulated moderate size impacts, but uh there's a very large impact that's underway, and we all know what that is.

So we're gonna be involved in that process of the review for those wetlands through the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Army Corps of Engineers has their process.

We have an intergovernmental agreement with the Army Corps.

So we SMC will be providing erosion control, sediment control, review of the plans.

We'll also approve those plans, and then we'll also be inspecting the site during construction and then also closing out the site, ensuring that it's been constructed appropriately, stabilized, and closed out in conformance with the standards from the SMC and the Army Corps of Engineers.

So that's a little information about that one.

And I got to keep this moving.

We've got the MS4 program that's also a big item that just came out.

I guess it does affect the county, but it also affects all the other permitting entities in the county.

So we're getting that out.

The county has already turned in their uh permit application, so that spot box is checked.

Um I'll jump through a lot of this.

We have a lot of ongoing education outreach with our HOA workshop, our DECE program, best management practices, and the list continues.

So I do want to fly through the new program requests that we received in FY24.

So we're looking back a few years.

Uh, the comprehensive stormwater management plan update.

We are at the tail end of that.

We will be having a presentation at the commission later this summer.

I think in August.

We're gonna bring the consultant in.

Here's what the consultant has put together for this comp plan update, have some discussions, and then hopefully bring that to the board for adoption in 2027.

Um the other new program request was the Lake Michigan watershed PCB and Mercury TMDL compliance testing.

We've conducted that, and these were for the stormwater outfalls that the county maintains and owns.

And were the levels or the concentrations of these pollutants in excess of the threshold needing remediation?

And the answer was no.

So good thing the county's storm sewer systems do not need any further remediation.

Uh that was a requirement through this Lake Michigan testing that we conducted.

And the other one was the part-time wetland specialist that we onboarded.

And yeah, our wetland workload has increased.

So that is a um a value add to our organization that we really appreciate.

Uh, the other item that has not been implemented yet is this staff augmentation for outfall and facility inspections.

This is this new EPA permit that just landed.

It was administratively delayed for several years, and we never received it, but now it's out.

So we're still digesting this and coordinating with the communities.

Um, but that item was not um implemented.

The stream and channel pilot program, we did have an attempt to try to launch a small stream and channel pilot program.

Uh, it just was not feasible due to many constraints, funding, staffing, and other support resources.

So it's not that we don't feel we should be working on this in the future.

We'd like to have it as a future item, but for right now, we're we've received enough data to close out our pilot program.

And there is a uh report on this in the SMC packet that you can read for tomorrow night.

And with that being said, I just want to acknowledge our excellent staff that we have.

There we are at Lake Michigan.

Uh, we go out and look at a lot of our projects, so it's really great for the staff to actually see what they are working on in the field.

And a lot of our projects are along waterways, so it's nice to be outside and getting some exposure to them as well.

And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Well, I think you've done a tremendous job.

We were just at the Bangs Lake um unveiling of that project, and um, we're restoring a lot of shoreline and um, you know, making things more usable for our residents, and it's and you know, there's so many different uh things you're doing, restoring wetlands, you know, reducing flooding.

There's a long list, and we really appreciate.

I don't think people realize uh know enough about SMC and all the great things you're doing, and we're very much appreciated.

It makes our whole county more livable, and we really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, cheer heart.

Thank you.

And I just want to say I I love these annual updates because we learn a lot, right?

So every month we're kind of going to these meetings and hearing about this project or that project.

But the annual update is really such a great time for you to talk big picture about the work that you're doing and the direction you're going and what some of the obstacles are and things like that.

And I I just want to say when I joined the county, I think um Mike Warner was there.

I I wasn't here for the person before him, but um, you know that how long have you been in role, Kurt?

Uh six years and five years.

I think just five years.

Okay.

I mean, it has been so seamless.

The seamless the transition, and um I I just think you have uh a terrific team of people.

Yeah, I it always feels like when I go over there, it's like a friendly uh group of people who work together.

And um, I I just really love hearing about the great work you're doing.

And um, you know, it's we're just really proud, proud to have you guys as part of our.

I always say nationally recognized stormwater Lake County Stormwater Management Commission.

Um, we're just very grateful for for the great work you guys do.

So thank you.

Thank you.

And I want to thank all the board members and you too, Chair, uh, everybody.

So I know you have to wear many different hats and all that, but uh thank you for wearing the stormwater hat too.

Very much appreciated.

And we're always interested in in the different things you're doing.

All right.

Thank you so much.

And please thank your team and tell them how appreciated they are by the board.

And you know, we're very happy with the work you're doing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Kurt, did you have a quick director's report?

I do.

Yeah, I'll be real quick with the director's report.

I just want to say that there are uh some other items that we're working on with the county administrator for uh some restructuring, reclassifications of some positions.

Uh I think this will help enable us to accomplish more of our work programs.

So that's being um coordinated with the county administrator's office.

We also did establish this new PEM fund, this project expense match fund, and uh that was to relocate some funds out of our operating budget into this new fund.

And we're still working with uh county finance on that because the uh the amount that we set the fund up with initially.

We need to transfer over some other obligations.

So we need to, I think go into the fund balance, pull some funds out to make sure we have it up top in the actual PEM fund account.

So that's also being worked on with county staff, and that'll probably be at a future FA agenda.

Okay, thank you.

That's it.

All right, thank you very much.

Um I'm gonna welcome back Eric Wagner and Krista.

Um Krista Braun would suggest as um could we move item yeah, 8.5 after the action items?

Yeah.

So motion that I will.

Okay, so we're gonna move up 8.6.

8.7 minutes and eight 8.7 and 8.8.

Yes.

We're gonna do the action items first, and then Eric and Krista have an annual report.

Um let's do 8.6 resolution directing the Lake County Zoning Board of Appeals to conduct a public hearing on proposed tax amendments to chapter 151 of the Lake County, Illinois Code of Ordinances relating to sustainable energy facilities and unincorporated Lake County.

Can I get a motion, please?

Motion by member Knighnick, second by member compos.

Any questions on this motion?

Okay, all in favor.

Aye.

Okay.

Motion passes.

8.7.

It's a committee action.

Excuse me.

Committee action on a minor modification to lot five of the Ivan Hall Club phase three planned unit development to allow for an at-grade patio within the rear yard setback.

Can I get a motion, please?

Actually, if I I could.

Yes.

Um the staff has let us know that the applicant um has some reconsideration of this matter, and they've asked for it to be um postponed to the next PBZE meeting.

So I think we do need to have a motion.

Okay.

Motion to put it on the table, and then we'll motion to postpone.

So two motions.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

So I need a motion to put it on the table.

Motion by member Knighnick, second by member Wasick.

All in favor.

Aye.

Okay, now I need a motion to postpone.

Motion by member compo, second by member Keniznik.

All in favor.

Thank you.

Motion is postponed until our next meeting.

Let's go to 8.8.

A resolution on ZBA case number 001154-22 2026 to rezone approximately 4.6 acres from the open space zoning district to the rural estate zoning district.

Can I get a motion, please?

Motion by Member Wasick, second by member Kenijnik.

Uh can you talk about this for a second?

Yes.

Good morning, Chris Brown.

So we have we have a presentation.

Oh, we'll go through it very quickly.

Okay.

Um, just to give you an overview of what the request is on.

Oh, gosh.

Oh gosh.

Sure.

So uh before you today, we have a map amendment request.

Um, this would be rezoning a parcel from the open space zoning district to the rural estate zoning district.

Um the parcels located in Libertyville Township.

Um specifically, it is a 4.62-acre parcel.

Um, it is uh located west of North St.

Mary's Road and south of uh Buckley Road 137.

And the petitioner um owns the property.

Um it is Mr.

John C.

Ligario.

So the subject parcel, um, it's interesting because the house has been there since 1888.

Um and it's completely surrounded on three sides by open space.

Um it's a uh township park owned by Libertyville Township.

And the western portion of portion of the property is held in a recorded conservation easement.

So parcel currently contains a single family use residential structure.

It's been there for over a hundred years, and then the the back portion of the parcel is is in that open space easement.

So you can see looking at the platter survey.

And it does take up almost two-thirds of the parcel, I think.

And then the residential portion of the property is located adjacent to St.

Mary's Road.

So looking at two photos of the property, um, the picture on the left shows the house, and then the picture on the right shows the open space in the rear.

So looking at the the current zoning and surrounding land uses, um, again, the subject property is zoned open space, but it also contains the residential use.

Um the village of Meadow um is on the east side of St.

Mary's Road and its residential single family lots.

And then the parcel is surrounded by uh open space zoning, which is that uh township park.

And then looking at the future land use map, which really mirrors the existing zoning and and uses, um, you'll see that the front portion of the lot is in res residential medium lot, um, single family residential, and then as is the the parcels across to the east and then the surrounding area to the north, south and west, um, is uh located in open space.

So the ZBA held a public hearing on May 14th, 2026.

Um, they unanimously recommended approval of the rezoning request based on the findings that the request is consistent with the future land use map, which we just looked at.

Um the rezoning of the property would align um, it would bring the property into alignment with the current use as well as uh the long-standing historical use of the property.

Um the parcel is already um adequately serviced with private uh well and septic systems.

Um it has access to um a local road, so no additional services are needed and rezoning um the parcel would be consistent um in keeping um you know, preserving the the current open space and residential character of the area and and therefore no adverse impacts to neighboring properties would be anticipated.

And so um we are here today on the third to to get um this committee's recommendation and subsequent next step would be um this item moving on to the county board um at the June 9th meeting for final action on the rezoning request.

And we'll take any questions now.

Okay, member Wasik.

Thank you, Chair.

And help me understand this a little bit.

So this will not affect anything in the open space district or the conservation easement.

It will not, yeah.

So even though um the property would be rezoned to rural estate, which does allow so currently open space um under our current zoning ordinance, residential uses are not allowed.

Um so rezoning the parcel to rural estate zoning district would allow that um it would sort of bring the property into conformity.

Um the the current owner is looking to sell the property, and so he wants to resolve this issue.

That's the reason for the application.

Um, but because the um western portion of the property is held in that conservation easement, it will still continue to be um preserved for open space.

So there won't be any, even though the the zoning of the overall parcel will change, there will be no material effect to that um part of the property because of the conservation easement.

Well, bottom line, they just want to make sure that the zoning is is okay when they sell it.

Correct.

So they won't have any issues of closing.

Exactly.

Got it.

Okay, thank you.

Member Frank.

Thank you, Chair.

So Chris, just to clarify, no change to the density.

Like no buyer could demolish and rebuild a home, but it'd still be limited to one single family home in the lot.

Yes.

Okay, yes, based on the the lot with an area requirements for rural estate.

Um, the property would not be um there's not enough land there to subdivide it.

So it would remain single family residential.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Yeah, I would hate to see it demolished.

I can't believe it's been there for 1888.

That's pretty how many properties do we have like that in the county?

That's pretty unbelievable.

So um, I don't have any further questions.

You asked my questions.

Um other questions?

All in favor?

I okay, motion passes.

All right, I believe we've done all the business.

No, there's something else.

No, I'm gonna do the Eric's report.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

They already did that.

Okay, yeah.

So we're up to Eric, we're up to your annual update.

Just in the nick of time.

All the things we had a vote on are done.

Happy to uh present our annual update for the department.

Um if you what however you slice and dice it, you know, our the work that we carry out in the department really kind of aligns in three with three of the county boards strategic uh plan strategic priorities, superior county operations and services, sustainable environment, and then healthy and inclusive communities.

And so given that uh strategic plan alignment, what I'm gonna do with the presentation this morning is sort of walk through the highlights of um some of our current projects uh in the first half of the presentation, and then our ongoing initiatives, the ongoing work that we do in the second half of the presentation with these strategic plan connections in mind.

And so we're gonna organize them by strategic plans, strategic priority.

Next slide, please.

So if you look at the current projects that are in our pipeline, the things that we're working on right now, um, stuff that we've started already, stuff that we're just now undertaking in the area of superior county operations and services.

There's really, I think a good handful of examples of the work that we do that sort of exemplify that strategic plan alignment.

First, our building code amendments, the most recent round that we undertook um was it last month.

Um that that really provides more certainty to our development uh partners or contractors and so forth and navigating our building code regulations.

It's because it reduces the ambiguity in the requirements and translates to obviously like less churn in the process and fewer necessary corrections on plants and middle.

So that was a an example of uh of superior service.

Next one on the list here is ZBA hearing signs.

You'll recall going through an amendment earlier this year where we allowed for a more general generalized sign for our ZBA hearing so that each sign wasn't just unique to that one hearing, but we could use more of a generalized language on the sign that would allow that same sign to be continual, continuously used on other hearings.

Um, you know, it provides contact information for the department and so forth.

And that is that's uh that approach is in line with best practices that a lot of other communities have started to do.

Um, and so we've got now uh half a dozen of these real sturdy signs that you know can um you know that can continue to be used on sign on properties when we post one sign to per property, two per property.

Um we make sure that we have each frontage at least if there's multiple frontages.

Um, and that's if you think about like across the span of a year, that's several dozen one shot signs that we have that we used to have to produce.

Now we're simply doing we, you know, we we trot out the same sign that we've used continuously.

Um again, we have like half a dozen of them, so it it really creates a lot more efficiencies for us as a department.

Is it out like two weeks before or a month before or 15 days?

It's it's in light of the public posting requirements under the statute.

Okay, okay.

Uh next thing uh we're gonna be talking about um is the integrated wellness check.

That's the permit process that we administer in conjunction with all the other land departments.

That initiative is creating additional efficiencies for project reviews, enhancing the customer experience with us.

Um early step in the sort of development process improvement initiative is a series of changes that are gonna be coming up in our comprehensive text amendment packet, which is the second to the last one on the item there.

Uh that's going to the ZBA later this year.

Um, that um, for example, streamlines our plan unit development uh process that clarifies language and introduces some other efficiencies.

And then finally, uh we continue to make streamlining changes to our administrative adjudication code hearing unit uh process, uh, given the continuous increase of nuisance complaints largely in the unincorporated area.

So we're in order to just keep up with the flow.

We have to streamline the process as much as we possibly can.

So that's a benefit to our our constituents and our staff that administer, you know, an increasing workload in the area of code enforcement.

Next slide.

Uh current projects in the that are aligned with uh sustainable environment uh strategic priority include our sustainable development incentives ordinance, which is uh that packet is moving to the ZBA this summer.

That introduces a significant series of sustainable development incentives into our practices, essentially offering uh developments some benefits in exchange for adding additional sustainable features on the site.

This is the we've a lot of the time we've taken the stick approach with a sustainability.

This is this is also sustainability approach, but it's a carrot approach.

And so we're gonna now have in our ordinance both requirements and incentives for introducing more sustainability in our regulations.

Um area of landscaping, we've been working uh with our partner open lands on a series of improvements to those that sort of increase natives and build on changes that the board passed two years ago in the area of landscaping.

Our dark sky lighting amendments are going to be proceeding to the ZBA later this fall.

Um at uh today's meeting, the committee took action on the ZBA resolution to initiate the public hearing process on changes to the county's wind and solar regs and the energy storage systems that often accompany commercial solar.

And then finally, uh earlier this year, the the board took action on the text amendment related to logistics facilities.

Uh, this is a large warehousing distribution facilities uh that have been become more prevalent after the expansion of e-commerce, and we've built some sustainability around that topic.

Um, and so that's one of the one of the key features that we've worked on this year.

Next slide.

Um, in the topic of healthy and inclusive communities, this the county board's strategic priority around that um area.

Um we have, of course, the the ongoing work of housing lake, um, which was specifically identified by the board in your strategic plan uh as a goal uh to carry out.

Um and the upcoming schedule for our implementation phase this year uh is as follows.

So uh from the summer to the fall, we're gonna have uh tentatively uh a series of webinar-based speaker series um events um around each one of these regular uh each one of these foundational pillars that you see on the screen.

Uh this will keep the Lake County um Housing Lake participants sort of engaged um in the in the sort of policy areas that we're gonna be working on in our work groups and our workshops later this year.

And then after that webinar series concludes uh in this fall general time frame, we're gonna be launching the workshop process around each one of these specific pillars, each with its own work group and its own agenda identified by the specific topics that are in bullets on the screen there in the graphic.

Moving on to the sort of ongoing work that we do.

This is the operations and activities that are just sort of part of our every year work plan.

Um again, we're gonna be looking at those in light of the strategic plan, strategic priorities, starting with next slide, superior county operations and services.

Uh in the area of our uh shared services um approach, we um manage nearly nearly a dozen intergovernmental agreements with our area municipalities for inspections and plan reviews that we that we do on behalf of our municipal partners.

We also offer administrative adjudication services to one municipality.

Um I'll note uh that later this year we'll be bringing several of these agreements back to the committee and the board for updates.

Um we're gonna be renewing them with new rates that reflect the current cost of doing business and providing the service.

Um waste hauling franchise contracts are something that we continue to um to monitor and to uh manage on behalf of our unincorporated residents in the northern and southern halves of the counties.

We have two contracts, southern half is LRS, northern half is Groot.

Um, and this consolidated agreement you know, approach.

We we keep the customer pricing competitive, and we also reduce the number of duplicative deliveries to neighborhoods from multiple vendors.

Um, and that's a good sustainable feature as well.

Um we also provide a benefit to unincorporated residents who have flood insurance through our participation in the CRS program.

As I've stated before, we've continued to retain the very competitive high class or uh the class six rating, which gives us a 20% discount for all of our policyholders in the unincorporated area on flood insurance premiums.

That's a huge benefit for them, especially with uh pricing the way it is today.

Moving along to sustainability here as some examples of ongoing activities that we're doing in our department, um, in the the area of construction demolition debris diversion, we manage the county's CD recycling ordinance.

We administer that uh in the unincorporated areas for projects that involve some amount of construction and demolition debris.

That's new construction and demolition.

Um you can see over time, we've continued to maintain a very robust trend of diversion.

This is material that is recycled instead of being sent to the landfill.

We've we've seen an uptick in 25.

Um that tends to follow just general volume of permitting, I'd say.

Um it's not there's that's probably the biggest driver for how much volume we are able to divert because there's a threshold for diversion within each of the projects that we handle.

Um also commercial solar is a is an ongoing pipeline of work that we have right now.

We have 11 projects that are in the pipeline in various stages of the process.

I'll to the in the next slide.

I'll I'll get to the locations of where these commercial solar projects are located.

And finally, in the area of residential solar, um, as you may recall, we have the distinction of having uh been awarded SolSmart gold status from the US Department of Energy based on our streamlined permit process for residential solar.

Um, and that's a uh a practice that really benefits our residents who are interested in doing solar, they get very fast approvals for those projects.

Um you can see that the trend is declining somewhat in the volume of projects, and I think some of that's a function of restrictions on the you know, um the the sourcing of materials for solar, and we're gonna likely see this trend continue as well.

Um also the the federal incentives are are sort of, you know, they're they're they're scaling back significantly to the extent that that has an impact on the bottom line for each resident who's interested in doing residential solar, you might see decline, a gradual decline in the number of projects until unless and until we see a different incentive um policy in place at the federal level.

Yeah, that was my question.

So is there any or are there any rebates available whatsoever from the state or no?

There are.

Um, but again, it's a it's it's the total cost of the project that has to be taken into account.

And it's not it's not cheap to build residential solar.

And they have to take into account the the payback period, like the how much time it takes for a solar project to pay for itself.

Yeah, it seems like seven years, something like that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So it's it's a complex equation.

Every resident goes through it when they go through this process, but we do anticipate that there's going to be a little bit of a um softening in the market in this area.

Next slide.

Um, as I mentioned earlier, this is a map of the location that are currently currently um sort of active projects that are at various stages in the pipeline from the plan review stage all the way to the construction phase.

And you can see from the map that um there are certain areas that are very, very heavily municipal jurisdiction, like the southeast part of the county, very little area that's unincorporated, and that has zero at the present zero commercial solar projects.

You tend to see these in larger undeveloped areas with farm fields and so forth.

Um, and so consequently, you see on the northern half of the county the the majority of the projects that are in the pipeline.

These are, you know, again, largely rural areas that we're talking about.

Um the list goes on, and we do continue to see interest um every month or two in among you know um solar, the solar development companies doing work in the region.

We see interest in in picking up a new project here or there.

Uh the next slide's the the um distribution of the residential solar permits in fiscal year 25.

This tends to follow unincorporated population, you know, and and unincorporated territory as well.

There's as you can see, like the larger concentrations of solar projects are in the northwest quad.

We see a lot of there's a lot of unincorporated area up there, a lot of residents, small subdivisions.

Um very, very few, if any, on in the north, sorry, in the south, east, and the far northeast parts of the county where there's um very, very either very low unincorporated populations or very little on incorporated area, or both.

And then finally, um, I'd like to report on the status of our new program request.

This is a request that was approved by the the board uh in the fiscal year twenty-six budget for a new uh field inspector.

Uh it's a hybrid position, but most of the work for this position is involved in code enforcement.

As I said before, we have a very, very uh continuously increasing uh code enforcement caseload in the unincorporated area.

So this is a sorely needed FDE.

I'm happy to report that we have both hired, onboarded, are and are in the finishing stages of training for the uh the inspector.

And so we'll be able to report on uh success metrics within the next year for this position, but we are very happy to have that new FTE because it is uh taking a dent out of the very large backlog we have in the code enforcement area.

And so is this the only inspector?

We do have we do have another full-time code enforcement inspector, it's not enough given the bottom.

Okay.

We also have one seasonal and one seasonal.

Okay.

And that concludes my speed talking annual report for the department.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Do you have a director's report?

I do not.

Okay.

All right.

Sounds terrific.

Do we have a county administrator's report?

Yes, I have a three-hour report.

No, no report.

Okay, no executive session.

No executive session.

Any members' remarks?

Any members' remarks.

Okay.

So we will adjourn until July 8th, 2026.

Thank you all very much for attending the