What Should the Village do With the Charrington Dam Property?

At a public forum held Wednesday, Feb. 8, Mayor Jim Holland, village environmental specialist Nicole Specht and several other village officials heard from residents about what potentially to do with the Charrington Dam property, which is about 33 acres of mostly wetlands and prairie.

Before a large crowd, Specht outlined four plans that could be implemented for the property: passive open space, active open space, a public park or leaving it alone. Specht said the village will do what the residents want with the space.

Turning the area into a passive or active open space would mean removing all invasive species on the land and reintroducing about 75 natural species of plants. A passive open space would mean no one would be allowed on the land, while an active open space would mean people could use village-funded paths on the land.

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Residents in attendance at the meeting said they were in favor of removing some undesirable plants from the area, but they would like to see it remain mainly unchanged, keeping favorable trees in place. Residents also said walking paths and a possible playground were not something they were interested in.

Village Administrator Jerry Ducay said any plan for the land would seek grant money and other funding, although he added money will be put into the coming year's budget for some work to be done to the land.

Holland said any plans the village comes up with for the land will be presented to residents in another public forum before being implemented.

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