The Illinois Association for
Floodplain and Stormwater Management’s (IAFSM) annual conference, “Equal
Partners,” convened over 450 local officials and industry professionals for two
days of training in
Tinley Park
,
Ill.
, on March 8 and 9.
During an awards luncheon that
recognized several entities and individuals for their contributions to
floodplain and stormwater management practices, IAFSM honored the Metropolitan
Planning Council with its 2006 Stormwater Management Award.
IAFSM recognized the Council for
successfully brokering legislation (SB1910, Public Act 94-0675) that allows
counties beyond the six-county
Chicago
metropolitan region to set up
stormwater management committees. The Act grants authority to create stormwater
management committees to the fast-growing, urbanizing counties on the edge of
Chicago region that are facing increasingly urgent stormwater management issues
-- Boone, DeKalb, Grundy,
Kankakee
,
Kendall
, and LaSalle -- and to members of the Southwestern
Illinois Metropolitan and Regional Planning Commission: Madison, Monroe and St.
Clair counties. . Up until now, only the six northeastern
Illinois
counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane,
Lake
, McHenry, and Will had the ability to set up such a
committee.
MPC championed this legislation
in partnership with Openlands under the auspices of the Campaign for Sensible
Growth.
The Conservation
Foundation, the affected counties, and dozens of individuals and organizations
played a significant role in supporting the legislation.
IAFSM also recognized MPC for
mobilizing the grassroots effort last fall that triggered hundreds of calls into
the governor’s office urging him to sign the legislation once the bill passed
both chambers.
As a result, Gov.
Blagojevich signed PA 94-0675 in August 2005.
As part of the awards ceremony,
Mike Fruth, coordinator of Metro East Regional Stormwater Management District,
received his own Stormwater Management Award for his partnership with MPC, the
Campaign and others, helping break an almost 14-year logjam of failed attempts
to extend authority to quickly urbanizing counties. His hard work ensured that
SB1910 was passed into law.
In
addition, the IAFSM paid tribute to Ill. Sen. Bill Haine (D-Alton), the bill’s
sponsor, with a Legislation Award for his leadership on SB 1910 and floodplain
issues overall.
The Metropolitan Planning
Council, Openlands, and the Campaign for Sensible Growth are committed to
working in partnership with local and county officials and industry leaders on
stormwater management practices and policies; and eventually to expanding the
enabling legislation statewide.
The
Council offers its assistance to the nine counties that directly benefit from
this new law and pledges to continue bringing attention to water issues
throughout
Illinois
.
More information on IAFSM is available at www.illinoisfloods.org .
