Lake Roads City's Responsibility
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Perry County unit road district commissioner and engineer Doug Bishop Monday night laid down card-after-card proving that maintenance of roads surrounding Du Quoin City Lake is the responsibility of the City of Du Quoin.
1. The 1933 plat indicates when the city lake was organized, what is now city lake road was severed by the city's imminent domain to build the lake and the roads around it. The city replaced a half mile of township road with its own one and a half miles of city lake roads.
2. Du Quoin used the revenue from cabin leases to maintain the roads for decades.
3.When properties around the city-owned lake were re-platted in 1990 so the city could cash in on tens of thousands of dollars from selling lots heretofore leased, a note at the bottom of the plat by the city accepts responsibility for road maintenance.
4. Subsequently, in 2008 the city expensed its own money to oil and chip the roads.
5. Street signs in newly developed areas are city street signs, not '911' addressing signs.
6. And, finally, the Illinois Department of Transportation fully established maintenance jurisdiction with the City of Du Quoin.
For Du Quoin, it was "game over" in the ongoing dispute as to where maintenance responsibilities rest.
"You're the bearer of bad news," Mayor John Rednour said softly as Bishop stepped to the podium to begin his presentation.
"I'm certainly not here to cause any problems," said Bishop, motivated by the unrelenting calls to his office about cleaning up after storms and fixing deteriorating roads.
Rednour and commissioners knew what was about to happen. But, in the absence of a revenue stream to pay for ongoing maintenance nothing changes for lake residents. The city can no longer maintain the roads as it did when it used lease money from the cabin sites to offset the cost. That money was spent more than a decade ago. The city also lost $85,000 a year in motor fuel tax money when the unit road district was organized.
City attorney Aaron Atkins said the options for lake residents include: 1. Organize a park district with a tax levy and a park board to generate the revenue to repair roads, or 2. be annexed into the city and be taxed by the city to repair the roads with the residual benefits of receiving police and fire protection.
Economic development consultant Jeff Ashauer offered a third--incorporation into a municipal government.
Repeatedly, lake residents have refused to entertain anything that would involve taxing themselves. Rednour and street commissioner Kathy West are empathetic, but can't help without the funds to do so.
Rednour said, "They (lake residents) want the benefits, but none of the costs."
Lake resident Jerry Williams largely agreed. Past efforts to form a district were rebuffed.
A meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on July 27 at city hall to revisit the issue.
Commissioner West said, "My obligation is to the city first."
Bishop said it gets worse. The cost of oil has risen three times in five years to the point where he believes that up to 180 miles of unit road district roads will revert back to being gravel roads instead of oiled and chipped roads in years to come.