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The following is from Lake County Forest Preserve District board member and county commissioner Anne Flanigan Bassi as distributed in her email newsletter:

Anne Flanigan Bassi
Lake County Board – District 23
abassi@lakecountyil.gov   847-432-6291

The Forest Preserve District has spent years exploring options for developing a golf course on the Ft. Sheridan property in a fiscally responsible way, and in compliance with the deed restriction that accompanied the transfer the property.

In June of 2011, following the recommendation of an Advisory Committee that had spent almost two years analyzing options, the Forest Preserve District (FPD) Board of Commissioners voted to issue an RFP (request for proposals) to the private sector to submit proposals for a privately funded 9-hole golf course at Ft. Sheridan.

The national golf market decline pre-dated the overall economy’s decline by around five years.  Perhaps this is a temporary change in the market, or perhaps it represents a systemic change in the way people currently live their lives and do business.  I have heard opinions on both sides.  The District believed that private sector was in the best position to determine the future of the golf market, and whether they could bring the necessary expertise, economies of scale and synergies to bear on the project to enable them to more economically develop and operate the course.

The deadline for submitting proposals from the private sector was January 6, and no proposals were submitted.  During February or March of this year the Forest Preserve Board will be discussing policy direction in light of the lack of response to the RFP and next step(s).

I am aware that this subject is of interest to many, and will advise you of all future meetings where this subject will be discussed.

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I learned today that the Lake County Forest Preserves Board received no responses to its published request for proposal (RFP) to fund, construct and operate a 9-hole golf course at the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve.

You may be aware the Forest  Board voted to go forward with requesting bids from private developers to develop this golf course as the best and possibly only chance to have a golf course at Fort Sheridan.  These bids were due last Friday, January 6. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed shortly after the bids were due I received a response indicating, “The District did not receive any responses to the referenced RFP.”

What’s Next? Is the Golf Course Dead?

A fine looking grassland savanna

The matter is in the hands of the Forest Board. At an upcoming meeting they will be presented with the results of the solicitation for proposals. They are tasked with determining next steps.

In the last two and a half years of public controversy this issue has been explored from all angles.  There has never been a wellspring of public support for a golf course. Neighboring communities are financially struggling with their own existing golf facilities. Even public officials who supported the golf course development also stated, paradoxically, that there was no need for another municipal course. The Forest Preserve Board has wisely backed away from publicly subsidizing what reports have indicated would be a money loser. But a land deed restriction as well as a promise to the original homeowners in the Town of Fort Sheridan subdivision have kept this issue alive.

We have now gone to the mat. The results are in. Prospective golf course operators and developers have declined to bid. They have determined there are greener fairways elsewhere.

Hikers enjoying view from the Fort Sheridan bluff overlooking Lake Michigan

At the same time with minimal land management, Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve is thriving as a recreational hot spot with a jammed parking lot and scores of people romping around the bluffs, the oak savanna and the lakefront. Rare and endangered bird species have been seen taking refuge in the new grassland growth.

The Forest Board will determine its next steps.  But it is pretty clear in which direction they should be taken.

First the Bird Science

Fort Sheridan Forest Preserves environmental diversity supports rare species like this Le Conte's Sparrow.

Just as we discovered a study showing how bird diversity can be used as a surrogate measure for residential property value, we’ve learned of an exciting bird finding at the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve. While conducting the annual Christmas Bird Count, a contingent of expert birders identified the presence of a Le Conte’s Sparrow and a Henslow’s Sparrow.

Neither of these birds is common at any time of year. But both are first EVER records for the Evanston-Northshore Christmas Bird Count since it began its annual survey in the early 1900’s. The Henslow’s Sparrow, on the list of Federally endangered species, represents the 3rd record on an Illinois Christmas Bird Count EVER (the other 2 were in 1950-51 and 1964-65).

So What? Who Cares?

Remember the history of bringing canaries into coal mines as an early-warning air quality alert system? Birds are indicators of environmental quality. Today we are mostly confronted with endangered and extinct species largely due to habitat loss and environmental degradation. To learn that rare species – of almost any kind – are newly found is a testament to the prospect of environmental rehabilitation.

Minimal Investment. Huge Return

In the few short years since the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve has undergone minimal land management, the prairie savanna some would prefer to know as the 5^th through 9^th hole of a golf course, has become a Mecca for nesting and migrating bird wildlife. There are some who see in this savanna of quick-growing rye and Black-eyed Susan, planted to stabilize the soil, merely a weed field. But they are wrong.

Home – For All Of Us

To some bird species it is home and others merely a relatively safe way station on a longer journey. But to us it is even more important. The presence and increase in bird life at Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve tells us the “canaries in the coal mine” are well and even thriving – a trending indicator of the kind of quality environment in which we hope to live.

It’s a good thought to go into 2012 when the future of the Lake County Forest Preserve – and the quality and diversity of our environment – is to be determined.

Thanks to Christmas Bird Count participants Ari Rice, Geoff and Chris Williamson and Sulli Gibson for their field work that made this post possible.

“… researchers’ bird count-property value model suggests that the presence of less-common birds helps home prices soar.”

This Red-headed Woodpecker in the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve might add $32,000 in value to a home's resale value.

One of the many lies being peddled surrounding the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve land use controversy was the misconception that a golf course inherently lifted the property value.  Promoting such a touchstone issue as property value would energize even the non-golfing couch potato Fort Sheridan subdivision homeowner to support the development of a golf course. But it is not true.

The golf course community home value story is a “once upon a time” fable that took root in the last century when both golf and home value were on the growth trajectory.  In fact, we researched this assumption in depth and discovered that the value didn’t so much accrue to the golf course as it did to the open space afforded by a golf course – or any open park land.

Now we’ve unearthed a recent study conducted at Texas Tech University  and published in Urban Ecosystems that associates bird counts with increased property value. Or, as the lead in the Conservation magazine article states, “Home sellers take note: That blue jay in your backyard could add $32,000 to your asking price.” This is exciting and profitable news for the homeowners in the Town of Fort Sheridan subdivision.

Since the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve became publicly accessible, bird watchers have been flocking to this unexplored environment. The complex and diverse mix of ravines, mature trees, open grassland savanna and unique Lake Michigan bluff is compelling. Never mind the incredible vistas of which Lake County Commissioner Carol Calabresa said, “it takes my breath away.” The environment promised diverse bird species in addition to a great dog walk.

And it only got better as Lake County Forest Preserve’s excellent land management crew conducted fundamental grading, channel stabilization and planting of rye, black-eyed susan and mixed grasses. This effort simply held the soil and the property in a state of neutrality while the public policy issues were being worked out.

Yet as nature gratefully demonstrates, given the chance, even a former airfield and artillery range can recover to support a diverse ecosystem of plants and animals. And into this environment birders have been annually recording an increasing quantity and diversity of bird species. This is an environment an avian biologist declared to be “nice looking grassland habitat.” Which is only great news for Fort Sheridan subdivision homeowners concerned about property value.

In fact, Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve is the go-to place for Red-headed Woodpecker eye candy (add $32,000 to your home value), a diminishing bird species that thrives by the bridge entering the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve as well as in the mature oak at the northwest corner of the Preserve near the cemetery.

And there’s the Louisiana Waterthrush that likes the ravine off the entrance bridge in the spring (add $32,028 to your home value). The purple finch ($$), breeding Bobolink ($$). In fact, the researchers’ bird count-property value model suggests that the presence of less-common birds helps home prices soar.

Now, to be clear, it’s not the birds that necessarily drive the property value.  But the bird presence is a surrogate measure for a desirable ecosystem. The kind of ecosystem which supports higher valued homes – and Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve provides this to the neighboring Town of Fort Sheridan subdivision.

During this habitat transition some Town of Fort Sheridan subdivision residents derided the remarkable emerging savanna as a weed field. Their ignorance belied the likelihood this “weed field” might be increasing their property value at a far greater clip than a golf course would.

Farmer, M.C., M.C. Wallace and M. Shiroya. 2011. Bird diversity indicates ecological value in urban home prices. Urban Ecosystems doi:10.1007/s11252-011-0209-0.

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One of the positive hallmarks of the sordid saga of the ill fated Fort Sheridan golf course has been a high level of transparency and public engagement as the Lake County Forest Board has moved glacially through its decision-making process. In fact, “process” has been the driver of public resolution and rides shotgun with transparency. Why else would 3 County Commissioners opposed to golf at Fort Sheridan vote counter-intuitively and create the slim majority vote necessary to go forward with the golf course? Because they supported a process.

So it was disturbing to a watchful public when Lake County published a meeting event and then moved it without public notice. So much for the process. Some will quickly rattle their Open Meeting sabers. Others will say that terms and conditions permitted this secretive change of venue. But that’s not the point.

The point is that an interested public has a right to follow a public issue. This is not new news. And there are laws in every state that serve to bring government out of the now-smoke-free backrooms and place it squarely in the spotlight for those who like to see how sausage is made.

Seven interested and concerned people showed up at Fort Sheridan at 10 AM November 15 for a meeting called by the Lake County Forest Board. As we have been for several years now, we were there to watch and listen. The group was split among golf course supporters (1) and open space/public access supporters (6). But no one from the Lake County Forest Board or staff showed up.  Instead, the meeting had been moved without public notice to Ryerson Conservation area. We’d been ditched.

Was this a public meeting? Was notification of intent to attend a prerequisite for getting the secret password to receive the meeting location token? Was Lake County suddenly oblivious to the public interest engendered by this controversial issue for over 3 years now? Or was our government hiding?

Transparency has been obscured. The process has taken a hit. We are only left with questions. Who did attend the meeting? What unforeseen circumstance caused the meeting to be moved from its publicly announced location? What other information in the County’s request for proposal for a golf course at Fort Sheridan was modified besides the meeting location? And why is Lake County government running from its public?

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Building a golf course at Fort Sheridan is the present intent of the Lake County Forest Board. On November 1, 2011 they will publish a request for prospective golf course operators to submit proposals to design, build and operate a 9-hole golf course at Fort Sheridan.

You can download  the Fort Sheridan Request For Proposal here. (PDF document to download).

Although 10 Forest Board commissioners voted to not take this next step, 12 voted to prepare the request for a golf course proposal. And of those 12, 3 actually are against developing the golf course!  What’s going on here?

Quite simply the Lake County Forest Board has decided it is politically expedient. Perhaps it will strengthen their position if a legal objection is raised. Perhaps it will facilitate the final negotiation to remove the deed restriction. In our view it is a wussy approach.  Rather than lead, they have succumbed.  It’s disappointing. It’s cowardly. It’s par for the course – pun intended.  The Forest Board is in a strong position and 10 Commissioners agree. Instead we continue to kick the can down the road. One wonders if it will be a 2012 campaign issue? Or a referendum?

But here’s the good news: They’ve created this ridiculously onerous set of requirements for building and operating the proposed 9-hole golf course. The requirements are in place to protect you and me from the absolutely certain financial failure of this enterprise. The golf course proposer will hold the bag. And it is a very big bag of investments. Only through philanthropy or idiocy will someone step forward to bid on this project.

According to Lake County’s consultant who helped them assemble the request for a bid, if you are a prospective golf course developer, you can find a huge list of failing golf courses for sale at prices of 20 cents on the dollar. And you can probably buy one of these failing courses without a government agency issuing outrageous business requirements. Nor would you have a large segment of the public hating your destruction of the open land they have been enjoying public access to for the past couple years. If you were a golf course developer, which would you choose – a free and clear ownership title in a community that wants your golf course? Or the painfully conflicted Fort Sheridan?

On Wednesday, November 16 at 10 AM there will be a proposer meeting on-site at Fort Sheridan. It’ll be great theater to show up and see what idiots think they’re going to build and operate a profitable golf course here. Conceivably, it will be a party of none.

See you there!

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From: Jane Mikulski

Date: July 5, 2011

To: scarlson@lakecountyil.gov, AMaine@lakecountyil.gov, CCalabresa@lakecountyil.gov, MichelleFeldman@sbcglobal.net, MFeldman@lakecountyil.gov, BCarter@lakecountyil.gov, AKyle@lakecountyil.gov, MBush@lakecountyil.gov, LPedersen@lakecountyil.gov, DHewitt@lakecountyil.gov, JNewton@lakecountyil.gov, BPaxton@lakecountyil.gov, BDurkin@lakecountyil.gov, MCunningham@lakecountyil.gov, DOKelly@lakecountyil.gov, PCarey@lakecountyil.gov, SGravenhorst@lakecountyil.gov, ANixon@lakecountyil.gov, TWilke@lakecountyil.gov, SMountsier@lakecountyil.gov, ALawlor@lakecountyil.gov, CTaylor@lakecountyil.gov, DStolman@lakecountyil.gov, abassi@lakecountyil.gov

Subject: Thank You for Wonderful Walking Paths at Fort Sheridan

Dear Commissioners,

The last two weekends, I have had the pleasure of walking the new paths at the Ft. Sheridan Forest Preserve and I want to thank you for adding these beautiful paths at the preserve and completing the fantastic grading and restoration work.

During each of my visits, even though it was only 6:30am, there were already people out enjoying the property.  i encountered a large number of joggers, dog walkers, a man  taking photographs of the sunrise, a group of 12 cyclists who stopped to explore the trails, bird watchers and people taking an early morning stroll.  Everyone I talked to was thrilled to be able to enjoy the property.  These paths that you have added are being used and loved already.  Thank you for your gift to the county.

When I mentioned to these people that there might be a golf course on the property, almost every single individual was shocked and dismayed that this property could be lost.  People universally felt that it would be a waste of money.  They also felt that dodging golf balls would ruin the visit for them.

I have been at the preserve at this early hour because I am a volunteer bird monitor for the forest preserve.  I am happy to report that even though the restoration work was just completed, already a large number of Bobolinks have returned to the site.  These birds are in decline, but at Ft. Sheridan I counted 10 nesting pairs.  I also observed Meadow Larks and Red Headed Woodpeckers.  also species in decline elsewhere, but making a home at Ft. Sheridan today.

Your vision to keep this property free of golf development will bring great joy to so many people in the county as well as help wildlife.  Thank you again for giving the people of Lake County an exceptional gift.  I promise you, it is being well used and loved.

Regards,
Jane Mikulski

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The Lake County Forest Board met to consider a proposal to privatize their golf course commitment at Fort Sheridan. Even if operated privately, with no economic benefit or cost to Lake County, ample evidence demonstrated a new course would increase the economic hardship of all neighboring courses.  In fact, competing at the same price point as the existing courses accentuates the damage. And, ironically, the more successful this course is, the greater the adverse impact on the existing municipal golf courses – all of which are struggling with negative financial performance.

In spite of this information, the Board voted to solicit bids to develop the golf course. Three people spoke at this meeting who were not part of the Board including the City of Highland Park’s legal mouthpiece, a resident of the adjacent subdivision and myself. The entire meeting (about 35 minutes) can be watched on video. But here is what I said:

I told the Forest Board, "We have worked very hard to try to put lipstick on this pig. Honorable, we all understand. But not practical."

“First, thank you for the transparency and open communication in the discussions about Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve’s future. Many of us have attended the public meetings and open house, read the many documents and minutes, watched the meeting videos. We have written hundreds of letters and emails to you. I have written 60 blog posts, published 12 videos on YouTube. Over two hundred people have joined the Stop Golf at Fort Sheridan Facebook page.

This hasn’t been fun. Commissioner Calabresa said in her advisory committee summary, “this has been a horrendous experience for all of us.”

We have worked very hard to try to put lipstick on this pig. Honorable, we all understand. But not practical.

We don’t need another golf course. In their summaries during the subcommittee meeting, Commissioner Bassi, said, QUOTE “We don’t need another golf course.”  Commissioner Feldman said quote, “This is a bad business idea.”  And this is from the people who support the option before you.

When the public was invited to provide input on option A,B or C, the option they selected by an overwhelming majority was D –None of the above. Give us a traditional forest preserve. But this option wasn’t even entertained by the sub-committee. It was never on the table.

We can’t afford this.

Have a private company build design and operate a golf course is your cost free solution?

Who are you kidding?

Your golf marketing consultant has given you a chart showing that the more successful your course is, the more devastating it is to its neighbors.

Sandra Hart on the advisory committee from Lake Bluff park district said (quote) “ The potential revenue loss to Lake Bluffs program would be devastating.”

Lake Forest Mayor James Cowhey made a guest appearance at the advisory committee and said, “Please don’t build a 9-hole course that will compete with our course.”

Lake Forest City Manager, Robert Kiely said, “We can’t endorse something that will kill our course.”

No government should feel compelled to honor public policy that no longer makes sense. Your solution is not cost free. It is painful. It is disruptive. It is bad citizenship to your municipal neighbors.

You have only one option. That is to renegotiate the land use agreement in light of today’s financial circumstances. Anything else is disrespectful to your constituents and financially  irresponsible.”

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Several weeks ago the Lake County Forest Preserve Board voted 12-10 to accept their advisory committee’s recommendation to privatize their golf course obligation at Fort Sheridan. Although I was probably the first to break this news with a Tweet from the county’s boardroom, I had to think a little about this latest move in the chess game that Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve has become.

The issues that seemed important to consider included:

• Does this mean a golf course will be built at Fort Sheridan?
• Why did the board vote the way it did?
• And what happens now?

What  Happens Now?

Here’s the plan as I understand it:

• Now till August ish: The Board has allocated up to $70,000 to develop the legal and functional requirements of a request for proposal (RFP) for a nine-hole golf course.
• Augustish to Octoberish, 2011: The RFP will be published and responses will be solicited over a 60 to 90 day period.
• Novemberish to January ish: Responses will be evaluated by LCFPD staff with recommendations to the board
• February, 2012ish: The Forest Board will vote to award a contract to the successful proposal. Or to not go forward with a contract award (!).

Does this Mean a Golf Course Will be Built at Fort Sheridan?

Well, that depends on what you mean by “means”.   But, no, the golf course is not a sure thing for a couple reasons.

“This doesn’t mean that there is going to be a golf course. It means the Forest Preserve District board is following recommendations from the Fort Sheridan Golf Course Advisory Committee to put proposals for a 9-hole golf course out there to private entities.” – Tom Hahn, Executive Director LCFPD

Take my golf course. Please.

First, there has to be a bidder . One that will accept the terms of the RFP. Some of these terms are, well, onerous, at best. The financial requirements and commitments the Forest Board is requiring would be tough  even if golf were a thriving enterprise. But golf isn’t thriving, its struggling.  In the desperately failing municipal golf market the requirements stipulated by the Forest Board are downright appalling to any business person focused on their bottom line.

We don’t need no stinkin’ golf courses.

Second, the county has clearly and finally signaled that it really does not want to build a golf course at Fort Sheridan.  Like any vote,  the razor thin margin of 12-10 that approved  seeking the RFP doesn’t reveal the greater story.  In the “aye” column were three votes cast, quite vocally,  under protest. Citing “advice from counsel” three commissioners who are opposed to the golf course voted to go forward with the RFP. That’s right. Opposed to the golf course but voted to pursue the golf course.  Go figure.

The “No’s” have it.

The count, therefore, is 13 Forest Board commissioners  against the golf course with nine for it and 1 absent for the vote.  How they vote when or if this comes before them in 2012 can’t be known, but right now the majority are against a golf course being developed at Fort Sheridan.  No, the golf course is not a sure thing.

Why Did the Board Vote the Way it Did? – It’s about the process

Nine commissioners voted to go forward with the golf course RFP without reservation but not necessarily with great enthusiasm. This includes people like Michelle Feldman who previously called the golf course a “bad business idea.” Also included is the initiative’s chief sponsor, Anne Bassi, whose district includes Fort Sheridan and previously stated, “we don’t need a golf course at Fort Sheridan.”  Avoiding either supporting the golf course or opposing it, Anne supported the “process” of following through on the advisory committee’s half-hearted recommendation.

Ten commissioners courageously, and against the advice of their corporate counsel, recognized the Fort Sheridan golf course for the dumb idea that it is and voted to not seek an RFP. Or as heroic Commissioner Cunnigham said, “I been from the jump street.  I’ve never been for building nothing.” No ambiguity here.

Regrettably, three commissioners simply ceded their policy preference to the advice of the Forest Board’s lawyer. The lawyer’s advice was, as best we can determine having not been provided this information first hand, that the county would be in a better position to seek an amendment to the deed restriction requiring the golf course if they explored every option which proved this golf course could not be built without creating an economic hardship. Also implied, but perhaps not specifically stated, is that this process might forestall a lawsuit.

So the proposed Fort Sheridan golf course continues to fester like an open sore, bleeding another $70,000 in engineering and legal costs to prepare an RFP.  And then there is the collateral damage. Ed Brill, a resident of the neighboring Fort Sheridan subdivision, told me that realtors won’t show people property in his community. He said as long as the land use matter remains unsettled, it makes prospective buyers uncomfortable. Brill also has characterized the prairie grassland as a weed field and, with other residents, has been vocal about the disrepair of adjacent Forest Preserve managed property. So, in an already tough housing market, the Fort Sheridan subdivision has been declared toxic by its own residents. Home sales stagnate.

Once again the Forest Board kicks this issue down the road. The golf course may reappear on the County’s agenda in early 2012. Plenty of time to tell your county commissioner just what you think.

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This Tuesday, June 14, the future of Fort Sheridan will be determined by the Lake County Forest Preserve Board of Commissioners.

The Board will entertain a motion directing preparation of Request for Proposal for private funding, construction and operation of a 9-hole golf course at Fort Sheridan. Your Lake County Commissioners are pursuing this initiative in the face of losses year to date (10 months) of $368,829 with operating income down 130% ($232,213). As you know, unrelated to this year’s miserable weather, these losses have been ongoing for years.

What is the County Forest Board thinking? Will this proposal be approved? If approved, will this impact forest preserve projects in other areas of the county?

Every municipal golf course in Lake County  is losing money.  This year, alone, Bittersweet golf course in Gurnee failed and was taken over by the village. Lake Barrington Shores golf course has been foreclosed.

Astonishingly, taxpayers seem to have an unlimited appetite for subsidizing golf. If the Fort Sheridan golf course is built, even with private funds, it will reduce revenue to nearby golf courses by as much as 10%, creating even greater despair and public subsidy.

The Lake County “Special Call Board meeting is at 11:30 AM on Tuesday, June 14 at the County Building, 18 N. County Street in Waukegan. I encourage you to let your Lake County commissioner know how you feel about this matter. Now is the time to speak up. Here is a directory of County Board members.