Title
Resolution approving a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Village of Old Mill Creek, the Village of Wadsworth, and Lake County relating to the operation of the Route 173 Corridor Intergovernmental Agreement in the final year of its current 20-year term.
Staff Summary
• The Route 173 Corridor Intergovernmental Agreement (“the Agreement”) was executed in 2006 between Old Mill Creek, Wadsworth and Lake County (“the parties”) for the purpose of establishing joint control over land use and development aesthetics and requiring sewer/water infrastructure services for all new development within a defined geographical area surrounding the 173/94 interchange (“the Gateway Area”).
• Since the adoption of the agreement, the lack of available public sewer and water service has prevented development within the Gateway Area.
• The parties are currently exploring the potential renewal of the Agreement in 2026 and any necessary modifications to its terms to more practically accommodate development within the Gateway Area.
• Pending the Agreement’s potential renewal, a landowner along and within the Gateway Area’s far northeastern boundary has proposed a development (inside the jurisdiction of Wadsworth) that would not be strictly permitted by the Agreement’s current terms.
• The parties recognize the practical difficulties faced by the landowner in this situation and collectively agree to suspend the Agreement’s requirements for the property in question for the remainder of its current term as they consider potential Agreement renewal; the attached MOU, upon execution, would memorialize this interim decision.
Body
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Lake County Board adopted a Resolution dated November 14, 2006, approving the Route 173 Corridor Intergovernmental Agreement (“the Agreement”) between the Village of Old Mill Creek, the Village of Wadsworth, and Lake County (“the parties”); and
WHEREAS, the Agreement was established for the purpose of establishing joint control over land use and development aesthetics and requiring public sewer/water infrastructure for all new development within the area of the Agreement (“the Gateway Area”); and
WHEREAS, the terms specified in the Agreement, principally the lack of available public sewer and water infrastructure, have created practical impediments to development occurring for the duration of the Agreement’s current 20-year term; and
WHEREAS, the parties are currently exploring the potential renewal of the Agreement in 2026 and any necessary modifications to its term to more practically accommodate development within the Gateway Area; and
WHEREAS, a pending development proposal in the Village of Wadsworth at the northeast edge of the Gateway Area is currently prevented from moving forward under the Agreement’s current terms related to land use and public sewer/water infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, the parties recognize the practical difficulties faced by the landowner in this situation and collectively agree to suspend the Agreement’s land use and public sewer/water infrastructure requirements for the property in question for the remainder of the Agreement’s current term as they consider potential Agreement renewal; and
WHEREAS, the attached Memorandum of Understanding (“the MOU”) encapsulates and memorializes the parties’ collective intent in this interim period; and
WHEREAS, the MOU provides for its execution by the chief administrative officer of each party following approval by each party’s governing authority;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by this County Board of Lake County, Illinois, that the MOU is hereby approved.
DATED at Waukegan, Illinois, on August 12, 2025.