NIPC Will Partner With Ryan Administration on Sensible Development

Chicago, June 29, 1999:  The Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission will be a partner with Governor George Ryan’s administration in efforts to direct state resources toward cooperative solutions to regional growth issues. This was the message delivered by two of the Governor’s senior staff to the Commission’s quarterly meeting Tuesday morning in Chicago.

"We want to encourage sensible development that enhances local government and doesn’t restrict it," said Kathy Selcke, Deputy Governor for Program and Planning. "Our emphasis in this first year has been to direct resources into areas which local officials have said were important, including transportation, brownfield redevelopment, open space preservation, and quality of life. Now we want to expand the dialogue with agencies such as NIPC to improve working relationships between state agencies and the local level."

Selcke and Laurence Msall, the Governor’s Senior Advisor for Economic Development, reviewed initiatives successfully presented by the administration in the priority areas of education and workforce development, preserving the environment, economic development, transportation, and governmental accountability. Initiatives of particular interest to NIPC include

· the Open Lands Trust, which will provide $160 million over four years to acquire and preserve open space land for outdoor protection and wildlife habitat.

· Illinois FIRST, a $12 billion initiative to fund improvements in roads, public transportation, and other infrastructure supportive of sensible development

· grants and loans to help local communities remediate contaminated ":brownfield" areas for reuse

· continued efforts to restore the quality of the Illinois River

The Commission also heard a report from John Rogner, steering committee chair of the Chicago Regional Biodiversity Council, on the preparation of a plan for the preservation of the unique environmental resources of northeastern Illinois. Rogner, an official with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said that the remnants of tall grass prairie and oak savannah are "globally significant" ecological features which require coordinated management in order to survive. NIPC has been an active partner in the project, known as Chicago Wilderness.

Msall thanked the Commission for its early support of the Open Lands Trust legislation and the Illinois FIRST program. He said that the governor’s staff had found many interests in common with the Commission during early meetings about these projects. "We will not be shy," Msall said, "about asking for NIPC’s help and participation in the future."

NIPC President Herbert Schumann commended the Ryan administration for its "unprecedented success" during the legislative session and said, "The Commission was gratified to have worked with the Governor and his staff in supporting major initiatives for the benefit of the region." Schumann also thanked the administration for its support of funding for NIPC and for flood control planning on the upper Des Plaines River. NIPC has been one of the coordinating agencies for this planning effort.

Commissioner Alan Bennett noted that there seems to be an emerging congruence between NIPC and the administration on the importance of working with local governments through intergovernmental cooperation rather than creating new layers of government. Msall responded that intergovernmental cooperation reflects Governor Ryan's style and his own background as a local official.

NIPC’s Acting Executive Director, John Swanson, described Commission initiatives on which closer links with the state will be important. These include the development of a Regional Growth Strategy to provide local governments with tools to bring about balanced growth in the region, and an updated cooperative agreement for land use and transportation planning in the region.

The Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission is the comprehensive planning agency for the six-county metropolitan area. In addition to planning, the agency provides technical and research assistance and reviews state and federal grant requests for local governments.

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