Kane County is set to build non-motorized watercraft launches and install electronic signs along the Fox River after both projects were approved by the Kane County Board.
The Fox River flows from Waukesha County, Wisconsin, through several cities in Kane County including Aurora, and to Ottawa, Illinois.
The two newly-approved Kane County projects are both, at least in part, designed to support the river’s designation as a National Water Trail. It received that designation in 2023, according to Kane County Executive Planner Karen Miller.
“What that means is that we are now part of the National Park Service,” she said. “We also have different goals that we try to strive for that are part of different categories, including education and conservation and partnership.”
Kane County’s project to install five new non-motorized watercraft launch sites along the Fabulous Fox! National Water Trail was designed to improve accessibility to the water trail for paddling, Miller said. One of the goals of the river’s National Water Trail designation is to get more people out on the river so that they understand it better as a natural resource, she said.
The five new launch sites will be in Montgomery, Batavia, South Elgin, East Dundee and Carpentersville.
The Montgomery launch site is set to be in Montgomery Park, according to Miller. She said Kane County worked with both the village of Montgomery and the Fox Valley Park District, which manages Montgomery Park, to choose the location.
The Batavia launch site will on the shoreline next to Clark Island, Miller said. Batavia is also looking to improve the area with other recreational amenities, she said.
The South Elgin site is set to be located in SEBA Park. The park is known regionally and nationally for its accessible playground, according to Miller.
She said that, since all five of the new non-motorized watercraft launch sites will be a “universal design,” meaning they are designed to be usable by people of all abilities and all ages, SEBA Park’s new landing will be a “nice compliment” to its accessible playground.
The East Dundee site will be at William C. Bartels Park. Miller said the village is looking to expand the park across the road that currently separates it from the Fox River, and the new landing will be on this new riverfront portion of the park.
The Carpentersville site is set to be within a new riverside park that the village is in the process of developing, according to Miller.
She said the five new non-motorized watercraft launch sites were selected from around 20 possible sites that were submitted to the county by public landowners up and down Kane County’s portion of the Fox River.
Kane County and its consultant on the project, Hey and Associates, Inc., of Chicago, are now in the process of getting permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to construct the new launch sites, Miller said. Construction is expected to start next year, hopefully sometime in the spring, she said.
There are currently 27 river access points just in Kane County, and many more up and down the Fox River. For a list of currently constructed access points, along with details about parking, prices, amenities and more, go to fabulousfoxwatertrail.org/access-sites/
The project to build the five new non-motorized watercraft launch sites will cost the county almost $1.2 million, which will be paid for using federal funds given to the county through the American Rescue Plan Act.
The Kane County Board, at its meeting on Nov. 12, approved a contract for that amount with Earthwerks Land Improvement and Development Corporation for the construction of the launch sites.
At this month’s Kane County Board meeting, which was held last Tuesday, the board voted to approve the installation of solar-powered informational signs along the Fox River.
That project will cost the county around $300,000, with the total price being split between grant funds and the communities where the signs will be installed, Kane County Development and Community Services Department Director Mark VanKerkhoff said at last week’s meeting.
The exact split of the cost-sharing agreement with local communities will depend on whether or not Kane County is awarded a state grant for the project, he said.
The signs will both promote the communities they are in to those on the Fabulous Fox! National River Trail, which will help to encourage economic development, and will promote the river trail to those in the community, encouraging them to use the trail, according to Miller.
She said that one side of the sign will have marketing for the river trail while the other will be a solar-powered digital display with real-time information about river conditions and about the communities they are installed in.
For example, a park district may want to advertise a festival, or a village may want to put up the agenda for their next board meeting, she said.
The signs are also planned to be “non-invasive” to the river, VanKerkhoff said at a Kane County Board Executive Committee meeting earlier this month. As an example, he said St. Charles is proposing placing a sign at Mt. St. Mary’s Park near the restrooms, not at the edge of the river.
The contract approved by the Kane County Board last week will allow the county to lease up to 12 of these signs from Soofa, a Massachusetts-based company that specializes in outdoor advertising and smart city communication platforms, according to the company’s website.
Although neither the county nor the communities they are in will own the signs, Soofa will be responsible for the maintenance of and any damage to the signs, VanKerkhoff said at the Executive Committee meeting earlier this month.
An informational meeting was held in May to gauge local communities’ interest in the signs, and since then, four communities — Carpentersville, East Dundee, South Elgin and St. Charles — have expressed “very, very strong interest” in getting at least one sign, he said at the time.
Although the project passed the vote at last Tuesday’s Kane County Board meeting, several board members voiced various concerns with the signs.
Board member Leslie Juby, District 11, said that she would not support a program that uses county funds to pay for advertising for some but not all county municipalities. Similarly, board member Michelle Gumz, District 8, said that, if municipalities want these signs, they should be the ones to pay for them.
Board member Mavis Bates, District 4, said she did not support the program because she would rather preserve the natural environment of the river and the areas around it rather than fill it with advertisements.
Board member Clifford Surges, District 21, said he originally did not want to support the project because he wasn’t impressed with the signs and thought they were “cheesy.” But, when he showed photos of the signs to people, everyone loved it, so he ended up supporting the project, he said.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
