DeKalb County committee moves forward with Forest Preserve land negotiations

SYCAMORE – The DeKalb County Forest Preserve committee approved a negotiations strategy to potentially acquire more land for the county’s forest preserve system.

The committee voted, 6-0, to allow Terry Hannan, superintendent for the DeKalb County Forest Preserve, to negotiate “for a piece of property up to the asking price,” County Board and committee member Misty Haji-Sheikh said, during a special committee meeting Wednesday at the DeKalb County Administration Building. County Board and committee member Craig Roman was absent.

Paul Stoddard, chairman for the forest preserve committee, declined to comment on the exact location of the potential land acquisition, along with the projected cost of the land.

Details about the land, including its location, will be made public “once we’ve got an accepted offer” from the seller, Stoddard said.

Stoddard said the size of the land that the county forest preserve is looking at is about 25 acres.

He said the main point the land would be able to bring to the forest preserve system is to add potential wetland banks and extend its hiking trail connections.

“It would be a helpful piece for the trail system,” Stoddard said.

Hannan declined to comment on the potential land acquisition project altogether after the committee meeting Wednesday.

The recent negotiations come after the County Board approved to add to Potawatomi Woods by buying 142 acres from rural Kirkland native Joan Stagliani last year.

The committee meets at
6 p.m. every fourth Tuesday of the month.