Forest Supporters Left At The Altar

Supporters of the Atkinson Forest got a mixed signal from the Fairfield City Council on Tuesday night. No such mixed signal from the park district. Neither seems willing to consummate a deal with the supporters of the forest, despite a promised dowry of a half-million dollars in private contributions once a marriage is announced.

Mayor Brent Maguire didn’t ask for money from the city council this week because he likely knew there wasn’t support for it. Last month he got the council to approve a new employee to pick up yard waste while hiking everyone’s garbage bill $60-a-year.  Remember? That made it difficult to offer annual help for the forest this month.  

Instead, he tried to scratch out a compromise by saying he would go back to the forest steering committee to see if there was a shared project the council could get behind.

Understand the reasons for the park district’s great reluctance in partnering again with the city. They got the golf course dumped on them. An annual $50,000 contribution by the city to the course stopped. Then there is the TIF issue. The city begged the park district in 2014 to extend the TIF fund with the understanding they would get about $30,000 annually off the top. Mayor Maguire cancelled that understanding and the park has not received a penny in over a year from TIF.

Add it up. That’s 80-grand. The city has shown itself to be an unreliable partner.

You can’t poor-mouth in September to get a new city employee and then come back in October asking for more. There isn’t any “more.”

Despite their patience----the Atkinson Forest Steering Committee has clearly been left at the altar.