Knollwood Fire Department Consolidation Vote Could Come Friday

KNOLLWOOD, IL — The debate over the future of the fire service in Knollwood will continue. Facing a lawsuit and an election that could reshape its board, the Rockland Fire Protection District Thursday postponed any votes on consolidation of firefighting and emergency services. The move to table the proposals followed a special meeting Tuesday to discuss a pair of merger plans proposed by neighboring communities.

The unincorporated area of Knollwood is located west of Lake Bluff and east of Libertyville. It has a population of about 1,700 people in about 650 households, according to census data. The area of less than 1 square mile is served by the Knollwood Fire Department, which has operated since 1947 as an volunteer department.

The Rockland Fire Protection District is the taxing body that oversees the department. The district currently has a three-member board made up of President Dan Rogers, Robert Grum and Karl Snoblin. The board oversees an annual budget of $640,000 and handles about 550 fire calls a year, according to the Daily Herald.

Board members are currently appointed by the Lake County Board, but voters in April 2017 decided by a margin of 81 percent to 19 percent to switch to an elected board.

Some residents and local officials argued for a delay of any changes to the district until after voters have a chance to have their say on board members next April. Ahead of last week's public meeting to discuss merger proposals, Knollwood Fire Chief Jon Harlow told the Daily Herald any decision should wait until after the next election.

"For any decision made, whether it's Lake Forest, Libertyville or Lake Bluff, the current board should wait for board members to be elected, not appointed," Harlow said. "It's what the community asked for."

Two proposals from other communities to combine with the district have been put forward.

In one, the municipalities of Lake Forest and Libertyville will share fire and EMS services in the area. The two towns would each cover about half of the district at a proposed cost of about $450,000, initially.

The other possible intergovernmental agreement would involve Lake Bluff buying a used ambulance and transitioning to a joint fire department made of up both full-time and volunteer members.

Rogers has described the Lake Forest and Libertyville proposal as "simply too expensive," according to the Lake Forester. The board president also suggested it would "not make much sense" to "get into the ambulance business with Lake Bluff."

Libertyville Fire Chief Rich Carani told Pioneer Press he was hopeful the parties could come to an agreement despite delays in the process.

“It is frustrating that we have been working on this for a long period of time and it is not getting done," Carani said.

Meanwhile, a group of residents called Friends of Knollwood Fire, which advocates keeping the Knollwood's present system in place, filed a lawsuit Aug. 21 to block any arrangement with Libertyville and Lake Forest. But a representative of the group told Pioneer Press it was likely to withdraw the suit because of the board's decision not to take action at its Aug. 23 meeting.

Another special meeting to discuss and possibly take action on the Lake Forest-Libertyville intergovernmental agreement has been scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday at the Knollwood Fire Department at 14 Skokie Highway. In response to the announcement of that Aug. 31 meeting, the Friends of Knollwood Fire group said a motion to withdraw the suit had itself been withdrawn.

Related:

• Lake Bluff Proposes Joint Fire Department With Knollwood
  
• Lake Forest, Libertyville Propose Merging With Knollwood FD
  
• Libertyville Fire Could Share Knollwood Fire Calls

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