The Fox Waterway Agency’s Board on Thursday voted to oppose pending state legislation to transfer ownership of a McHenry County lake to the local waterway agency from the state.
Griswold Lake, in Nunda Township north of Island Lake, is entirely surrounded by private property, waterway agency officials said. Its only channel leading to the Fox River is dammed, leaving the 140-acre lake inaccessible to the general public.
Adding Griswold Lake to the agency’s current responsibilities would be prohibitively expensive because user fees collected from boats registered on the lake would only generate about $500 per year in new revenue for the agency, far below the agency’s costs, officials said.
“We can’t do that,” said Wayne Blake, an agency director. “The agency doesn’t have the money or the manpower to take on an additional lake.”
The state legislation, known as House Bill 1137, was passed Thursday by a House committee in Springfield, officials said.
The Fox Waterway Agency is a local, self-supporting agency responsible for maintaining the Fox River and Chain o’ Lakes in Lake and McHenry Counties.
