Five communities recognized for innovative solutions

The Village of Hawthorn Woods is the overall winner
The Lake County Municipal League has announced that the Village of Hawthorn Woods is overall winner of the 2014 LCML Innovation Awards. Recognized for its “entrepreneurial approach” to local government, Hawthorn Woods successfully engaged in a complete organizational restructuring. This included the creation of non-tax revenue initiatives, zero based budgeting, and finding better ways to provide services. The village was presented with the award at LCML Annual Dinner, November 20, 2014.

Village of Hawthorn Woods receives the 2014 Innovation Award from Lt Governor-elect Evelyn Sanguinetti (far right)

Other honorees included:

Village of Lake Zurich
Self-contained early warning system (EWS), developed by the Village of Lake Zurich, to measure water levels in a retention facility and provide timely and relevant communication regarding basin capacity and the necessity of supplemental pump deployment.

Village of Libertyville
Libertyville Gardens, a community garden created in partnership among three organizations: the Village of Libertyville, The Chapel, and the Gardeners of Central Lake County.

Village of Mundelein
A program to revitalized foreclosed homes and make them available for purchase by qualified individuals.

Village of Vernon Hills
The Victory Centre of Vernon Hills is a five story, 231 unit supportive living and senior apartment community. The village utilized the development as an opportunity to provide a shared regional stormwater detention facility under the proposed parking lot providing a cost effective alternative to on-site detention facilities for surrounding properties and will further accommodate future development at a later date.

Award nominations were judged by an exclusive panel of executives from federal and local governments. Full profiles of the judges can be found at: http://lakecountyleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/innovationawardjudges.pdf

This LCML awards program recognizes municipalities that developed strategic programs to solve municipal challenges and increase the effectiveness of local government. It also facilitates an exchange of information and experiences to build capacity for municipalities and jointly celebrate successful programs that could benefit other communities.