Reserve Your Spot for the Upcoming Hydric Soils Class
The Lake County Stormwater Management Commission and Lake County Forest Preserves are proud to announce they will be hosting the Illinois Soil Classifiers Association's (ISCA) Field Indicators of Hydric Soils, Part 2 on August 6 and 7 at the Central Permit Facility, located at 500 W. Winchester Road in Libertyville. This two-day training course teaches Field Indicators of Hydric Soils referenced in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual for the Midwest and Northcentral-Northeast Regions.
Day one will start with an overview of soil formation, landscapes, water flow, local glacial activity, and field indicators of hydric soils with ISCA Soil Scientists at the Central Permit Facility in Libertyville. The afternoon will be spent in the field describing and identifying field indicators of hydric soils.
Day two will be a full day in the field at two Lake County Forest Preserves sites to observe and identify field indicators of hydric soils in sandy soils.
Come prepared with field equipment and dressed for field work, rain or shine. Attendees will receive 12 Professional Development Hours for attending. The course cost is $500. Registration is limited to 50 people to allow attendees to get more individual attention.
If you have any questions, please contact Mea Blauer at 847-377-7701 or email iblauer2@lakecountyil.gov.Â
Meet the New Addition to the Team!
Brandon Swanson has joined SMC as the new Project Intern. Heâll be working with our GIS Analyst, Michelle, to update the SMC project database and create a SMC project photo inventory. He will also coordinate with other departments for educational videos and outreach opportunities, create project fact sheets, coordinate stream clean-up requests, fill data gaps in the SMC GIS Permit database and will take part in field inspections with the Planning and Regulatory team.
Brandon is a recent graduate of Northern Illinois University (NIU) with a major in Meteorology and Applied Mathematics along with a Certificate in GIS. While at college, he was the NIU Weather Centerâs Broadcast Officer and was responsible for producing and editing a weekly weather broadcast for DeKalb, NIU, and the surrounding area. He has also previously interned at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois.
In his spare time, he enjoys playing video games, collecting Pokémon cards and plushies, and working with his hands in the garden and on mechanical projects. He also has a love of weather, especially severe and hazardous weather, and has been known to go storm chasing. He has seen several tornadoes, including the recent Kankakee EF3.
Free Business Workshop
Register now for the Lake County Local Emergency Planning Committeeâs Private Industry Workshop on July 15 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Central Permit Facility in Libertyville. The program will feature speakers from SMC, the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and more.
Connect with other local industries, emergency management, and response partners to strengthen your organizationâs preparedness while learning how your business can support community resilience during emergencies. It's also a great way for municipalities to connect with local businesses. Reserve your spot for a free opportunity to learn, network, and collaborate with local emergency planning professionals.
Mark Your Calendars!
Winter Best Practices Workshop
Save the date for this year's Winter Best Practices Workshops taking place from September through November.
There will be a mix of in-person and virtual options available for Public Roads and Parking Lots & Sidewalks workshops. Attendance at these workshops counts towards meeting MS4 and NPDES permit requirements.Â
SMC is hosting the Pubic Roads workshop on September 29 in Libertyville. Registration information is coming soon.
 Lake County Calibration Workshop
Lake County will be hosting a FREE in-person calibration event at the Lake County Division of Transportation (600 W. Winchester Road, Libertyville, Illinois) near the salt dome on November 5. This is an opportunity to bring winter maintenance vehicles to be calibrated with Force America and Lake County Division of Transportation staff. One-hour timeslots will be available. On-site Calibration events will also be available on November 3 and 4 at other locations in the region.
Full details will be available soon.Â
Lake County Anti-Icing Liquids Panel Event
Lake County is hosting a free Anti-Icing Liquids Panel Event on September 29 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Lake County Division of Transportation in Libertyville. This event will feature various anti-icing local professionals that will briefly talk about their experiences with getting into anti-icing methods and their current operations. There will be time to ask the panelists questions, as well as tour LCDOTâs brine operations.
Registration for this event will be open soon.
It's Easy Being Green
Green Gardening Guide
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago created The Green Neighbor Guide to show residents how to implement green practices to slow down, capture and utilize stormwater instead of directing runoff right into our stormwater sewers. This is an excellent how-to resource for residents to start small scale green infrastructure practices on their properties!
Physical copies are also available at SMC's office in Libertyville.
 Litter Free Kits
Litter Free Supply Station kits are now available for checkout from SMC. The supply stations contain all the tools, supplies and information needed to run a stream or shoreline clean-up, including litter grabbers, buckets, bags and gloves.
To help eliminate litter in your community, check out a supply station and plan your own independent river clean-up in Lake County!
The supply kits are made available through a partnership with the Friends of the Chicago River.
Green Roof Clean-Up
SMC co-hosted a Green Roof Clean-Up at the Central Permit Facility in Libertyville, where SMC's offices are located, last month. Staff helped remove weeds, targeting black medic and other invasive species that are crowding out the native plants, and assisted with maintaining Lake County green infrastructure.
|
