Lake in the Hills floats idea to open beaches to public after 700 turned away this year, but board lukewarm

Lake in the Hills mulled the idea of opening up its beaches to nonresidents for a fee, but the proposal got a lukewarm response from the Village Board.

Currently, people who don’t live in Lake in the Hills can only access local beaches if they’re accompanied by someone who lives in town, and that is anticipated to remain the case despite village staff suggesting implementing a fee for nonresidents.

The Parks & Recreation Department commissioned a report about the state of operations at the 2024 beach season. In the report, officials mentioned Intergovernmental Risk Management Agency did its periodic aquatic facility visit in June. Officials said current operations are in line with state regulations, but IRMA recommended keeping an attendant at each beach to assist with enforcement, inspection and initiating written emergency response plans, according to village documents.

Allowing nonresidents to pay for access is one way the village is considering to generate revenue to cover the potential extra staffing costs.

While the 2024 season was considered successful, officials noted concerns with parking, turning patrons away and keeping up end-of-season staffing after seasonal employees return to school.

The village staff’s report focused on two beaches on Woods Creek Lake, Butch Hagele Beach and Indian Trail Beach. Officials provided three options for the Village Board to consider, recommending the third.

• Option 1 would be to maintain the status quo with some adjustments. In this scenario, both beaches would be residents-only, Indian Trail Beach would be staffed and the staff would be responsible for inspections, opening and closing checklists, grounds maintenance and verifying residency status. There would be increased weekend staff coverage to improve staff safety and customer service at both beaches, according to village documents. The staff costs would be an estimated $19,000. But this option would lead to inconsistencies with staffing between the beaches and goes against IRMA’s recommendations.
• Option 2 would provide the same staffing structure and emergency plans for both beaches. Weekend staffing would also have a lead supervisor to assist with staff and customer needs. The price tag is an estimated $30,000 in staffing costs, including increased weekend coverage and $3,000 for portable AEDs and other safety devices at Butch Hagele Beach.
• Option 3 makes Butch Hagele Beach resident-only, while nonresidents could pay a fee to access Indian Trail Beach. Staffing would be similar as Option 2, but staff would have to receive additional training on technology to verify residency and process nonresident fees via QR code/community pass, according to village documents. This scenario would bring in revenue from nonresidents to offset lake maintenance costs and streamline operations.

Almost 700 nonresidents were turned away at Indian Trail Beach this season and opening the beaches to nonresidents could generate about $3,500 to $6,000 in revenue, officials said. Fees could also offset additional staff costs, and village documents indicate there would be costs relating to safety equipment and staffing.

Some residents oppose nonresidents at the beaches and most of the concerns revolve around respecting Lake in the Hills’ property and ordinances. Regular staffing at Indian Trail Beach helped to encourage and reinforce compliance, according to village documents. There would be needed registration software updates and significant staff training, but the staff recommended option three.

The Lake in the Hills Parks and Recreation Board took up the issue earlier this month and supported the nonresident fee and felt keeping Butch Hagele Beach to residents only eliminated parking concerns.

But the Lake in the Hills trustees had a different approach and recommended to village at their meeting last week that the status quo be maintained. Among the concerns of the village board was implementing technology and staffing costs, and some on the board were reluctant to move forward with any changes.