Cook County News Herald Information

"We are a group of young people who grew up in the Hovland area. We went to local schools, and many of us now work at local businesses. We chose to stay here instead of leave, like so many of our peers. We are writing to you today because we are concerned that what the county thinks is "preserving the past" may happen at the expense of harming the future. We would like you to think about that before you destroy the things that make us love this place and call it home. "We only know the Hovland dock as a beautiful, lonely, broken relic. We love it as it is. We swim off it, have bonfires, meet up with friends, walk our dogs, eat lunch, enjoy the peace, and sun ourselves on the broken end when we get those lucky rare hot days. We stop to watch the moon come up, and run down there as fast as we can when we hear there are northern lights. When we were young it was our "safe space," and it still is for the younger kids, where you rarely meet up with anyone you don't know but where you often run into community members and old friends. "The dock has been broken since the storm of 1995, so most of us only know it that way. No boat has docked there for almost 90 years! We even love the broken end. It gives us a way into the water and a safe way out. It is dark, it is quiet, and it is one of the loveliest places we can even imagine. It is one of the hearts of our community, and we are grateful for it. "As far as we know, nobody has ever been hurt on the dock, and nobody has ever asked for anything to be changed. We understand that it is deteriorating and that it is unsafe to drive on. Although the county could have used local rocks to block off the dock and could have consulted with the community first, the boulders they put there make sure that only pedestrian traffic is allowed. That seems to take care of any worries the county has about the danger. "However, every year lately we are being approached with plans to 'improve the dock for the community.' First, it was to build a rest stop, which we objected to and which ...