EUREKA — Sixteen years ago, Woodford County was hit with severe flooding caused by a weekend of heavy rains. Four years later, in 2012, the county used nearly $1.6 million from FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to purchase and demolish 14 flood-damaged residences and leave empty lots.
Most of the 14 lots are along Millpoint Road and Sunset Drive, adjacent to the Illinois River in Spring Bay Township. The county also set up a program giving Woodford County residents an opportunity to "adopt a lot," with the responsibility of cutting grass and weeds and keeping the lot presentable, saving taxpayer money. All 14 lots have now been adopted.
The Woodford County Board on Tuesday unanimously approved Adopt-a-Lot agreements for Jeff Spayth to adopt the lots at 1279 and 1297 Millpoint Road. Spayth lives at 1293 Millpoint Road. Adopt-a-Lot participants assume the cost of maintaining the lot and must follow a set of rules.
They can plant flowers, herbs, shrubs, shade trees, vegetables and fruit trees on the lot after receiving approval from the county and from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. They can't build anything on the lot; use the lot for commercial, industrial or residential purposes; store automobiles, recreational vehicles, ramps or boats; or dump grass clippings and tree limbs. Written approval is needed from the county to build a road or change the contour of the lot, and to remove trees, shrubs and flowers that were growing before the lot was adopted.
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