Rep. Dan Swanson (R-Alpha) | Courtesy Photo
Rep. Dan Swanson (R-Alpha) | Courtesy Photo
State Rep. Dan Swanson (R-Alpha) is vowing to stay committed to House Bill 2863 through the bitter end.
“I’m still working with township officials and county engineers on this bill,” Swanson told a House Transportation: Regulation, Roads & Bridges Committee earlier this month. “I’ve promised them I will not move this bill until we reach an agreed upon amendment on this. What this bill does is give people in a township a process to appeal a decision by the road commission in their township.”
As currently proposed, the bill seeks to do that by amending the Illinois Highway Code to stipulate that “an owner or occupant seeking consent from a highway authority to construct ditches, drains, track, rails, poles, wires, pipe line or other equipment along any highway or road may appeal the authority's decision to deny consent to the county superintendent of highways by filing an appeal in the office of the district clerk within 10 days after receiving the written explanation of the decision.”
Swanson seems open to any tweaks that might be necessary to get it over the finish line.
“We're continuing to discuss with county officials,” he added. “I want to develop an appeal process but I don't want to burden an already cash-strapped county to hire an attorney.”
Swanson said his whole aim is to calm the waters so two sides are able to work together to the benefit of everyone.
“In one case a sheriff was called out because a road commissioner and a landowner were upset over something that occurred and they got into a pretty heated debate,” he said. “The major part of the opposition is road commissioners and it is my intent to calm the crowd and come to a resolution we can all agree on.”
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