The Lake County Board approved at its June 11 meeting two intergovernmental agreements with the Village of Lake Villa for the Lake County Planning, Building and Development department to provide building inspection and plan review services for the Village. Lake Villa is located near the County’s largest concentration of current inspection activities - making it an efficient location to provide service while cutting driving time between inspections.

Lake Villa also will be the first community to use the County’s land management system. The County negotiated a “Shared Services” clause with its vendor to allow municipalities to use the system at a fraction of the County’s cost to purchase it. This not only provides cost savings for the Village and allows it to expand online permit services to residents and businesses, but it also makes it more efficient for the County to provide inspections and plan reviews since the County and Village will be using the same system.

This agreement is another example of how Lake County is working together with local communities through the Shared Services Initiative. Recent efforts include purchasing goods, such as rock salt, and collaborating with public safety partners on regional 911 consolidation.