County Highway Engineer discusses road maintenance policies and jurisdictions
As the Cook County Highway Department gears up for the winter season, Engineer Robbie Kimmel-Hass has also had a busy several months working to clarify jurisdiction questions for multiple roads across the county.
Kimmel-Hass told WTIP that the county had completed the process to transfer Onion River Road and North Pike Lake Road to county jurisdiction. He explained that though they had been US Forest Service (USFS) roads, the county had already been doing maintenance on them. He said that happened in instances when the department was already doing work on connecting county roads, or when maintaining them was in the county’s best interest.
He gave the example of The Grade as a road that the Highway Department has maintained because it has value to the county. The Grade is slated for a change in jurisdiction, soon to be absorbed into the county road system. Kimmel-Hass said that before it becomes a county road, the USFS is conducting a survey on the road and creating a new description for it.
The other question regarding road maintenance jurisdiction before the county at this time is how to approach the future of Subordinate Governmental Service Districts (SGSDs) for road work. SGSDs in the county allow property owners on private roads or those not classed as a county road in a defined area to pay a special assessment to the county in exchange for the county organizing contract labor on those roads. The Highway Department does not conduct the maintenance directly, but it arranges for private companies to do things like plowing, grading, and sanding.
There are nine SGSDs across the county. Kimmel-Hass said that of the roughly 260 properties that fall within SGSDs, only about 30 of them are homesteaded.
Kimmel-Hass has advocated for the dissolution of SGSDs. Cook is the only county in the state that has SGSDs to organize routine road maintenance, and while the assessment paid by SGSD members covers the maintenance work, he said that county staff resources are used in arranging the work contracts.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners has heard from Kimmel-Hass and other county employees on the subject at several meetings. At the Nov. 18 Committee of the Whole, the board discussed how best to move forward in determining the future of SGSDs. Before any changes are made official, the county will facilitate several opportunities for both SGSD members and those in the community with opinions to share their feedback.
The county will communicate directly with SGSD representatives and collect comments from those who may not be able to attend in-person meetings on the subject. The board discussed the need for several meetings across the county in order to reach as many community members as possible. Especially considering the low proportion of property owners in the SGSDs who are year-round residents, Kimmel-Hass said that providing several options for communication would be important.
Dates for those public meetings have not yet been set, but SGSD leaders should be receiving a letter from the county soon.
WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with Robbie Kimmel-Hass live on Daybreak. The audio of that interview is below.
Kirsten Wisniewski November 21, 2025
