Lake County Gazette

At the Nov. 15 meeting of the Village of Vernon Hills Board,  the board approved a new sign for the community college. The College of Lake County had asked the village for a variation in its sign permit for putting a new sign on its south lake campus in the village. 

The sign that it is replacing also had to get a variation back in 2009, however the new sign will have slightly different dimensions so the variation had to be changed and approved again.

"Community college is one of the best kept secrets in this country," Trustee Thom Koch said. "And it was also interesting to note tonight that the highest percentage of students based on zip code, Vernon Hills is number one. And also amazing to find out that they're – by high school – one of their new leading high schools, sending them students is Stevenson. So it's good that people are discovering that community colleges are an outstanding way to go."

The new sign is slightly smaller than the one it is replacing, and board members questioned if it would be brighter or have higher lumens than the previous one. A representative from the sign company assured the board that the new signs have dimmers in them that will ensure appropriate brightness at all times. The board approved the request. 

Some of the trustees spoke about the recent college trustees meeting that they had attended, saying the college was doing extremely well in recent months and recovering from the COVID pandemic really well. The new tech center is completed and doing well and the college was also able to fund and finish some renovations on its lakeshore campus.