McHenry County Blog

Long-time readers, if that’s a term that can be used with a publication that started in October of 2005, know my beef that the McHenry County Conservation has short-changed Crystal Lake.

My definition of Crystal Lake is Crystal Lake Grade School District 47’s territory.

The area has

• a bike path,


• part of Hollows,


• Lake in the Hills Fen, which Crystal Lakers cannot yet get to without going through Lake in the Hills (but on which progress is being made by the district) and


• an unopened parcel west of West Grade School.

In the Fall newsletter, “Landscapes,” is information about new land acquisitions.

Purchased with taxpayer money were

• 5.5 acres in Bull Valley located at the Southeast corner of Route 120 and Thompson Road to become part of the 219-acre Boone Creek Conservation Area and


• 29 acres on the south wide of Wonder Lake Road adjacent to the Barber Fen Nature Preserve.

The article on page 3 says that ‘17.7 acre(s) will stay in the District’s agricultural lease program. Presumably the district will lease its land for corn or soybeans and not to growers of marijuana, such as those who were raising about 1,800 and 2,000 plants on MCCD parcels southeast and southwest of Hebron. Most of my questions still have not been answered.

In addition, MCCD received two gifts:

• 15.9 acres from Town and Country Homes next to the Stickney Run Conservation Area on the west side of Barreville Road, including the stream that feeds Stickney Run and


• 7.4 acres in Spring Grove just north of the district’s Nippersink Canoe Base Conservation Area.

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Sorry about the lack of uniformity in the map. When I received it, roads and streets covered the map. As I copied it, all of that disappeared, except for the far southern portion. Look around Crystal Lake, the lake, and you can see how little money has been invested here. The proportion of taxes paid from within District 47's boundaries has approached 25%. It is a bit less now.

Labels: Barber Fen Nature Preserve, MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District, Nippersink Canoe Base Conservation Area, Stickney Run Conservation Area

The McHenry County Conservation District got off easy in the headlines of stories about the marijuana cultivation Wednesday arrest on its land southeast of Hebron off Vandder Karr Road near Kemman Road, as well as the Friday discovery of a second field on its land southwest of Hebron.

Not one headline mentioned it was on MCCD land that the 1,800 and 2,000 3-5 foot pot plants worth an estimated $2 million were found.

One field was grown from seed and the other from transplanted hydroponically grown plants.

A Northwest Herald article said that the different methods of cultivation led investigators to believe operations were not run by the same criminal group, while a Chicago Tribune article said they were "believed to be part of the same operation."

Do you think that both operations knew of the other?

The satellite photograph above was what I found on Google Maps. It is located east of Route 47 where the "S" curve is. I don't know if the field in question is in the image, which can be enlarged by clicking on it.

I also don’t know the price of pot, but the estimated value seems to assume each plant is worth $1,000.

Here are the headlines:

Northwest Herald:

Two marijuana farms discovered near Hebron

Almost $4 million worth of pot torched

Chicago Tribune:

Man charged with growing marijuana near Hebron
Sheriff says 4,000 plants were found near Hebron

Associated Press:

Police seize $4 million worth of marijuana plants

Police discover bumper crop of marijuana

Daily Herald:

McHenry County cops burn two massive pot farms

(Elgin) Courier-News:

Cops destroy 2 pot fields

And, the MCCD police did not find it. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency made the discovery in a fly over last fall.

Miguel Talavera-Lopez of Battle Creek, Michigan, was arrested. Another got away,

• even though police dogs were used and
• even though Sheriff Keith Nygren told Tribune reporter Phyllis Benson “police noticed the first site during a flyover last fall with Illinois State Police, but the crop had been harvested.”

Seems like some local person might be involved, but, according to the Daily Herald reporter Chuck Keeshan,

“McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren said Friday that two migrant workers were ‘recruited at a shopping mall in Chicago, brought there, dropped off and paid to tend to it.’"

I wonder why the dogs couldn’t find the guy Wednesday.

I don’t know if the bloodhound in this photograph taken Thursday August 1st was involved in the search.

Probably not, because I think Josie would have been able to track the fleeing miscreant.

The dog surely tracked well at Camp Lakota near the MCCD headquarters on Deep Cut Road on August 1st when her trainer, a woman whose name I do not remember, followed Josie while she tracked a Cub Scout across a field into the woods.

Northwest Herald reporter Sarah Sutschek got from Nygren that the plants were

“hydroponically grown elsewhere and transplanted” to the MCCD-owned property, leading the sheriff to surmise that the operation was part of a much larger operation.

“We are not completely without investigative leads” Nygren told the Northwest Herald.

Maybe "the rest of the story" will results in further arrests.

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The McHenry County Conservation District apparently does not have a map of the land it owns online. At least, I could not find it. You see what MCCD has posted for Hebron.

The Vander Karr Road mention above reminds me that a college girl named Vander Karr worked for me one summer at the McHenry County Treasurer’s Office. She made a lovely ceramic donkey with long eyelashes for me that’s probably somewhere in the basement. If I ever find it, rest assured it will end up as a “Message of the Day.”

Labels: Bloodhound, Cub Scouts, Hebron, Joise, Keith Nygren, Marijuana, MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District, Pack 158, Pot, Vander Karr Road

A former McHenry County resident now causing trouble in Boone County pointed me to this Woodstock Advocate March 28th article by Gus Philpott about a $700,000 bike path from the railroad tracks at Oak Street to McHenry County College.

Philpott asked,

“Can you imagine a $350,000/mile bike path? What in the world could possibly cost $350,000 per mile???”

Since I was at the MCC board meeting the night it gained college approval, I thought it was worth looking into.

There was lots of kidding of Donna Kurtz about whether she would use it to get to meetings. She promised to do it and, after she told me she has ridden her bike to work in Barrington, I believe her.

So, I emailed the McHenry County Conservation District asking the cost. Here's the reply:

The cost estimate for the Crystal Lake to Woodstock Bike Path, Stage 1, is $762,000. Stage 1 is from Oak Street in CL to MCC. The FY 09 budget contains $600,000 for the project and the balance will be budgeted next FY. These moneys are coming from the 2007 bond referendum.

In addition, the District has received a $200,000 grant from IDNR for this project. This will be recovered once the project is complete.

We are hoping for a fall '09 /spring '10 construction. This will depend on how quickly we can get the permits approved from the various regulatory agencies.

John Kremer, Director of Operations

I asked the distance and was told it was 1.9 miles long.

Finally, I asked why it cost so much. Thought you might be interested in the reply:

Bike paths are the most expensive public use project the District implements. One of the reasons they are expensive is because they are linear parks. This means that 100% of the project/site is visible or easily accessible to the user. Meaning, 100% of the trail has to be sound and aesthetically pleasing. These are high use facilities, therefore, they must be designed and constructed to a meet a level of standards so the public can use them safely.

This project is not a trail which is contained within a larger District conservation area. If that were the case, we could design it to cost much less because we would have more flexibility to avoid problematic areas.

This trail runs on a narrow corridor; crosses creeks, roads and drainage ways; travels over hills and through valleys; touch multiple jurisdictions and each one requires a permit of some form. Each of these presents challenges and with challenges comes more standards and with all of that comes higher costs.

All that being said, these bike trials are wildly popular with the public.

The Prairie Trial in Crystal Lake is the most used facility the District operates.

Hope this answers your question.

John Kremer

On top, you see the future parking lot south of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks at Oak Street, where the bike path will start.

The next picture is how the bike path will enter McHenry County College.

Finally, you see the Prairie Path sign and September flowers on Main Street in Crystal Lake.

Labels: Bike Path, Donna Kurtz, Gus Philpott, MCC, MCCD, McHenry County College, McHenry County Conservation District, Prairie Path

Some may remember my complaint that the McHenry County Conservation District stiffed the Crystal Lake area in its $65.8 million bond issue. (That was before last year's $73 million bond issue.)

Indeed the $90,000 parking lot dedicated to bike riders are Oak Street north of Crystal Lake where it crosses the main line of the Union Pacific Railroad line is all the District 47 part of Crystal Lake got back from the $65.8 million bond issue. Look here for where the rest of it went.

There doing a bit better recently, deciding to give Crystal Lakers access to the Lake in the Hills Fen without having to go to old Lake in the Hills.

And last night John Kremer appeared before the McHenry County College Board asking permission to build the bike path from the Commonwealth Edison right-of-way from Oak Street to Route 14 so that it will end at the south parking lot where the athletes cross the entrance drive.

Kremer noted that Illinois Department of Transportation plans to widen Route 14 are scheduled for 2014.

It is impossible not to note that the minor league baseball stadium would have been in operation years before that widening occurred. And, in 2014, Rod Blagojevich intends to be in his third term, assuming he is not in jail.

Kremer also pointed out that the bike path will use of one-fourth of an acre of MCC's impervious surface.

“Nothing we can do about that,” the MCCD official said.

Trustee Scott Summers wondered if the internal MCC bike path completion could be coordinated with MCCD's.

Kremer told the board to contact him after January 1st and he could show them how to turn $200,000 into $400,000 with 50-50 state matching funds.

MCC Board President George Lowe pointed out that the bulge in the bike path along Route 14 was because IDOT plans to put a retention pond there.

Lowe kidded board member Donna Kurtz that she would have to ride her bike to board meetings. Kurtz said he would. Presumably, she would not have to park her car in the parking lot where you see the "thank you" sign above.

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All images may be enlarged by clicking on them.

Labels: Bike Path, George Lowe, John Kremer, MCC, MCCD, McHenry County College, McHenry County Conservation District, Oak Street

With a mere one week's notice to the public, the Crystal Lake City Council voted 6-1 to raise the city's sales tax from 1% to 1.75%--a 75% increase.

Only Councilman Jeff Thorsen voted, “No.”

Arguing that having a lower sales tax than Algonquin had not kept shoppers in Crystal Lake, the council majority followed Mayor Aaron Shepley's lead.

“If you keep doing what you did, you'll keep getting what you got,” Shepley asserted in his summation right before the vote. "The only truly bad decision would be to take no action.”

Shepley denigrated Governor Rod Blagojevich as being “absolutely ridiculous,” pointing out that the Democrats had one-party control in Springfield “and they still can't figure it out.”

I couldn't figure out what this had to do with the discussion at hand. Maybe you can.

Expecting heat, as did the other five who voted, “Yes,” Shepley pointed out that unlike the Springfield politicians with their salaries and their pensions, members of the city council “barely” get paid an amount that “covers the cost of elections.”

He predicted that the tax hike would “make half of the people angry.”

Explaining that people think “government should be run like a business,” he pointed out that “there not too many businesses out there” that haven't raised “their prices to keep up with inflation.”

What Shepley did not point out is that as the price of food and other items purchased at retail stores increase, so does the sales tax take. Same with property taxes increasing with home value, of course, although several officials stressed the city's lack of a corporate fund (which doesn't seem to me to be the same as having no city property tax at all).

Shepley pointed to other cities that have had to go to referendum to raise taxes.

Of course, home rule cities like Crystal Lake, don't have to go to the voters to raise taxes, as was proven last night.

“So, there's no waste.”

That is a bold assertion for the only unit of local government that still replies to my Freedom of Information requests with high cost certified letters.

I consider that pure waste. (And I think the postage you can see above, if you click on the image, was before postal rates went up.)

The most discussion was over a piddly extra $100,000 for economic development. Chamber of Commerce Executive Gary Reece and the head of the city EDC made a big deal about it, as did some city council members.

That's 2% of the $4.7 million that the 75% sales tax hike is expected to raise in the first twelve months.

If the city fathers and mothers want to squeeze $100,000 out of the current budget, they ought to be able to do it. (If they want to hire this ex-U.S. Bureau of the Budget budget examiner and holder of a master's degree in public administration from the University of Michigan to do it, I'm available.)

Shepley and others made pitches for the poor shape city streets are in and how part of the sales tax increase would go for repaving. Several pointed out the increased cost of motor fuel increased the cost of asphalt, too. (They did not point out that the higher prices at the pump increased the city's sales tax take, however.)

Arguments were made for hiring four more city policemen because the city is slightly under the national average.

Relocating the railroad tracts to open up now landlocked potential retail space also drew support.

There was a lot of fancy footwork defending the development of Vulcan Lakes into a recreational area as a reason for the sales tax hike.

In terms of “need” versus “desire,” it seems to me that Vulcan Lakes is clearly a “desire.”

Shepley admitted as much:

In terms of pure necessity, the toughest call is Vulcan Lakes.”

After talking to the local chapter of AARP, Shepley brought this away,

“They'd be very interested in having Vulcan Lakes open.”

Banker Thorsen's take:

"I firmly believe that project can fund itself."

The mayor argued that at least a sales tax puts “people in the position of being able to choose.”

“You can choose (to shop) at Super Walmart and Menard's in Woodstock.”

Opposing the tax hike were two people.

The first was Joe Cramer of South Oak Street.

Retried, Cramer pointed out that he and others similarly situated were on fixed incomes.

Alluding to the recession, he cautioned that people would be facing the higher sales taxes while they might be under the treat of losing their jobs.

Finally, he pointed to the rising rate of inflation, shown by $3.35 cent per gallon gasoline and a threatened 2% hike in electric rates in June.

He also brought up what he called the “CTA sales tax.”

Combining that—which goes into effect April 1st—with the city tax hike, the total sales tax will inc increase 19% in Crystal Lake.

“It's pretty steep,” he said. “I think you gentlemen and ladies should put this on ice. It will lead to the disuse of the retail (sector) in Crystal Lake.”

I was the only other opponent.

I pointed out that the city's own TIF consultant had said

• that Vulcan Lakes would produce over $100 million in subsidies,


• that the railroad relocation costs should be borne by the two land owners who were going to benefit from direct access to Main Street,


• that the Main Street Tax Increment Financing district was created to finance part of the track relocation,


• that the McHenry County Conservation District could be subject to pressure from the Crystal Lake area (which has paid upwards of one-fourth of the MCCD taxes, but gotten as close to zilch as is imaginable) to develop Vulcan Lakes, if the city fathers and mothers would agree to allow use by those who not Crystal Lake residents,


• that I would be happy to help put pressure on the MCCD if the council decided to go that route (I handed out this article),


• that the one week between the announcement of the consideration of the tax hike and the vote did not allow adequate public input, and


• that the city council was reminding me of the McHenry County College board approved the baseball stadium without public input.

Chamber of Commerce exec Gary Reece noted that he was happy that Jeff Thorsen had beaten him by 24 votes when he ran for city council.

Reece said that there had not been time for the Chamber to take an official position, but, “Based on the feedback we received from some of our members,” he favored passage.

He waxed eloquent about the extra (he stated that he hoped it was extra) economic development money—the $100,000 referred to above.

Reece even hinted at a new TIF district to build a parking garage Downtown.

But, he concluded,

“Not all of our members are behind this proposal.”

The Carpet One store owner (I didn't catch his name) at 5186 Northwest Highway in Crystal Lake, who is head of the city's Economic Development Commission, argued for the tax hike.

“I got a positive response from 6 or 7 members,” he said. “I believe in this tax proposal. I think it should go through.”

Tomorrow, what the council members said.

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The pictures of Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley on top were, from left to right, just before he voted to raise the Crystal Lake sales tax 75% and just afterwards.

The rest of the six-member coalition who supported the tax increase are seen below. On the first line are Dave Goss, Ellen Brady Mueller and Ralph Dawson. Below them are Brett Hopkins and Cathy Ferguson.

Images of one of the many certified letters that Crystal Lake continues to send me about my Freedom of Information requests and a drawing of what the Vulcan Lakes project might look like follow.

Below is Councilman Jeff Thorsen, the only negative vote.

Next is Joe Cramer, the Oak Street resident who spoke against the tax hike.

To the left of my comments is a picture of the Main Street Station Tax Increment Financing district project which will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of relocating the Main Street railroad spur.

Below is a picture of Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce President Gary Reece.

In the photo credits is one of the slides used to try to justify the 75% sales tax hike.

All images can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Labels: Aaron Shepley, Crystal Lake, Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce, Gary Reece, Jeff Thorsen, Main Street Station, MCCD, Sales Tax, Tax Increment Financing District, TIF

There is an alternative to the recreational development of Vulcan Lakes.

And this isn't the first time I have pointed it out. I suggested it October 30, 2005.

I don't think I can improve upon that over two year old advice, so I'll just reprint it:

Sunday, October 30, 2005
Another Way to Finance Vulcan Lakes Improvements:
Let the McHenry County
Conservation District Do It

There is one clear method through which improvements to Vulcan Lakes could be financed.

The City Council could just ask the McHenry County Conservation District to take over the property.

It could be rented out on a long-term lease, with whatever development and use goals the City would want to write into the contract.

The MCCD has cost Crystal Lake area taxpayers dearly since its inception. Millions of dollars have been taken out of the pockets of local taxpayers, but precious little has been spent in the area.

That’s because the Crystal Lake Park District is the grand-daddy of McHenry County Park Districts and has provided ample park land for the public to enjoy. As a result, the MCCD has bought land elsewhere…far away from the population center of McHenry County.

Thousands of acres have been purchased in other parts of McHenry County, but precious few in the Crystal Lake area.

Crystal Lake’s most prominent MCCD element is probably the bike trail along Main Street. Recently a couple hundred acres has been bought west of West School, but is not open for public use. There is a large facility with a Crystal Lake address way east off of Route 176 near Burton’s Bridge and the Lake-in-the-Hills Fen, but nothing really big in or with direct access to Crystal Lake.

Improving and administering the Vulcan Lakes property would allow the Conservation District to repay a small part of the millions that have been taken from local wallets.

But, the Crystal Lake City Council would then have to allow residents from throughout McHenry County to use the lakes.

And, sharing this resource that has cost so many of us to lose car windows and dinged paint from stones thrown from gravel trucks and extra travel time on Route 14 because of the abandonment of Three Oaks Road is not part of the plan.

I have pointed out elsewhere that I have been told that the traffic on Route 14 increased 10% the day after Three Oaks Road was closed. That would argue for a sharing of the benefits resulting from that closure, along with a sharing of the pain of the increased road congestion.

The $23 million proceeds (over 20 years) from the waste transfer station could also have been earmarked to develop Vulcan Lakes.

citizens who don't want the city council to raise the city sales tax 75% should email each of them.

• Ralph Dawson,
• Cathy Ferguson,
• Dave Goss,
• Brett Hopkins,
• Ellen Brady Mueller,
• Aaron Shepley, and
• Jeff Thorsen

at comments@crystallake.org.

Put the council member's name in the subject line of each email or put all of their names on the subject line, as some people are doing.

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All of the images can be enlarged. Except for the Route 14 traffic shot near Walgrens, the pictures are of the Vulcan Lakes property. The top one was taken from Rakow Road; the other two from Pingree Road. The sunset was taken from across where the outdoor movie theater used to be. The other one across from G.K. Welding at 915 S. Pingree. I took the latter while waiting for the chair I am sitting on to be welded back together. There's a picture of the process which human eyes cannot see without a shieldhere. The map is of the current McHenry County Conservation District sites. It's pretty obvious that the Crystal Lake area has been left out, isn't it?

Labels: Crystal Lake, MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District, Sales Tax, Tax Increment Financing District, TIF, Vulcan Lakes

Sorry I didn’t get this posted earlier.

The McHenry County Conservation District is holding a meeting at which public input will be welcomed concerning how it should spend the $73 million approved by voter referendum this spring.

The meeting is in Crystal Lake at McHenry County College in the Conference Center at 7 PM.

Perhaps someone besides me will suggest that they should spend some money within the boundaries of Crystal Lake Grade School District 47.

I know that’s parochial, but almost a quarter of the MCCD’s money comes from that area and it’s pretty clear that it has been ignored.

My guess is that it’s because of the land holdings of the Crystal Lake Park District.

Labels: $73 million bond issue, MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District

The McHenry County Conservation District is seeking citizen input on how to spend the $73 million it won in last spring’s referendum.

Here’s the tax district’s press release on the four meetings it is holding:

McHenry County Conservation District online survey & community workshops planned

McHenry County Conservation District Board is seeking the input from residents on their recreational needs by offering an online survey linked to the District’s website at www.MCCDistrict.org. The survey is one of the methods being used to gather data in conjunction with the District’s comprehensive master plan project.

“This survey will assist planning objectives and guide future management decisions as we look at prioritizing site openings and adding amenities,” said Elizabeth Kessler, Executive Director. “The survey aims to identify resident’s needs in reference to future sites, programs, facilities and recreational preferences.”

In addition, four Community Workshops are being held in early October where the public can join in a focus group type setting and share their views and opinions. The workshops will be held from 7-8:30 p.m.

• in Woodstock on Oct. 2 at MCCD Brookdale Administrative Office, 18410 US Highway 14,


• in Crystal Lake

on Oct. 3 the Algonquin Township Offices, 3702 US Highway 14, and


Oct. 10 at Prairieview Education Center, 2112 Behan Road; and

• in Ringwood on October 9 at the Glacial Park Conference Center, 6316 Harts Road.

Currently, the Conservation District maintains over 20,000 acres of open space. Twenty-five sites are open to the public including four educational facilities, 50 miles of biking and hiking trails, seven camping sites, 16 fishing locations and 14 picnic shelters available to reserve.

Hard copies of the survey are also available at the District’s Main Office, Prairieview Education Center, and the Research Field Station in Glacial Park. For more information call (815) 338-6223.

Labels: $73 million bond issue, MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District

That’s the question that popped into my head while I am writing his on Thursday night.

How soon will the Northwest Herald have an editorial explaining how wrong all of the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning members were in nixing the baseball stadium complex of McHenry County College?

Will it be Friday?

Or, maybe, to have a bigger impact, Sunday?

Or am I just too cynical?

Labels: Baseball Stadium, MCC, MCCD, McHenry County College, McHenry County Conservation District

I was reading the Northwest Herald online and found this headline:


Having had McHenry County College (MCC) on the brain so much lately, my immediate reaction was




After all, the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously turned thumbs down on MCC’s master plan for expansion Wednesday night.

It was not until I pulled up the article that I figured out that it was about the McHenry County Conservation District’s master plan.

You know, the one consistently ignores the Crystal Lake area.

But, back to MCC.

There certainly was no input requested on the baseball stadium part of the college’s master plan since McHenry County Blog announced its existence on March 12, 2007.

Labels: MCC, MCCD, McHenry County College, McHenry County Conservation District

For years, I have been harping on how the McHenry County Conservation District has been ignoring Crystal Lake.

Before I go further, let me say that my definition is Crystal Lake Grade School District 47.

I have repeatedly pointed out that Crystal Lakers pay upwards of 24% of MCCD taxes, but get as close to zilch in return as one can imagine.

Out of the $68.5 million bond issue, our share was $90,000 for a parking lot next to the railroad tracks on Oak Street.

You can see the sign, but that’s all.

Of course, we have a bike trail, a lot of which was financed with state money.

There is a to-be-opened conservation area west of West Elementary School, but it won’t be opened to the public until the seller vacates it.

Last year the voters approved a $73 million bond issue.

I guess some of it will be spent to provide access to the Lake in the Hills Fen behind the new CVS drug store where the small plane recently crashed.

But there is no conservation district money to protect the most fragile watershed in McHenry County—Crystal Lake’s watershed.

We know the traditional excuse for not spending money to buy land near Crystal Lake.

It costs too much.

So, the MCCD follows the example of the Cook County Forest Preserve District and purchases land at the western and northern edges of McHenry County where the land is cheapest.

It doesn’t take a brainiac to predict that MCCD is creating areas that will turn into Barrington Hills-like, rich people residential areas some decades from now.

But, by then, Crystal Lake’s watershed will have been paved over.

What ever happened to the green belt idea?

The conservation district could create one between Crystal Lake and Woodstock, but it’s certainly not on any master plan.

Instead, Crystal Lake and Woodstock race to see which can capture the big box stores that will be built between the two cities.

Crystal Lake, the lake, just isn’t important.

And, I would reluctantly conclude that the conservation district really isn’t interested in conserving the most threatened watershed in McHenry County.

That could change, of course.

MCCD has lots of money.

It could decide to help protect Crystal Lake’s watershed.

But, the odds are against it, considering its track record over the last more than thirty years.

Labels: Crystal Lake, Crystal Lake Watershed, MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District

I have long complained that the McHenry County Conservation District has short-changed Crystal Lakers.

As a proxy for the town, I have focused on Crystal Lake Grade School District 47.

Using that definition, part of the Lake in the Hills Fen is in Crystal Lake.

But one cannot get to it without going through Lake in the Hills.

Now, the MCCD is working with Crystal Lake to prepare a Crystal Lake gateway.

The new entrance would be behind the new CVS Pharmacy, right near the end of the Lake in the Hills airport runway.

The MCCD’s Anne Basten provides these details, plus the map you see:

The final details of how much property is leased to the District and how much will be passed on Fee Simple to our ownership has not been determined and is pending input from the Illinois Department of Conservation.

The 1.45-acre parcel on the SW corner of the Crystal Lake property is where the barn currently exists.

The acreage along the top and the east side of the Crystal Lake property is mostly wetland with the Crystal Creek running through it which then feeds onto the District property.

We do not have tentative drawings or anything in the way of what amenities, etc., will be offered. (Probably parking, bathroom, water and tables eventually.)

Once we have the deed/lease in our hands, we will have to start by working with the County Department of Transportation, etc., to determine traffic access, etc., before we can start designing.

At this point we are happy to know we have access for our management work and will be working from there as part of our comprehensive master planning process.

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The map is from Google, but it obviously was taken before the recent commercial construction. You can see the airport runway to the right and the intersection of Randall and Ackman Roads to the left. McHenry Avenue and Randall Road meet in the upper left hand corner.

Labels: Crystal Lake Central High Schoo, Easter. Lake in the Hills, Lake in the Hills Fen, MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District

Eight acres and a sign.

Crystal Lakers got $90,000 for a parking lot for a bike path next to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks between Crystal Lake and Woodstock out of the 2001 $68.5 million McHenry County Conservation District bond issue.

The proposed parking lot will allow bikers, hikers and roller skaters to park their cars.

Since 1971, 23-24% of the property tax dollars collected by MCCD have come from the greater Crystal Lake area. (I have defined Crystal Lake to be that area covered by Grade School District 47.)

Here’s what the rest of McHenry County got out of the $68.5 million.

Crystal Lake’s rate of return on tax dollars paid is smaller than a rounding error.

At least the wildflowers are pretty.

But, I don’t see a bike path yet.

Labels: MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District

Satruday’s Chicago Tribune story about how Kane County snagged $1,360,000 to purchase farm development rights reminds me of a story I have not written.

I vocalized it to a member of the McHenry County Conservation District staff shorting before MCCD’s successful referendum. Now it’s time to put it into into writing.

When is the McHenry County Conservation District going to figure out that it does not have to buy every acre of land it wishes to preserve as open space?

Kane County figured out five years ago that people wanted to be able to see open space and that it didn’t matter if corn or soybeans were growing on it.

The county board, in its role as governing body for the Kane County Forest Preserve District, started buying development rights.

The county didn’t end up owning the land, but it preserved the view.

And, it kept the cornfields from turning into fields of homes, which would grow school kids.

Kane County has paid farmers $25 million since 2001, to buy development rights on nearly 4,500 acres, the Tribune article by William Presecky reports.

$9 million of the money has come from federal matching funds; $16 million from casino money.

The program has the support of the Kane County Farm Bureau.

As its president, Bob Gehrke observed, “Development does not have to be inevitable.”

So, why won’t the McHenry County Conservation District Board take the development rights purchase approach?

I thought of one motive that might fit the “pave over as much of McHenry County as possible”approach that local political leaders seem to have:

If you purchase the land, instead of its development rights, it costs more money to save the same amount of property from development.

That allows more land to be developed.

Or, is that type of a long-term conspiracy hypothesis unworthy of consideration?

The MCCD Board is appointed by the McHenry County Board.

Labels: Bob Gehrke, Kane County Board, Kane County Farm Bureau, MCCD, McHenry County Board, McHenry County Conservation District

The McHenry County Conservation District board continued its practice of buying property about as far away from the population center as possible.

This time, using state grant money, according to a Northwest Herald article by Jenn Wiant, the Conservation District bought “119-acres near Boone Creek Marengo” and a “49-acre parcel about 2 miles south of the state line” in Alden Township.

The Boone Creek purchase is north of Route 20 and east of County Line Road. Presumably the county line is with Boone County.

Most reading McHenry County Blog, I imagine, know that our family lives in the Crystal Lake area.

From the $68.5 million 2001 bond issue, $90,000 was spent within the boundaries of Crystal Lake Grade School District 47, my proxy of the greater Crystal Lake area (which, I freely admit, does not include the Prairie Grove School District, where significant purchases have been made).

Here’s the land purchased with that $68.5 million.

That $90,000 represents 2/10ths of one percent of the tax money collected in District 47 by the Conservation District.

Do you think the District 47 area will get more out of the $73 million bond issue that just passed?

The story concludes, citing district spokeswoman Wendy Kummerer:
///At this point, the conservation district trustees have no plans to add recreational amenities…

Labels: $68.5 million bond issue, $73 million bond issue, MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District

Earlier this spring I picked up on a comment to the Northwest Herald in which political and fund raising consultant John Coonen suggested folding the Crystal Lake Park District into the City of Crystal Lake.

Coonen continues his campaign to consolidate McHenry County local governments with a comment on McHenry County Blog to my story “Crystal Lake and the McHenry County Conservation District.”

In it, I lamented how the Crystal Lake area (as defined by Crystal Lake Grade School District 47) has been used as a source of revenue for the Conservation District’s open space purchases elsewhere in the county.

If you are less parochial than I, you might be interested in reading what land was purchased with the last $68.5 million bond issue.

I thought more people might be interested in reading his logic below:

Thank you for continuing to point this out, Cal.

If state statute would allow (or change), I'd favor rolling up this grand local experiment called "MCCD" under the County auspices where it now belongs, and streamline the process. Phase OUT MCCD. It has done some good, but it has now crossed over into "fat-and-happy" status--not what's best for the taxpayers footing the bill for another police force, pensions, administration, etc.

A better alternative is to re-engineer this to empower our local County Board Members to represent us and fight for us. They need to earn their incomes, their pensions and darn-good health insurance too. Let local municipalities fight for us too. That's their job - to REPRESENT US, in unfettered and buck-stops-here fashion. With sub-governmental tentacles like commissions and districts, voters have all but forgotten who to turn to when they need legitimate solutions that only government can deliver.

The saturated-fat consuming we allow in our governmental system has converted our own system into diabetic state--undisciplined, and hungry for more of your tax dollars to spend in places that are not fair, and rarely in your best interest.

For the rest of John Coonen's commentary, click here.

Labels: Consolidation of Local Governments, John Coonen, MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District

As I mentioned below, my household has been cut off the Conservation District tax hikers mailing list.

I guess I’m just too predictable.

Show me a tax district trying to increase its tax take by 27%, as the MCCD is, and I'm likely to get interested.

I'll take a look at what land the $68.5 million barely authorized (51.3%) in 2001 bought.

Especially, if my home town has gotten zilch from the Conservation District since its inception in the early 1970's.

Maybe the tax hikers got disturbed at my revealing how they got their money from a court settlement…money that I absolutely believe should have gone to the McHenry County Conservation District, rather than seeding a tax exempt charity “upon its formation,” which would be controlled by those who want to hike our taxes.

Whatever the reason, a friend of McHenry County Blog provided the

mailing.

Above the headline is a field of flowers with light filtering through the trees.

Very pastoral.

Below the headline are what McHenry County Board member Virginia Peschke called “Starter castles.”

Some might call them “McMansions.”

These huge houses--under construction, so there are not even green lawns--don’t look like anything I have seen in McHenry County and, like the meadow, there is no indication on the mailing of their locations.

This address side of the enlarged postcard has the return address of the

McHenry County Citizens for Clean Water
and Open Space
A project of the Conservation Campaign
P.O. Box 1108
Woodstock, Illinois 60098

I am sure that it is no coincidence that the post office box belongs to the McHenry County Conservation Foundation, the not-for-profit organization which gave the political action committee $43,000 for this mailing, among other things.

The other side of the postcard has small pictures of a baby without a shirt, a blue heron and five bicyclist, a man, a woman and three children.

Here’s the text:

Protect Water Quality and

Preserving Drinking Water Sources

Protecting watersheds improves the water quality of our lakes, rivers and streams and protects drinking water sources in McHenry County. By voting “Yes” on the McHenry County Conservation District Proposition, you are voting “Yes” to protect water quality.

Protecting Wildlife Habitat

Our critical wildlife habitat and sensitive at-risk ecological systems, such as wetlands, are home for hundreds of species of animals and plants. A “YES” vote on the McHenry County Conservation District Proposition is a vote to preserve and restore the wildlife habitat that is essential to our quality of life in McHenry County.

Proposition Costs and Provisions to Ensure Funds are Properly Spent

If passed, the proposition would cost the average homeowners $12.69 a month.

That’s a small price to pay to preserve our quality of life in McHenry County.

The McHenry County Conservation District is subject to an annual audit to ensure funds are properly spent.

Vote “Yes” on the McHenry County Conservation District Proposition

Vote “YES” Tuesday, April 17, 2007

As usual, you can enlarge the images by clicking on them.

Labels: MCCD, McHenry County Citizens for Clean Water and Open Space, McHenry County Conservation District

For those who have heard me talk about or read my views of how the McHenry County Conservation District has treated the Crystal Lake area, as defined by Grade School District 47’s boundaries know, I think the Crystal Lake area has been cheated.

Since 1971, 23-24% of the property tax dollars collected by MCCD have come from the greater Crystal Lake area.

What have we gotten back?

Out of the $68.5 million bond issue passed in 2001, it looks like we got $90,000 for a parking lot for a bike path between Crystal Lake and Woodstock.

That's less than 2/10 of 1 percent return on our tax dollars.

How about the rest of the last 35 years?

I’ll certainly grant that there is a popular bike path, but will remind you that it was subsidized by state grants.

Yes, there is the Hollows, but it was donated by Material Service.

Part of the Lake in the Hills Fen is in District 47, but you can’t get there without going through Lake in the Hills.

And, most recently, I think, a parcel of land was bought in 1999 which is west of West Grade School across from the Crystal Lake Park District’s tot lot. But the seller is still living there, so it can't be developed, as I reported yesterday.

I don’t think Crystal Lake has gotten its fair share of open space money from the MCCD.

Do you?

A vacuuming analogy comes to mind.

The Conservation District sucks up Crystal Lake's tax dollars and sprinkles them elsewhere in McHenry County.

Labels: Crystal Lake, MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District

The McHenry County Conservation District has on its web site a list of what it has purchased since 2001.

You know my parochial interest in MCCD’s lack of expenditures in the area covered by Crystal Lake Grade School District 47.

After looking at the list and getting a fuller one from MCCD headquarters, I see nothing for the District 47 area, from the $60-plus million bond issue passed with 51.3% of the vote in 2001, except part of a $90,000 bike trail to Woodstock.

Below are the purchases listed on the web site, plus those I got by fax Friday afternoon. (I had to add up the purchase prices and the acreage, so any math mistakes are mine. So are any categorization mistakes.)

Alden

• 482 acres for $2.45 million; called Alden Sedge Meadow, protecting headwaters of the Nippersink.
• Almost 47 acres at $660,000, called Bailey Woods.
• 203 acres for $1.9 million, called High Point.

Algonquin – 275-acre Camp Algonquin, with easement given for a four-lane highway for $8.35 million

Cary

• 163 acres that used to be Fox Trails ski resort for $6.6 million.
• 31¼ acres for $1.1 million. It’s called Silver Creek and is near Burton’s Bridge.

Crystal Lake to Woodstock – 8 acres for $90,000 in Crystal Lake for a trail parking on Oak Street.

Harvard – 10 acres of railroad right-of-way to Chemung bought for $100,000

Hebron – 163 acres for $875,000 – called Goose Lake.

Huntley – Almost 70 acres at $825,120. It’s called Klodmpke Marsh and is connected the Huntley-Union-Marengo Trail.

Lake in the Hills – 67 acres to protect the Lake in the Hills Fen for $1.9 million.

Marengo

• 329 acres added for $3.1 million to 275 acres already at Marengo Ridge.
• 1,063 acres for $4.5 million on Coon Creek.
• 1,033 acres purchased in the Kishwaukee River Corridor for $3.1 million.
• 6 acres for $86,000 at Coral Woods.

McHenry – 40 acres purchased for $301,000 for the Pioneer Fen. Bill and Alice Howenstine’s also gave the Conservation District an easement to 34 acres.

Prairie Grove - 27 acres for $385,000 called Stickney Run.

Richmond

• 280 acres south of Lake Elizabeth on the Wisconsin State line, a archaeological site, was not purchased, but was opened to the public.
• Almost 246 acres for $1.533 million, listed as “Nippersink North Branch.”

Ringwood – 332 acres for $6.67 million added to Glacial Park’s 3,200.

Spring Grove – Almost 114 acres bought for $1.7 million for the Nippersink Canoe Base.

Union - 7 acres for almost $273,000 for a parking lot for the Huntley-Union-Marengo Trail.

Woodstock

• Pleasant Valley Conservation Area, 1,274 acres added to 340 already owned totaling 1,770 acres. The price paid for the new acreage was $10.5 million.
• 225 acres for a Woodstock greenway corridor. The cost was $2.55 million.
• 660 acres for $4.5 million added to Brookdale, the MCCD’s headquarters.
• 140.5 acres bought for $1.33 million. It’s called the “Queen Anne Marcrosit” on the spreadsheet.
• 454 acres at $5.3 million for the Boone Creek Conservation Area in Bull Valley.
  

This does not completely mesh with the illustration on the Conservation District web site, which you can see if you click on the image. In the lower right part, you will see what sites were opened or improved.

In MCCD Anne Basten's cover letter, she pointed out that the list sent is "of acres protected, not necessarily all owned by the District. that have been protected since the April 2001 bond referendum. Among them, which I did not list above is over 129 acres of the Fel-Pro RRR in Cary. The total there is now almost 220 acres.

Also not listed is 138 acres on Silver Lakes Road now being bought on an installment contract. It is next to the Hollows, which was donated to MCCD by Material Service and is located in Crystal Lake's District 47.

I have pointed out that MCCD bought land west of West School next to Lakewood. Basten clarified that the "parcel still has a summer cottage residence belonging to the previous owner who included the exclusive use of a portion of that site as a condition of purchase and therefore it cannot be developed for public access until the end of the term of the agreement. "

She told me by phone that the agreement runs out in 2009, but the seller has an option to renew the arrangement for another ten years. She wrote that "the property is still on the tax rolls."

Basten also explained that the purchase prices listed do "not include any other monies or grant awards."

= = = = =
The three pictures were taken on a cloudy Saturday, March 31, at Pleasant Valley, where 1274 acres costing $10.5 million were purchased from the $68.5 million 2001 bond issue. It is located between Woodstock and Huntley, but is close to the Crystal Lake's westernmost subdivision now being built north of Route 176 east of Route 47, which is in the Woodstock School District.

One Volkswagen was in the parking lot when I took the picture of the picnic shelter and pond.

Labels: MCCD, McHenry County Conservation District. Pleasant Valley Conservation Area

That seems to be one way one can interpret what McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler told Daily Herald reporter Emily Krone for a Friday story (see below).

The McHenry County Conservation District is seeking to raise its taxes by 27%. (You won’t read that in the Daily Herald story or elsewhere. Just on McHenry County Blog.)

In 1999, the McHenry County Conservation Foundation got $1 million from a settlement with the Lakehead Pipeline Company as part of the compensation for crossing 50 feet of MCCD property.

The Conservation District itself got another $1 million.

I contend that the Conservation District should have gotten all the Lakehead money.

After all, MCCD owned the land being damaged on us taxpayers’ behalf.

But, Koehler, as then-secretary of the McHenry County Conservation District, signed court papers giving the money to this tax-exempt charity, a foundation which, incredibly, had not even been formed at the time.

Then, Koehler shows up as the Foundation’s treasurer during the year when it spent $42,244 in hard campaign dollars and another $94,924 in what I would characterize as “soft campaign dollars.”

The foundation spent more on these tax hike related expenses than it spent on "grants, gifts & assistance." That amount was $55,329. I can't find anything spent on charitable endeavors the first year of the foundation's existence.

What do you think the main purpose of the foundation's formation was?

So, the foundation, using a gaping loophole in Federal tax law, ends up financing most of the 2001 referendum to allow the borrowing of $68.5 million.

$42,444 urging us to “Vote Yes!” 84% of the total reported spent on the election campaign to the State Board of Elections.

Plus, $25,262 for a public opinion survey, an integral part of any sophisticated political campaign. The poll results gave its consultant, The Strategy Group, big hints on how to frame the campaign, or the multiple “Vote” on election day mailings.

(The Strategy Group was paid $31,877 for brochure development and printing. All was paid within 7 days in late March, 2001.)

Plus multiple mailings, using the same theme as the “Vote Yes!” mailings, costing $69,662.

And, the referendum, with precious little opposition, passed with less than 52% of the vote.

“They found a way to use other people’s money to raise my taxes,” I told the reporter.

Here’s part of what the Daily Herald writes about Koehler:

McHenry County Board President Kenneth Koehler, the secretary of the conservation district board of trustees at the time of the court settlement, said the foundation was formed to benefit taxpayers…

Koehler said money from those types of transactions (buying, leasing and selling land for the Conservation District) — not the million dollars used from the settlement — have gone to pay for referendum material.

Federal tax law allows foundations to use up to 20 percent of their expenditures for lobbying activity.

“The conservation district itself can’t ask voters to say yes, so that’s what the foundation is doing,” Koehler said. “They’ve put a lot of money back for conservation, and they’re helping with the referendum, which is very helpful to all taxpayers.”

That's his story.

Needless to say, I see a different scenario behind the formation of foundation.

But, maybe I’m just too conspiratorial.

This year, the reported campaign funds to the MCCD tax hike committee called McHenry County Citizens for Clean Water and Open Space total $45,500.

94.5% of that has come from the McHenry County Conservation Foundation.

And that's not counting the mailing urging us all to "Vote April 17, 2007."

The headline of the Daily Herald story was,

$63,000 helping push for tax hike

I don't know how the reporter got that high a figure. Maybe it includes the "Vote April 17, 2007" mailing last week.

= = = = =
If you haven't read these McHenry County Blog stories on the MCCD referendum, you might want to before next Tuesday's election:

• McHenry County Citizens for Clean Water and Open Space Re-Forms
• $25,000 Kicks Off McHenry County Conservation District Referendum Campaign
• The Origin and, Maybe, the Main Purpose of the McHenry County Conservation Foundation
• The Deluge Begins
• McHenry County Conservation Foundation Hides Its Payment of Tax Hike Mailing
• Part 1 - How Does One Spend $44,500 in Six Days?
• Part 2 - How Will the Conservation District Tax Hike Committee $45,500?

You can enlarge The Strategy Group's resume page by clicking on it.

Labels: Ken Koehler, Lakehead Pipeline, MCCD, McHenry County Citizens for Clean Water and Open Space, McHenry County Conservation District, McHenry County Conservation Foundation, Strategy Group

Here it is less than a week before the election and, as of Wednesday, nothing had arrived in the mail from the McHenry County Citizens for Clean Water and Open Space.

There's $44,500 available to be spent.

A whopping 94.5% of it has come from one tax exempt group, the McHenry County Conservation Foundation.

Will we receive direct mail pieces Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday?

How far will $44,500 go when one is making mailings at, say, 16,000 pieces a pop?

Or will we see expensive inserts in every daily newspaper circulating in McHenry County?

Or will there be big ads in those newspapers?

Endorsement ads with the names of the people listed yesterday, most of whom are using "other people's money" to finance their committee's campaign.

Or will there be saturation radio advertising?

Or will there be robo-calls urging us to vote for open space?

Some will be spent on a web site. I found that I was the 209th visitor late Wednesday afternoon. Not too cost-beneficial so far.