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Barbara Gilpin 1 ends next April. She has served one pgfl he five-man, overhauling THE MCHENRY PL AINDEALER SERVING THE CHAIN-O-lAKES REGION SINCE 1875 jSkDorb Winning wM)m|k 1980 VOLUME 105 NUMBER 39 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1980 2 SECTIONS 24 PAGES 25* Debate Mayor Salary The question of the mayor's salary again reached the forefront of discussion as the Finance committee of the McHenry City Council met Monday night at City Hall to develop its second recommendation to the Council. At the last City Council meeting, the committee, chaired by Alderman Jack Pepping, recommended a salary in- It's that time of year again. Children are making Christmas lists, Santa and the elves are making toys, and parents are taking a look at the dwindling supply of money in the pocketbook. You don't need to be a senior citizen to be aware that toys today are not what toys were yesterday. What Mom and Dad considered the rage 30 years ago would probably get the "razzberries" from the small fry today. And the doll Grandma played with would only be acceptable to the discerning child who viewed it as an antique. The biggest craze, of course, this year of I960 is electronic toys. One major toymaker advertises one of its electronic robots as "a friend, a toy, a teacher". And so it is, offering action, lights, sounds, music and games. That's the pitch that used to come from Hollywood, aimed at adults. Now lights, sounds and action have (Continued on page 17) crease from $3,200 per year to $12,000 per year. The Council defeated Pep- ping's motion in a 5 to 4 vote. Pepping opened the Monday night meeting saying, "This is a meeting I chose not to have. I felt the Finance committee had agreed among our­ selves and thought the Council should have hashed it out." "I am not going to compromise my views to seek agreement with the Council," he stated. The Council is split into two camps on this issue and the basic difference of opinion appears to be just what duties the mayor should assume, hence, just how much he should be paid. "I don't think the mayor should assume any of the responsibilities of the superintendent of Public Works," Alderman Pepping said, stating the views of one side. "I don't see the ad­ ministration of the Public Works department under the mayor's duties and responsibilities." Pepping characterized the mayor's job as "intense" but said he did not see it as a 40-hour-per-week job. "I felt that $1,000 a month was fair compensation," Pepping said. The committee chairman said that in an effort to resolve the impasse, the committee would recommend to the Council a salary to $1,250 a month, or $15,000 a year. "As a taxpayer, I don't know that I could justify more," Pepping com- (Continued on page 17) District 15 Defers A Referendum Decision The board of Elementary School District 15 began fiscal planning for the coming year as it arranged personnel and schedules for budget preparation and set initial discussions with the McHenry Teachers association for future negotiations at Tuesday's regular meeting. After a lengthy discussion in executive session, the board deferred a decision for a Feb. 24 second vote on the tax increase referendum pending a determination of the possible effect of a 60-day limitation remaining from regulations prior to the present law which became effective Dec. 1, 1980, on referenda. The board designated Dr. Richard Farmer, district superintendent, and his staff to begin preparation of the budget and set a series of dates for meetings, hearings and publications. The annual audit of school funds presented by David Cain pointed up the district's financial problems as he referred to year end deficits in the two major funds totalling almost $1 million. He said that as of June 30, I960, the Education fund was $844,000 in the red and the Building Maintenance and Operations fund was inadequate by $126,000. (Continued on page 17) Frank Novak, manager of the McHenry station, a part of winter, t the Illinois Department of Transportation, division of will be water resources, which includes the dam, lock and river other projects, control gates, checks to make sure that preparations for the coming winter have been completed. During the The most hectic months of the year at the McHenry lock and dam are during the summer vacation months, but the work does not stop when Fall and Winter roll around. The man in charge of the McHenry station is Frank Novak, of the Illinois Department of Transportation, division of water resources, who said that a pretty drastic change in operation takes place when the summer boat business falls off. He pointed out that the lock is generally open for traffic seven days a week from 8 a.m. to midnight, from May l through Oct. 31 of any given year. During the busy summer months, part-time helpers - including college students and CETA employees - are added to handle the tremendous volume of boat traffic on the Fox river. During the winter, the McHenry station is still manned seven days a week by five regular employees: Frank, F.J. Novak, Bruce Nulle, Alex Raftis and Jeff Thompson. This last summer season, Novak said, the lock handled 15,885 boats before it officially closed on Nov. 2. Winter is when the staff at the McHenry station does most of the tedious maintenance work on all the equipment and structures at the station. fnll-Ume staff at the lock and 4am and repairing equipment, among STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD "In the middle of summer," Novak said, "you start to look forward to slower pace of winter. But, in the middle of winter, you start thinkfetat about the bikinis and warm weather;" Last winter, the main project at the station involved pumping all the water from the lock, sandblasting, paintiq| and doing necessary valve repair won. "The first thing we do when the locks officially close is get ready for Winter/' Novak said. Getting ready for winter involves making sure the "bubbler" and steam boiler near the river are in propef operating condition. (Continued on page 2. section 2) Your Police Department Holiday Burglaries Page 5 "Safety On Wheels" Workshops To Aid Elderly Page 18 McHenry Area School Menus Convenience For Families Page 3 Seven City Offices To Be Filled In April Crowding Santa Claus for a share of attention in the holiday season is an­ nouncement that McHenry will be electihg a mayor, city clerk, city treasurer and four aldermen next year. The municipal election will be held Tuesday, April 7. Mayor Joseph Stanek will be com­ pleting his second term in office, having been elected for the first four-year term in 1973. Both City Clerk City Treasurer William Brda came into office as appointments, Mrs. Gilpin in October of 197#and Brda in May of 1975. Both were elected to a full term in 1977. The term of Elizabeth Nolan in Ward term. Edward Datz, the longest serving alderman to have his term concluded in 1981, represents Ward 2. He was first elected in 1973 and returned to office four years later. Both Vincent Adams in Ward 3 and Ernest Schooley in Ward 4 are finishing four-year terms. Nominating petitions and candidacy documents are available in the city clerk's office, 1111 N. Green street. To run for city offices one must have lived within the City of McHenry corporate boundaries for one year. The first day to file nomination petitions is Jan. 19 with the McHenry city clerk's office. The last day to file is Jan. 26. The number of signatures needed on the nominating petitions varies ac­ cording to the number of votes cast in the last general election - not leas than 5 percent nor more than 8 percent depending on the ward and office being sought. The following numbers will be used to base the number of signatures required: Not less than 5 percent, nor more than 8 percent of 188 for alderman in Ward 1; 558 for alderman in Ward 2; 588 for alderman in Ward 3; and 189 for alderman in Ward 4; 3,084 for the office of mayor; 2,757 for the office of city clerk; and 3,018 for the office of city treasurer. The offices of mayor, clerk and treasurer run at-large in the city. Pertaining to aldermanic offices, the following ward boundary lines are In effect: 7 J Ward^ l - Bordered on the north by John street, on the west by the .railroad tracks and on the east and south by the city limits. Ward 2 • Bordered on the north by Route 120, on the east fay Crystal Lake road and on the weat and south by the city limits. Ward 3 - Bordered on the south by John street, on the west by the railroad tracks north of Routs 110 and by Crystal Lake road south of Route 120, and on the north and east by the city limits. Ward 4 • Bordered on the south by Route 120, on the east by the railroad tracks and on the north and west by the city limits. New Hospital Reversal McHenry hospital's $29 million ex­ pansion and remodeling project had another reversal Wednesday as both the project review committee, and Comprehensive Health Planning Agency for McHenry County itself (CH- PA), recommended denial for the certificate of need. These recom­ mendations will be considered at Thursday's meeting of the Health Systems Agency (HSA-KLM) of Kane, Lake, and McHenry counties, whose project review committee has already recommended denial. Discussion between members at the meeting indicated that earlier com­ mitments made to Crystal Lake for a health care facility were a factor in the CHPA recommendation. The agency added a recommendation that < McHenry resubmit the application for a reduced number of beds. Nick Stamatakos, director of the project review for HSA-KLM, claimed that McHenry hospital had not iden- - tified all possible alternatives and had not addressed itself to health care for die entire county. According to stan­ dards set by the state, McHenry county is presently entitled to 44 more hospital beds and McHenry's application seeks expansion of 64 beds to a total of 200. The proposal is larger than necessary, Stamatakos advised in his report. Agency member, Rev. Raymond C. Shawl, noting that Stamatakos was pointing out one alternative not con­ sidered in the application (that a new hospital could be established in Crystal Lake), questioned why it would be economically more feasible to over­ build a 100-bed new facility (the minimum normally considered) rather than add the needed beds to an existing facility. He pointed out that Crystal Lake's proposed hospital was halfway between the two cities. Stamatakos repreated Shawl's question, which he termed rhetorical, without answering it, but pointed out that the Memorial hospital at Wood­ stock had also absorbed some 10 of the beds considered as needed in the county in its remodeling. Member Pat Falconer recalled that she had served on the Operation Health board, which preceded the HSA six or seven years earlier, and reminded the HSA that Crystal Lake had wanted and worked hard for a medical facility. She JeiLaympathy for Mr^enry lyfiplH but could not vote 'ves' on its application when it was the previous intention to put the facility in Crystal Lake area. Member Diane Kirchner took ex­ ception. "I can't understand how a definite plan can be measured against somebody else's desire (for a hospital)". Jean Barton, member from Crystal Lake, asked "What about a Crystal Lake McHenry joint venture?" Alyce Sir, Crystal Lake residsiit, recalled that in 1969 the two cities had worked toward a regional hospital with a choice of two sites, one along Routs 81 just north of Route 176 and one on the Stilling property at Bull Valley road. A consulting agency had recommended the route 176 site as the first alter­ native, she said, and the two com­ munities had agreed to buy it. After having the property in hand, she said, McHenry for some reaaon withdrew from the project. the Crystal Lake Hospital association later refunded the $17,000 which McHenry had contributed to the project. She noted that Crvstsl Lske then decided to go ahead with the project and had turned to Sherman hospital to get the preliminary permit, but the formation of the HSA's precluded further action. Sir asserted that the Sherman; , hospital plans action unbuild St Crystal Lake in the next three ?8ar8, btf has not entered an application for Cer­ tificate of need because it does not wish to spend the $30,000 to $40,000 required to put it together at this time, and the 44 bed allocation wouldn't make It practical. LeRoy Olsen, president of the (Continued on page 17) Times At McHenry Dam TOYS FOR TOTS. - Little Kristin Anderson was at the Pearl street park in McHenry last Saturday to participate in the Christmas A TVw Fr/im A Trht festivities. While there, she did her share in the Toys for Tots •* t/y * * "ffw -fx 1 program as she gave a doll to Marine Corps Corporal Donald R. Cox., Jr. Cox resides in McHenry and is a member of the Waukegan Marine Reserves. Looking on is Alderwoman Liz Nolan. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD Quiet