V >1 * ! : Fred C. Schoewer gives check for renewal of the Platndealer to Carole Httmann, who Loyal Reader p z: Ck 17" newspaper was always In hia parents' home. Before he was married to Elizabeth Klein f f\Y O/ f pars 0 1 1 J a n- 21, 19Z1, he started his own subscription, which followed the couple to Waukegan daring their 17 years' residence in thai city. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD When various city groups met . March 2, they learned that the ticket agent at the Chicago & Western railroad station on Main will be retained for the present, tqpts of the letter of confirmation sent t* James Rakow, superintendent of tfte McHenry County Highway department by Bernie Ford, general managpr of the RTA, wire revealed. Present to receive encouragement from the announcement were representatives of city government, the Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development commission and the C of C Legislative Advisory committee. This group will meet soon again with the County Transportation committee to convey their firm determination that th$ retention of the agent is critical to tljfe future of rail service in McHenry. Encouragement in the letter from the RTA came through a statement in which the RTA said its staff is currently working on an update of the county plan. There has been an agreement that the current status of the agent should be preserved "until the joint committee has had an opportunity to agree on a future plan. To this end we have asked the CfcNW to request an additional 60-day continuance of the action of the Commerce Commission. The McHenry leaders have outlined their many reasons for standing firm 7 ent Stays-How Long ? agenti locally. One of these is the fact that it is unprecedented in the CltNW history that an end-of-the-line location has maintained passenger service after the ticket agent was removed. They point to an increased ridership in McHenry except for the response to the 52 percent rate increase in August of 1961. Between 900 and 1,100 tickets were sold monthly during 1961 at the local orxnHino to information released by the Chamber. The an nouncement revealed that only 43 mtathly tickets, on the average, were tickets-by-mail. Summing up their feelings to the' County Transportation committee, McHenry representatives stated that the dollars saved by eliminating tMfe ticket agent are out of proportion to the damage that would be done to McHenry. Sldeyard Setbacks Topic For Council THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER f f & <9> 4 S E R V I N G T H E C H A I N O L A K E S R E G I O N S I N C E 1 8 7 5 " VOLUME 106 NUMBER 63 FRIDAY, MARCH 5f 1982 1 SECTION 22 PAGES 25' City Police Protection Needs Under Annexation Are Argued by Anthony Oliver "One of their trustees has about called our chief of police a liar," said Alderman Michael Wieser (3rd ward) at Monday night's council meeting. trustee * ; Charles • 'Werth, J which challenged costs of police protection presented by McHenry Police Chief George R. Pasenelli. At a mid-January meeting of the city council regarding the possible an nexation of McHenry Shores, Pasenelli reported a cost of more than $110,000 to provide similar police service to the McHenry Shores area. At that meeting, he pointed out that the cost would accrue not only to the Shores, but to an increased city patrol area. Pasenelli said he would anticipate rezoning the patrol area of the city to three or four zones, instead of two. The McHenry police chief said an additional five officers would be needed WMS .. uniforms, equipment and saliHea at squad car uniforms, equipment and I 191,513.50. A fully-equipped would cost about $17,016.95. Pasenelli also told the council that, based on the number of calls dispatched in McHenry and surrounding com munities, there would be about 950 calls a year from the community of 1,200 people. In a letter to the editor, McHenry Shores trustee Charles Werth came up with some different figures. Werth contended that only three officers would be needed to provide police protection, based on 21 officers serving a population of about 11,000. The Shores trustee, and former police ehief, stated that McHenry has a higher crime rpte than the village. In 1979 and 1960, the Shores had 295 and 283 calls respectively, he said. Werth pointed out that the village has a 1961 police car, with 40,006 which would eliminate the coat additional squad car. He estimat cost of equipping, training and paj the three additional officer* at. At • . to the figures presented by wr~ Pasenelli said there would be 48#ours of no police protection in any given week if three men worked five days a week, eight hours a day, The McHenry police chief pointed out that the figures presented by Werth did not take into account vacation, sick time, court appearances, paperwork, ad ministrative or special duties. He explained that the estimated yearly calls of 950 were taken from the number of calls actually dispatched for McHenry and other communities. The McHenry police also dispatch for Sunnyside and McCullom Lake police. "You have to consider population plus geographical area," Pasenelli said. The chief commented that he did not use a population formula when determining the cost impact of ex tending police service to the Shores. He said that growth and development of the area, due to the hospital and the industrial park, were not considered in the letter to the editor. . , jfisiitBn 8u"*k flSagreeaVith tflfr «6timates, arguing that the City of Woodstock has one less officer, 1,000 more people and covers abont the same area. "I personally don't believe we need five more officers," Stanek said. Sideyard setbacks for accessory buildings became a topic for preliminary discussion at the Monday night meeting of the McHenry City Council. Brought to the floor by Alderman Cecilia Serritella (4th ward), she pointed out that there was "an over sight" in the "R-3a" residential zoning district. Mrs. Serritella said the "R-3a" was designed for the Lakeland Park area, having smaller lots and frontages. She also noted in other residential zoning districts there is a difference between sideyard setbacks on the main building and on accessory buildings. "In R-3a, there is no difference and it is not reasonable to have a difference," Mrs. Serritella said. Alderman Jack Pepping (1st ward) said the issue was not a comparison of "zoning classifications, but what was a reasonable setback for a building abutting a neighbor's land. "Six feet is not a lot of distance from a lot line." Pepping said. "My concern is that we have to address the minimum setback requirements." McHenry Mayor Joseph Stanek commented that the requirement was designed to protect neighboring property. "We're still in the country," he said. "We have to think of fire protection and air flow." Alderman Raymond Smith (3rd ward) said the area for investigation was the definition of "accessory buildings." Fourth ward Alderman Ronald Meurer commented that the Lakeland Park area was 85 percent built, many of the houses having detached garages in violation of the setback requirements ward) said she was not in favor of changing the ordinance, noting that the council could grant a variation for specific requests. The matter was referred to com mittee for further study and recom mendation. In other business, the council voted to post the north side of Commercial avenue "no parking." A unanimous vote approved tag day requests from Easter Seals. April 3: Kiwanis, Sept. 24; Knights of Colum bus-. Nov. 6; Lionness. May 1; Veterans of Foreign Wars. May 15: and Tum- blewceds. July 17 The City Council also approved sealed purchase proposals for three of four police cars in the amounts of $950 for a 1960 Buick, $1,205 for another 1980 Buick and $1,202 for a 1978 Mercury. The proposals were submitted by Charles Shanlever, of Crystal Lake, Ronald S. Cottrell, of Wonder Lake, and Andrew Fossum, of Wonder Lake, respectively. TThe council unanimously approved three beer permit requests. As a result of recent action, all beer perftit requests must come before the council. New Treasurer For Village The board of village trustees for McHenry Shores accepted the resignation of their treasurer, Johann Bartel, at a special meeting March 2. Appointed to replace her was Dorothy Bangle, who is expected to work closely with the new board in its present policy h* iirasmsnt cording to county standards prior to ./ B^rtel etpiaifled in her letter of annexation to the City of McHenry and asked if they would be "grandfathered" in any ordinance change. Alderman Elizabeth Nolan (1st resignation that family responsibilities with her recently born child prevented her from devoting the time she felt was (Continued on pag« 9) The debate over the future of McHenry's Chicago & North Western station agent continues. There is no difference of opinion on the desirability of maintaining the agent. Rather, it is if and how it can be done. Edward Buss, who serves on the County board representing the McHenry area, and on its Tran sportation committee, has not been convinced that the agent is worth the expenditure in view of ridership and the high percentage who buy tickets on the train and never see the agent. Although open to a change of mind if convincing enough arguments can be produced, Buss feels his responsibility is to the interests of the entire county, and not alone to McHenry. Clint Claypool, who formerly served the County board Transportation committee, had an entirely new idea to present recently.' He suggested a financial cooperation between the City of McHenry, using Revenue Sharing money, and the CNW-RTA to build a station at Bull Valley road. The idea behind it is the possible attraction for Bull Valley and McHenry Shores riders who now board a Crystal Lake train. Claypool believes there is even a possibility that if the location should prove successful, there might be agreement to adding a local commuter train. The business community of McHenry, and our government leaders, don't care how it's done but they feel strongly that the agent must remain. The fear that abolishing the agent will eventually mean the end to commuter service is a real one. This has been a (Continued on page 9) Mayor Speaks Out Favoring Annexation by Anthony Oliver In the face of opposition from 6 of 8 McHenry aldermen, Mayor Joseph Stanek said, "I regard it as a high compliment when people say they want to be a part of our community." Regarding the upcoming McHenry Shores annexation vote, slated for the March 16 primary election, Standi spoke strongly in favor of annexing the village. The McHenry mayor said Thursday morning that the development of the hospital was "vitally linked" to the annexation of McHenry Shores. He noted that a special meeting would be held Monday, March 8, where the council would discuss information received from the state. Stanek did not want to release information until the councilmen had received it. Stanek said he was "chagrined" at the comments that little information had been received and said much in formation could have been gleaned from recent sewer plant study meetings involving both the Shores anid the city. " The aldermen are elected and responsible for collecting information, he said. "I don't see where I, as mayor, have to spoon-feed the information," Stanek said. He pointed out that at previous meetings, aldermen had asked for a synopsis of an information packet from the Shores because it was "too much to digest." He pointed out the analogy to the Lakeland Park annexation was not similar in that the people did not vote. "In Lakeland Park, they had to get the signatures of 50 percent of the property owners and 50 percent of the electors," Stanek said. "They could argue their case one-on-one with the peop le . The re were neve r any guarantees and I feel it's a double standard." The mayor said the city has everything to lose if the annexation question were negotiated. N "If we annex, all of the powers would be vested automatically with the city council. We would determine the zoning, whether to go for grants or use our bonding power, whether they would pay 100 percent for roads or sewers," Stanek said. "Any negotiations would muddy up the waters." He commented that the most difficult part of the issue was to present the facts in a way that the annexation would be fair to, and benefit, both municipalities. "If you say that all of the benefits go (Continued on page 9) :e Proceeds For Heidi Winters William Thomas of the McHenry Lions chib pays a visit to Heidi Winters, former Easter Seal Poster Child, to tell her that all proceeds from Sunday's Pancake Day sales will be placed In the Heidi Winters trust fund. The little girl, daughter of Nadlne Winters, recently underwent major surgery. STAFF PHOTO-ANTHONY OLIVER Sunday, March 7, has been designated Pancake Day by the McHenry Lions club. Serving will take place at the American Legion clubhouse on Ringwood road, with special recipe pancakes to be ac companied by sausage, orange juice, coffee or milk. Serving will be between 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Proceeds from the day's sales will be placed in the Heidi Winters trust fund to meet heavy expenses resulting from recent major surgery and previous illnesses of the 7-year-old McHenry girl. Annexation Thoughts --w--m-- FREE McHenry Shores Issue TV Quid• lit Pag0 I6 fim J*W Today's Edition Money Saving Coupons For New . r . ' ' - New Women's Civic Group Set Mo/or Goof Page 9