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McHenry i-av* rem ym <• Since 1875 aindealer 2 Sections 34 Pages 25c 4 . * «ir" ' ' .. > A.' »•: *< < 1 • lev . r. ( STAFF PHOTO WAYNE GAYIORO Winning the battle Exercise came naturally Monday morning as lightly falling snowflakes gave promise of accumulations by night. In an effort to keep ahead of the snow, this Whispering Oaks-resident starts the removal at an early hour and appears to be winning the continuing battle of January. Suggest city lobby for sewer plant by Anthony Oliver Hie City ot McHenry faces a "Catch-22" situation concerning the proposed construction of a south sewage treatment facility between McHenry Shores and the former south city limit*. The matter was discussed at a meeting of the Sewer and Water Committee held last Thursday. The crux of the; problem stems from regulations mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and administered by its local counterpart, the Illinois EPA. Basically, the City of McHenry is attempting to get grant funding for the con­ struction of a treatment facility on the city's southeast side. The plant is considered crucial to further development in the McHenry area. In order to get grant approval, IEPA assigns priority numbers to the grant requests that are received. In competition with many other municipalities and districts, the city's project number meant grant approval would not be forthcoming for at least three to five years. The city sought to improve its chances by redesigning the grant request to meet "In­ novative and Alternative" (I&A) specifications. The I&A program was started to urge communities to seek new ways of handling sewage treatment. Recently, the grant program was redesigned as well. Hjalmar Sundin, president of Baxter and 4 Woodman Engineers, explained that the former grant program had three steps which paid out as the project developed. The new program has one step which reimburses the community after all is"said and done. This is where the catch comes m. Noting the change in the grant program, Sundin said, "It used to be a three-step program: preliminary engineering, plans and specs and construction. Now it is just one step, construction, with reimbursement for steps 1 and 2. There is no assurance of a grant until you apply and you can't apply without plans and specs." In short, the city would be gambling $200,000 (estimated) to design a plant for a grant that may not be approved. "If I wanted to stop the number of grant requests, I would do it like that," said Kit Carstens, president of the McHenry Area Economic Development Committee. Sundin also pointed out that IEPA would not permit funding for more than the population that would be able to im­ mediately hook into the system. The city had planned from the beginning to build a plant with capabilities of serving 20,000 people. The recent decision will limit funding rto a "population equivalent" (PE) of 2,000 to 3,000. "EPA's policy is to encourage regional plants-to an extent. They are still prejudiced against a lot of small plants," Sundin said. . The original 20,000 PE figure was scaled down 10,000, Sundin noted, and the current plan is for a two-stage development of 5,000 PEs in each phase, Another wrench was thrown into the works when IEPA of­ ficials said the Village of Mc- Cullom Lake should be taken into consideration as well. Sundin pointed out the problems with the new twist. He commented that sewage from the village would probably have to be transported with a con­ ventional gravity-feed sewer system. The conventional system is not eflgiWe^or grant funding. An alternative would be a grinder-pump unit in each home which has the advantages of using smaller diameter (less expensive) pipe and not needing to run downhill all the time. However, the grinder-pump units cost $1,500 to $2,000. Sundin said this method would be eligi|bte"Tor funding, but maintenance of the units would not. Aid. William Bolger (1st), chairman of ,the Sewer and Water Committee, said, "The feeling is that McCullom Lake will not go along with this (the I&A plan)." Mayor Joseph Stanek said, "We have to fish or cut bait. If McCullom Lake will not go along, we have to tell IEPA not to put our proposal in jeopardy." Kurt Weisenberger, former village president, said the village had wanted sewers years ago. "We followed everything we were *told by NIPC (Nor­ theastern Illinois Plan Com­ mission). We went to the city and got zilch. Now you're crying Wednesday January 11,1984 * Number 45 Volume 108 Retailers set calendar The Retail Council of the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce has set the date for the most important meeting of the year. On Jan. 17 at 7:30 a.m., retailers from the entire McHenry area will establish, the retail calendar for the 1984 fiscal year, including sale dates, advertising, promotions, and other activities centering arond the Route 120 bridge recon: struction. All retailers in the McHenry area are invited to participate in establishing what promoses to be a very busy and exciting year. Interested persons are asked to contact the Chamber office at 385-4300 for reser- i vations. Dates of the Winter Dollar / Days and Crazy Clearance Days were previously established by the 1983 committee. The.y_are Jan. 19 and Feb. 23-25tfT, respectively. v Proceeds from the "Game of McHenry" are providing funds for area wide promotions' to Shop McHenry, where tfcx dollars returns revenue to the community to provide the services residents enjoy throughout the year. Chamber Vice-President & Retail Council Coordinator Carol Nelson encourages all retailers to join the core com­ mittee for breakfast on the third Tuesday of every month, but very especially on Jan. 17 at Wag's Restaurant. City water bills up and making us look like the dog " Weisenberger s said. Stanek said the city set down criteria for village par­ ticipation. He said the villagers would pay the same fees as a new home and service would not be unlimited. "The argument came back not to allow McHenry to control their destiny and the costs were outrageous," Stanek said. "We'll end up paying more than for a system of our own," Weisenberger said. "We never anticipated paying for the lines or deli very, Stanek countered. "We'll get no property tax from the village and we felt it was fair." "The village is generally in favor of sewers, but you must realize that the village can't maintain an alternative system," said.Ronald Krumsee, a former village official. Bolger commented, "If they say we have to include West Shore Beach or McCullom Lake, we'll do it. We won't reach out fqr them. We don't control them. But, the city can't un­ derwrite the Cost." Kit Carstens said perhaps the Illinois Department of Com- Continued on page 3 by Anthony Oliver The October bill for city water service will be a little higher as the city council approved an across-the-board increase in chambers Monday night. For a large residential water user-one who uses 10,000 gallons a month - the increase of 10 cents per 1,000 gallons will add $3 to the quarterly billing. Sewer and Water Committee Chairman, Aid. William Bolger (1st), brought the matter to the floor and made the recom­ mendation for the increase. Bolger said the rate increase was needed to finance the construction of a 500,000 gallon water tower in the city. He also noted that the committee would be studying potential locations for the standpipe in the city. In "arguing for the increase. Bolger commented that current city water rates were at about -half, or less than half, of neigh­ boring municipalities. "Based on 1982 usage, the increase will give the city about $40,000 a year," Bolger said Aid. William Busse (2 suggested that a proper study be conducted, given the estimated $500,000 cost of the water tower. As originally presented, the motion was to approve the in­ crease with the intent of establishing a specific fund. ,or account, for the water tower. Mayor Joseph Stanek ex­ pressed concern that the specificity of the motion could limit the city's ability to use the money for "general water and sewer improvements." At this, some aldermen ob­ jected. "I wouldn't want an increase without a specific project or an improvement related to it." said Aid. Ray Smith (3rd) City Attorne> Bernard Narusis commented that if the money from the increase were "earmarked" for a water tower, it would have to be used for the same. If it was merely the "intent" to use it for a water tower, the city could use the funds for other improvements. "It would make more sense to raise revenues for general improvements." BuK-Se said -- Aid. Elizabetl^ NoWn com­ mented that (she wouldVnot feel comfortable] explaining the increase for general purposes, particularly j sifice. as Stanek noted, the waiter budget was in "good shapcl" Stanek quarkfied the statement to say the budget would not tolerate any major im­ provements. Bolger made the motiin to raise the rate 1 o cents per 1.000 gallons with the intent to use the money for the storage tank construction. The motion passed 6-2. Aldermen Bolger. Nolan. Datz. Smith. Snell and Serntella voted in favor Aldermen Busse and McClatchey opposed School will accept 31-year-old by Carol A. Stevens Johnsburg school board ap­ proved a request from a 31-year- old woman to be accepted as a regular high school student. Her education was interrupted in 1969 while she was still in high school, and she feels thatVa junior-college program would not fit her needs. The applicant was described as "very sincere about com­ pleting her education." and the board feels that her presence in the classroom may have a good effect on other students. While the board does not w ish to set a policy on accepting future students who are older than the "normal" high school student, it will examine each case on an individual basis. «iiu gw j v/u v& jmg vw.i....™ - jlii^ appiivcuu »»uo uvuvi iwvw uiui v iuucu uaai^. City of McHenry leads county murders A loofc inside... 9' Homestead Exemption Help Wildlife Survive Regular features Obituaries --- - Crime of the Week New Classified number Page 2 Page 6 Page 3 Pa,ge 4 344-4800 By Kirk Birginal Shaw Free Press News Service Men living in the City of McHenry are three times as "likely to be murdered as Crystal Lake or Woodstock men. That was the conclusion based on statistics compiled by the Illinois Criminal Justice In­ formation Authority. The typical murder victim in McHenry is a man living in an unincorporated area who is killed with a gun during a-family- argument, according to state crime statistics. The state's murder rate - 8.8 per 100,000 people - was less than the national average of 9.1, the report stated. This compares to a murder rate in McHenry County of 2.08 per 100,000 people. Among Chicago men. the rate was 49.7. Among cities in the county, McHenry had the highest murder rate - 5.44 per 100,000 people - a rate that is more than three times greater than Crystal Lake's* 1.69 and Woodstock's 1.73. Louise Miller, an analyst with the state crime agency, said that 27 murders were committed in McHenry County from 1973 to 1982. Of those, 44 percent, or 12, took place in unincorporated portions of the county and were handled by the McHenry County Sheriff's Department According to Ms. Miller, during the last 10 years there have been six murders in • the City esof McHenry, three in Crystal Lake, two in Woodstock and one each in Marengo, Algonquin, Cary and Harvard. Guns were the most common weapon used in these murders, she said. Handguns were used in 30 percent of the murders, with other guns such as rifles and shotguns used in 15 percent. Ms. Miller said that 12 of the 16 most recent cases on which in­ formation is available about victim-offender relationships involved members of the same family. . ) . In addition to the 12 murders by guns, she said that six in­ volved knives, two were beating deaths, two were by poisoning. two were by strangulation and three were classified as other. Two of those 16 killings were by strangers to the victim and two were by acquaintances. Ms. Miller said "This pretty much mirrors what we found to be the case for all areas in the state outside Chicago," Ms. .Miller said. "Family members account for a much higher proportion of murders outside the city than in it." Additionally, statistics on precipitating circumstances in 11 of the county's 27 reported murders during the last 10 years show that nearly 55 percent began with an argument. Four of those stemmed from unknown circumstances and involved the discovery of the body, she said, and the other was a rape-murder in Crystal Lake in 1980 According to Dr. William Marinis. a Crystal Lake psychologist who has worked with accused murderers found unfit to stand trial, most mur­ ders occur when the offender undergoes a situation of sudden overwhelming stress * "Most murders take place in a state of temporary insanity, contrary to the conception that murders are gangland slayings." Marinis said. The crime information agency, in charge of compiling statistics from state law en­ forcement agencies, recently studied 11.500 murders from 1973 /\o 1982. the first time such data nas been studied. Miller said The study is intended to help law enforcement agencies see emerging trends. According to the report, younger people are the., most likely to be murder victims, and of the 11.500 victims. 78 percent were men "Statewide, males are the predominant victims and of­ fenders." Ms. Miller said. In McHenry County. 63 percent, or 17. of the murder victims were males. Of the most recent 16 killings. 81 percent of the of­ fenders were male. \