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t Complex For Elderly required parking spaces per unit, met with 4 to 3 votes of the ZBA However, state law says a five-vote majority is necessary before an affirmative recommendation can be sent to the council. Alderman George Harker questioned Jerry Buckley, land planner for the petitioner, about the financing of the project and the lack of a sprinkler system in the proposed three-story structure. Buckley told the council that the project was not subject to a federal mortgage guarantee and that elderly people would not be barred from residence on account of a high income. The alderman also noted that a sprinkler system would not only in­ crease the peace of mind of the residents, but would decrease the fire insurance costs of the subject property. Buckley agreed with Harker and commented that the sprinkler system was not cost effective relative to the mortgage loan. The developers, he said, would be limited by the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IH- DA), which is providing a 90 percent mortgage, in the amount of money that would be spent to construct the project. "The extra cost involved would make the rest of the project suffer," Buckley said. In response to questioning from Alderman Jack Pepping along the same lines, Buckley stated that the project would be feasible, but not cost effective, if built along present Zoning ordinance regulations. "We have a severely limited budget," Buckley pointed out The more cost effective the project, the more we can spend on using better quality materials in the project, he noted. Alderman Michael Wieser took ex­ ception to the $450 per month rent figure which was used in the ZBA hearing According to Buckley, the renter would pay 25 percent of his or her adjusted gross monthly income toward rent and the remainder would be paid with funds from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Wieser said the figure was "pop­ pycock" and commented that it was higher than present rents for com mercial space in the city Buckley explained that the IHDA will set the rents to be charged after an on- site study is completed. The developers have no say in the rent structure. When it came to a vote, all aldermen present, with the exception of Alder­ man Wieser. voted in favor of the three variation requests. Wieser noted that his "No" vote was simply a protest to the rents. A fourth motion, to amend the zoning ordinance to allow the construction of three-story buildings, was referred to committee for a recommendation in three weeks time. In another land matter, three motions to approve ordinances authorizing the mayor and city clerk to sign an an­ nexation agreement, annexing the land and zoning the property were passed unanimously The land in question is an 8.3 acre parcel on Crystal Lake road. near West campus, which is known as Malibu Estates In other council business, a request for a fence ordinance variation from Mark Serpe, 4711 Home avenue, McHenry. was deferred for a lack of information A request from Superintendent of Public Works Richard Weber for a part- lime employee was approved. The council also authorized the mayor to send a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration < FA A) stating no objection to the helicopter ap­ plication of Bacillus Thuringiensis in order to control Gypsy moths in McHenry Resolutions of Appreciation were (Continued on page 20) CHARLES HERDRICH DIES Charles Herdrich, 93. founder in 1933 of Chas. Herdrich & Son, Inc., River road, died Monday. April 27. A com­ plete obituary appears elsewhere in this issue Why Tax Bills Are Up Arbor Day Scene Fight Billing Swindlers MCC Holds Seminar Night City Plants Trees Post Office Campaign Informational Sessions Page 13 Page 16 Page 20 Allow by Anthony Oliver The McHenry City Council voted at Monday night's annual meeting to approve three variations which will allow the construction of a 48-unit, rent subsidized housing complex for the elderly. The complex is scheduled to be built on about 4.5 acres of land in the southern part of the Falcon develop­ ment, on the east side of Route 31 near McCullom Lake road On April 10, the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) recommended that one of the variations, regarding an increase of two units from the required 46. be approved. The other two variations, requesting three stories instead of two and a decrease in the number of THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER # ~ 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 105 NUMBER 78 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29. 1981 1 SECHQN 2J PAGES 25' Man Dies In Home Fire A 47-year-old Wonder take resident was killed when fire^brotie out in the residence at 6424 McCullom Lake road. McHenry. last Friday night Robert H Kelby. Jr., 47, of that ad­ dress was found in the home and pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Coroner Harry Stafford According to county police, no foul play is suspected in Kelby's death and it is believed that he succumbed due to smoke inhalation Fire fighters from Wonder I .ake were dispatched to the scene when the fire w a s r e p o r t e d . * s h o r t l y a f t e r 9 p m Friday A mutual aid request was answered by Companies I and II of the McHenry Township Fire department The police report noted that a neigh bor reported the blaze when smoke was seen coming from windows of the home The police report said a small space heater is believed to have been the cause of the fire No damage estimate was available Area Police Chief Attacked Two Dundee men attacked and in­ jured Lakemoor Police Chief Richard G. Adornetto. who made a traffic stop at the Possum Run gravel pit on Route 120. east of McHenry. early Saturday morning Adornetto had stopped a truck for speeding, when the driver and one of the passengers overpowered the chief and threatened him with his service revolver McHenry County Sheriff's police arrived to assist Adornetto and arrested John Klusek. 31. of 14 Guth street, and Martin J Nathan, of 510 Park avenue, both of East Dundee The two were charged with one count each of aggravated battery and armed violence Bond for each was set at $20,000 The McHenry Rescue squad tran sported Adornetto to McHenry hospital where he was treated for injuries to the head, neck and chest Klusek posted bond and Nathan remains in custody at the McHenry county jail We had three letters to go out in the mail from the office, no stamps, and no change in the billfold We had a dollar and a few pennies <the remainder of last week's paycheck) and that seemed to be the answer But how do you figure 18 times something or other in your head? Finally someone with greater math genius than we possess figured it out. If we could come up with $1.08 we could get six stamps. Always before we had bought just one stamp, or maybe a roll In spite of an uncomfortable feeling that we weren't getting much for our money, we held the optimistic view that tucked somewhere inside that roll there must be the value we couldn't see. But this time there was no kidding ouraelf. There they were, those six small purple stamps with wings and no price tag attached. As we affixed three of them to the letters, there remained another three little squares of paper in our hand. No weight to them, very little value to the paper - but we suddenly thought, "Ye gadi, this represents one-half of $1.08". Again, the trigger fast math was not there. But it was enough to know that they represented more than a half of a 50-cent piece. A co-worker spoke up quickly to observe that we were adjusting rather slowly to inflation. She was right, but she also hadn't just S , paid the staggering income tax Uncle Sam required April 15 on top of a really big hunk out of the paycheck each week. Our impulse then was to take to (Continued on page 20) Present Johnsburg Musical Next Week Students at Johnsburg high school are putting the final touches on their production of the musical comedy "Damn Yankees". It will be presented May 7. 8 and 9 at 8 p.m in the John sburg high school auditorium The hit musical comedy was first produced in 1955. and the original production ran for over 1.000 per­ formances in New York A cast of 34 actors, singers, and dancers will be appearing in the show Included in the cast are Scott Mullen as Mr Applegate. Cheryl Worzala as I,ola and Mark Leslie as Joe Hardy Tom Liston plays Benny VanBuren. the manager of the Washington Senators, and Kathy Wester plays Gloria Thorpe, the reporter Paul Metzger and Karen Alvord play Meg and Joe Boyd Also in the cast are Debbie Swinford. Cindy Ahlert. Bob Baker, Gary Selof. Sue Chyllo. Gail Wroblewski, Phil Kalsch, Tina Leisner, Dave Rucker and Ron Calahan Appearing as the baseball players in the show will be Brian Conant. Rob Sch midt. Joe Kalisek. Hoagy Dix. Scott McClory. John Armon. Dan Hovseth and Rick Ziolowski The dancers in "Damn Yankees include Grace Reaman. Megan Hall Nancy Lingeman. Sue Moulis. Beth Oeffling. Toni Rendo. Gina Rittorno and Petra Sliwiak "Damn Yankees" is about a man who dreams about being a young baseball player The devil appears in the person of Mr Applegate and grants the man his wish He becomes Joe Hardy, the star of the Washington Senators Complications arise when the man begins to miss his wife and his former f life Mr Applegate hires Lola, a sexy beautiful witch to keep Joe away from ; his wife Meanwhile Gloria Thorpe a reporter tries to uncover the story of where Joe Hardy came from "Damn Yankees" is a story \>f (Continued on page 20) With property tax bills now in the hands of most property owners, many residents have noticed substantial increases over last year's assessments. According to assessment of­ ficials in Woodstock, the cause of the increase - "pure and simple" - is inflation. "For the same reason that the schools can't operate the same as they didjthree years ago and gas and utility prices have gone up, the property tax canU stay the same as long as we have in­ flation," said Willard J. Hogge, retiring supervisor of assessments for McHenry county. He noted that Illinois state law has mandated an assessment value of 33.33 per­ cent. Township Assessor Sibre Whiting and Board of Review Chairman Walter Dean noted that the recent township property tax assessment was set at about 18 percent of the "fair market value." "On top of that," Whiting said, "thestate has placed a multiplier of 1.8927 in order to bring the assessment to the state man­ date." The multiplier, Whiting ex­ plained is based upon a "sales ratio study" between counties. And, he continued, the multiplier may vary from county to county and year to year. When asked why the multiplier always seems to increase. Whiting said, "That's a good question." Greek Family In Easter Feast In at least one McHenry home, the Easter celebration Sunday, April 26, was observed according to Greek Orthodox tradition. At the Harry Chrisopulos home, 5304 Shore drive. Lakeland Park, a 60-lb. lamb was roasted on a homemade grill for more than three hours and then enjoyed by 36 family members. Chrisopulos explained that in previous years the whole lamb required about six hours to barbecue, but with the new spit constructed by one of the family, that time was reduced to about three and a half hours Chrisopulos. an affable gentleman. was bom in Greece and came to this country at the age of 12 He has been a resident of McHenry for the past four years. Gathered for the Greek Pasxa (Easter) with him and his wife were their four children and other members (Continued on page 20) McHenry, has logged more years in service than any other volunteer in the 20-year history of (he Peace Corps, according to existing records. Now enroute to Upper Volta, where he expects to serve on a school construction project. Long joined the Peace Corps March 1, 1967, the very day he retired after 41 years with American Telephone and Telegraph Co. and Illinois Bell. As a volunteer, he served in Gabon, Togo and Sierra Leone. helping villagers, paramount chiefs and country officials design and construct schools, bridges, roofs and a football pavilion. "I've rubbed elbows with the lowly and the high." notes Long, whose proudest moment in West Africa occurred on New Year's day in 1978. Then President of Sierra Leone, Siaka Stevens, presented him with a medal, the country's highest civilian award, as an office in the Order of Rokel, for his faithful and dedicated work in the field of construction. Long, who carries the medal around in his pocket, is the only foreigner ever to receive (his honor. Long served 6' 2 years in Sierra Leone before returning to the United States last August on home leave. His biggest project in the country was the design and construction of 147 primary school classrooms upcountry in Bunumbu. His design, maximizing light and fresh air in the building while withstanding the heat and rain of the tropics, was adopted by Sierra Leone's Ministry of Education for con­ struction throughout the country. "You might say I hit the jack­ pot It was (he ultimate in ven­ tilation", says Long, whose previous experience in ven­ tilation design was for his own home and a church belfry in McHenry The United Nations Development fund provided $850,000 to finance the con­ struction of 185 classrooms, all using Long's design Catholic Relief Services implemented the project locally, although much of the actual construction work was done by villagers whose children are benefiting from the schools. "Due to inflation and all that." recalls Long, "we were able (o complete only 147 classrooms which, were distributed in 20 schools, all within 15 miles of the Bunumbu Teachers college We finished that project in mid- August " The volunteer then decided to take his long deserved vacation, visiting his many relatives at home. On his way to the airport, however, he stepped in a hole and twisted a knee tha( had been injured and operated on some years back. A subsequent physical examination revealed some problems in the knee and the doctor suggested inserting a new one. "He said I had a crack in the cement," says Long, who a( (he time was visiting his son, Jerry, in Ripon. Calif "Well, I.told him that the Leaning Tower of Pisa has had a crack in its foundation for years and it's still standing." Upon further examination, the doctor changed his diagnosis and last month, gave Long a clean bill of health to return to Peace Corps service "That's the longes( time I've ever loafed in all my life And that goes back," comments I>ong on his six months of idleness "When you have idle moments when your mind is not occupied, you start feeling your age." he observes. "If you don't keep your mind active, you just star( going downward I don't have idle moments." I>ong was born in Fort Kent in northern Maine March 10. 1902 The Canadian border town had been settled largely by French- speaking immigrants and when (Continued on page 20) New Aldermen Take Oath There H was on the spit - a beautifully barbecued lamb for the Greek Easter feast. A short time later only the small portion of the M-lk. animal being carved by Harry Chrisopulos remained, and very soon after this picture was taken it was all gone - eaten by the 34 who enjoyed dinner at the Chrisopulos home last Sunday. "I've got quite a few produc(ive hours left," says Odilon "Odi" Long, 79, the oldest Peace Corps volunteer now in service, as he starts his fifth assignment in Africa. Wilbur H Wertz. 77. of Seattle, Wash , serving in Hon­ duras, is the next oldest With 12'2 years in the Peace Corps under his belt. Long, from City Clerk Barbara Gilpin administers the oath of office to recently elected Aldermen Edward Dati, Ward II; Cecilia Serritella. Ward IV; and Raymond Smith, Ward III. STAFF PHOTO-ANTHONY OLIVER In The Big Time At 79 Oldest current Peace Corps volunteer, Odilon "Odi" Long. 7», is shown supervising a workman helping to build a school in Sierra Leone.