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Opposition To Be Heard -- a Set New Hearing On Gravel Pit Request Objectors to gravel pit proposal listen intently to testimony presented at most recent hearing, held Thursday in the city hall. In foreground are Alderman Edward Datz, chairman of the City of McHenry Plan commission; Bernard Narusis , attorney for the city; and Alderman George Harker. They were among many objectors present, none of whom was heard Thursday except to question the cross-examination. Staff Photo-Barbara Gilpin Musin' and Meanderin' This was a week for personal visits, phone calls and ob­ servations on a number of subjects. A concerned home owner at Pistakee Highlands called to find out if something might be done to stop speeding in that area, resulting in eleven ac­ cidents in one particular location over the past two and a half years. Each time the lady's property was damaged, and to date she has received reimbursement for one in­ cident. Her greatest fear is that sometime the speedway will result in injury to one of the children waiting at a bus stop across the street, for the ac­ cidents are not restricted to night driving. In the meantime, we viewed a report from state police that shows twenty-three deaths on McHenry county highways from Jan. 1 to July 31 this year. Both monthly and yearly figures reflect increases over the previous year. State police show a record of 1,998 arrest tickets given in District 11 during August. The number seems high even for a five-county area, but ap- (Continued On Page 8) The McHenry County Zoning Board of Appeals hearing regarding a proposed gravel pit operation on Chapel Hill road last week was continued to Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 2 p.m. in city hall. This will be the eighth hearing before the board in connection with a petition by Leo and Evelyn Diedrich and Material Service corporation, who are seeking a conditional use permit to mine and process gravel on 121 acres of land on the east side of Chapel Hill road, about : ,4 mile north of Lincoln road. Much of the hearing last Thursday was devoted to legal wrangling between Attorney James Bishop, representing the petitioners, and Attorney Bernard Narusis, representing the city of McHenry as ob­ jectors. The hearing reconvened Thursday afternoon with Thomas Peters a real estate appraiser from Crystal Lake, being recalled to testify. He was a witness for the petitioners who was originally sworn in at the last session Sept. 4. Attorney Narusis, during his cross examination of Peters, attempted to impeach a portion of his testimony which had to do with how a gravel pit operation would affect nearby residential real estate values, extension of conditional use permits and land rehabilitation programs. Acting board chairman, Mrs. June Girard, explained to the audience that Attorney Narusis was within his rights to challenge \ any witness's testimony. Narusis contended that Peters' testimony regarding the proposed Material Service corporation pit was in variance with testimony given by Peters in a similar zoning hearing "before this very same zoning board" three years ago t regarding a permit for a gravel pit operation by Evanston Fuel company. When petitioner's attorney Bishop objected to Narusis questioning Peters about his previous testimony on the grounds it wasn't relevant to the land in question, Mrs. Girard sustained his objection. At this point, Narusis ex­ plained that when there is an objection sustained to a certain line of testimony, the party against whom the objection is lodged has the right to tell not only the people who are sitting as judges, in this case the zoning board, but also to get it into the official record which is available for an administrative review at a later date. The party against whom the ob­ jection was sustained can tell what "he could have shown if he were permitted to follow that line of questioning through to its conclusion." All testimony given at zoning board hearings is kept on record and is subjcct to ad­ ministrative review bv the courts. If it is determined that the exact letter of the law was not followed during zoning board proceedings, the entire proceedings can be thrown out and hearings on a matter would have to start from the begin­ ning. Mrs. Girard explained to objectors. Narusis explained that the function of "An Offer of Proof" has two purposes: (1) "It (Continued On Page 8) Consumer Protection Office Opens William J. Scott, attorney general of the state, has an­ nounced a new Consumer Protection division branch office in McHenry county, located at 1603 N. North avenue, McHenry. Staffed by John T. Licastro, assistant attorney general, the office will receive calls from 9:30a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 385-1703. It is open also for interviews and hearings Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The office is interested in speaking engagements to explain the pitfalls in consumer fraud and how citizens can protect themselves from them. Howard R. Kaufman, chief of the Consumer Fraud Protec­ tion division of the attorney General's office and other qualified speakers are available. Interested groups should call the McHenry office to make arrangements. A Chicago office is located in Room 204,134 N. LaSalle street, Chicago, 60602. Hold Tuberculin Skin Testing On Campus Sept. 12 The McHenry County college Health Service, in conjunction with Mrs. Loretta Kohl from the McHenry county T.B. Care and Treatment board, will conduct a tuberculin skin testing program in the Student Union on the interim campus in the I.I T. building, Crystal Lake, Friday, Sept. 12, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. * Readings of the skin tests will be done Monday, Sept. 15, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This is a free service and is open to the public. Volunteers Complete Auxiliary Police Course John J. Shay, of McHenry, director of McHenry County Civil Defense, has announced the graduation of twenty-eight volunteers of the Civil Defense Auxiliary Police Reserve course. The course was con­ ducted under the authority of the McHenry county sheriff, Arthur Tyrrell, and with the direct supervision of Captain Robert Crabtree. The Auxiliary Police Reserve received instructions in Traffic and Crowd Control, Protection of Property, Communications, Radiation Hazards, Press Relations, Criminal Law, County Geography and Tor­ nado Spotting. The course was taught over a six-week period by Auxiliary Police Captain Dennis Malysiak. The auxiliary police are always under the direct control Car-Truck Crash - Injures Six Little Effect Locally Cut Tax Assessment Level Gov. Dan Walker last week signed a bill to help relieve the constant pressure to increase real estate taxes on home owners. The bill cuts the property tax assessment level from 50 per cent to 33 l/3 per cent of fair market value. The bill takes effect immediately. Little effect will be felt in McHenry county since Willard J. Hogge, supervisor of assessments, said his sales ratio study for the years 1972-74 was 33 1/3 per cent. Township assessments throughout the county range between 29 and 33 per cent, and Hogge promises to try for better equalization of assessments between townships. Without the cut in assessment level, provided by House Bill 990, practically every property owner next year would have received huge increases in their local tax bills. The Illinois Supreme court stated last March that the 50 per cent assessment level in all counties would be enforced by court order unless the law was changed. The cut in assessment level is the second step in a program of real estate property tax relief which started when Gov. Walker ordered the tax multiplier frozen in 1973. Assessments multiplied by the tax rate determines the home owner's tax bill. Gov. Walker's freeze of the state multiplier at 1972 levels brought the percentage assessment of property down steadily ever since. For example, on the average, Cook county taxpayers were paying taxes on 38.3 per cent of actual property value in 1972. Last year's taxes in Cook County were paid on an average of 33.8 per cent of property value. When the freeze began, the average percentage of property value on which taxes are paid was at 40.4 per cent in DuPage county; 32.3 in Lake; 39.7 in Kane; 35.3 in McHenry and 34.1 in Will. Without the freeze, the state would have been required to equalize taxes up to the 50 per cent mark instead of downward to the 33 per cent level. As a result, the average tax bill for 1975 taxes (payable in 1976) on a typical home worth $30,000 will be as follows: At SO Per Cent At Levels As Required By Provided By Supreme Court County New Law Without New Law Cook $860 $1,200 DuPage 685 1,020 Kane» 575 875 Lake 625 999 McHenry 565 855 Will 525 860 Under the new law, assessments around the state will continue to decline except when the 33 per cent level has already been reached. Without the new law, the pattern of reduced assessment levels would have been reversed. The state is under injunction issued by a Lake County court to equalize assessments in every county at the 50 per cent level. Since all counties currently assess less than 50 per cent, property taxes in all counties would have been forced upward by the court order. Instead, the bill Gov. Walker signed provides a continued freeze for counties where the assessment level is still above 33 1/3 per cent. Over a three-year period, as property values increase, the assessments in those counties are expected to drop to 33 l/3 per cent. $7,500 To Lakemoor For Sewage System Facility Six people were slightly injured in a car-truck accident that occurred Friday afternoon on Front street, near Oak avenue, McHenry. Wilma Aylward of 1804 N. Riverside drive, McHenry. and her five passengers, one-year-old April and two-month-old Robert Lefrancois of 2915 W. Main, McHenry, and Stacey, 8, Hope, 7, and Ginger Morris, 1, all of 1202 Broadway, McHenry, were taken to the hospital by the rescue squad for checkups. According to the report, Ms. Aylward was south-bound on Front when one of the children in the front seat crawled into her lap and inadvertently hit the steering wheel. The car crossed into the north-bound lane, where it hit a truck driven by John Hemauer of Waukesha, Wis. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD Twelve-year-old Donald L. Neuman of 5008 Westwood drive, McHenry, escaped serious injury when the bicycle he was riding hit the rear of a car at the intersection of Pistakee drive and Eastern avenue, Pistakee Highlands. The accident occurred Sunday afternoon about 3 o'clock. James C. Davison of 4650 N. Kedzie, Chicago,' was south­ bound on Pistakee drive when the bicyclist came into the- intersection and hit the rear of his auto. Neuman agreed with his statement. He received some injuries in the mishap but refused medical aid at the Virginia I. Fendt of 514 N. Mineral Springs, McHenry, was ticketed for failure to transfer title and failure to report an "accident to police authorities following a one-car accident at the intersection of River road and MineralSprings drive last Saturday morning about 2:15 a.m. Ms. Fendt said she was en­ tering the subdivision and hit a concrete block road marker but didn't realized she had caused much damage. Deputies found parts of the Fendt vehicle at the scene and traced them to the offender's car. Paulette C. Kreutz of 7717 (Continued On Page 8) of the chief law enforcement officer of the jurisdiction where they are called. They have been trained primarily to assist the police in disasters. However, they are used in other emergencies or wherever needed. In the past, the volunteers have assisted the McHenry county Sheriff's department and numerous police depart­ ments in McHenry county for various civic events including the McHenry County Fair, McHenry V.F.W. and American Legion carnivals, Algonquin Founder's day, Freedom Train in Crystal Lake, etc. The participation at these events enable the volunteers to assist in various activities as a backup to local police organizations gaining better proficiency for them and a tax saving to local residents. These people volunteer their time and buy their own uniforms. A century ago the act of rounding up a crew of men and horses to track down an outlaw was an effective law en­ forcement tool. But today, crime, criminals and police have become sophisticated and no law enforcement officer sets foot on the streets without training in law, criminal procedures, enforcement techniques and court decisions affecting law enforcement. These people by no means will graduate with this type of proficiency but they will be eligible to attend another training class of 150 hours and become a member of the well trained sheriff's auxiliary police as a deputized citizen volunteer. There are currently thirty- one who have been deputized by McHenry County Sheriff Art Tyrrell, including twenty-eight men and three women. They are under his direct super­ vision. The certificates of com­ pletion were awarded to W.R. Arndt. Jerry Birch, Harry Buchert, June Buchert, Rick Duel, Robert Finkbeiner, Alan Glowinski, Gayle Gustafson, George Havens, Maria Her­ nandez, John Hosie, Shirley Hosie, Severin Lodewyck, Carol McPherson, Jeralynn Moeller, Victoria Moran, Normalee Nelson, David Parrish, Mary Schmuhl, William Stegall, Sue Stippick, John Taylor, Susan Treese, Charmain Vidovich, Fred Vogelsberg, Joan Werth, June Wood and Sam Wyatt. As part of the Illinois En­ vironmental Protection agency's accelerated sewage Singers Plan Bicentennial Theme Programs The McHenry Choral club will open rehearsals for the Fall season Monday night, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. in the East campus music room. Music is on hand to begin preparation immediately for the annual holiday program scheduled Dec. 6 and 7. While the entire Spring program will be devoted to a Bicentennial theme, the Christmas presentation will (Continued On Page 8) system construction grant program, the agency recently offered $7,500 to the Village of Lakemoor to prepare a facility plan. Lakemoor accepted the grant. A referendum is now required before the project can be undertaken with tax money. The total eligible cost of this project is estimated to be $10,000. Based on this figure, Lakemoor will provide twenty- five percent, or $2,500, ac­ cording to Dr. Richard H. Briceland, director of the Illinois EPA. "The grant program will make more than $170 million of state funds available to com­ munities and create about 8,000 new jobs throughout the state in the next two years. The funds are from an Anti-Pollution Bond act passed by Illinois voters in 1970, " Bricleand said. He continued: ^ "This accelerated' grant program will increase by more than 65 per cent - from 230 to 380--the number of sewage t r e a t m e n t c o n s t r u c t i o n p r o j e c t s u n d e r t a k e n throughout the state, this year and next." "We are working directly with city officials, consulting engineers and contractors in an effort to speed the flow of pollution control money into the construction project. "Cleaner rivers and streams mean that our drinking water can be more easily purified. This program will ensure that we will soon see rapid im- (Continued On Page 8) Happy smiles reflect the fact that these two McHenry residents were among the first to qualify to win $1,000 a week for life in the state lottery Super Slam World Series. George Loser and Mrs. Gar> (Kathy) Baseley hold up lucky tickets, for which a drawing is expected to be made sometime in October. The winner is assured of $1 million. ^ STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD If your name has been Loser all your life and suddenly you qualify for a drawing that might give you $1,000 a week tor life, you become a Winner (ieorge Loser of 1114 W. Quincy. McHenry, feels this is a fair assessment of his present position. Mrs : Gary (Kathy) Baselev of 1613 N. Riverside drive is equally happy about the prospect of winning the pot end of the rainbow, two McHenry residents among .the first in the state to be named qualifiers in the Illinois Super Slam World Series which has just con­ cluded The twelve-week state at thi Tht were lottery "game ended Friday night when qualifying numbers for the drawing were an­ nounced Mrs. Baseley and Mr Loser will receive a .minimum ot $2,000 each just for becoming qualifiers. (Continued On Page 8) . » THE VOLUME 100 NUMBER 11 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1975 20 PAGES 15' CENTS MCHENRY PLAINDEALER "SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875'