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1 animal humane work in The Christmas Spirit Goodwill Service Refresher Nurse Course Consumer Rights For Elderly McHenry Pickup McHenry Hospital At Holiday Time Section 2 Page 4 Section 2 Page 8 Page 9 Consider Best Plan To Serve County Mental Health Needs Have the new stop lights recently installed at the corner of Elm and Crystal Lake Road helped or hindered traffic in that area? VOLUME 105 NUMBER 38 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1980 2 SECTIONS 28 PAGES 25* Schoof District 15 Referendum Postmortem Indicates February Vote At a postmortem of the Elementary School District 15 referendum effort Dec. 4 supporters agreed with the board decision for a second try in February and discussed alternatives to handle the projected $320,000 additional deficit for the coming school year. Any suc­ cessful vote for an increase in 1981 would result in billing in 1982, leaving the district with a year's deficit to cover. Supporters of the proposition won­ dered why the board was only going for a 45-cent increase when the need, in order to effectively erase the in­ creasing and trailing deficits, is for $1. During the hearing a show of hands requested by an audience member indicated that most of the 35 persons present were school board members, school officials or employees, workers or supporters for the referendum, or media. And disappointment was ex­ pressed at the lack of general public participation. Gary Lockwood, board president, thanked all the citizen committee members for their good efforts which a came close to putting over the proposed tax increase. But he didn't want to leave it at that. He suggested that they analyze their efforts to find <wt what went wrong and discuss future plans. He said that although the board would not take formal action for another referendum on this night, he believed there would be another one. And he referred to the poor financial condition of the district. In response to a question by Ken Zabielski from the audienoei$frout conflicting reports whether the board had decided or not for a new referen­ dum, Lockwood admitted that the board consensus was "yes". And when Zabielski asked if that meant that the district was going to be faced with a referendum every couple of months, Lockwood explained what the limits of referenda were. He said that according to state statutes five referenda could be held in two years: February, April, and in years of geperai elections, in November. He aWp noted that out of the 15,000 registered voters in the district (Continued on page 19) How to better use the planning arm of the McHenry County Mental Health board (706) was outlined to the Policy and Management (P and M) board of the mental health agency at the last meeting. Dennis Smith, executive director of the 708 board, advised members that this year they would have more time and he felt they would undergo a better planning process for use of the possibly $2,600,000 .available for their "year three" programming for a more thorough "penetration of the population" in need of mental health services. Smith noted that research had in­ dicated that up to 15 percent of the residents of the county, or 20,000 per­ sons, have a degree of emotional in­ stability which could use some mental health service, but 1 or 2 percent have been proved to "demand" such service and do find their way to it. The mission of the P and M board is to determine how much of the population above the 1 or 2 percent the mental health agencies can serve with the money available. Smith noted that the P and M board should also determine what the county system has to furnish to meet requirements of the law, what financial resources are available and how the services will be delivered, possibly based on a planning model which he explained. The members also can prioritize various portions of the three- year plan for service to fit into the service model. The P and M and the 706 boards would make the major recommendations and the staff would fUl in the details, Smith added. Smith said their model for delivery of mental health services (with the board's approval) would be based on a (Continued on page 19) Review Rejection; Hospital Optimistic "We believe that the Illinois Health Facilities Planning board will accept our proposal for McHenry hospital's relocation and expansion, announced the hospital's executive director, An­ thony Corcoran, Tuesday Dec. 9, in response to last week's split-decision rejection of the plan by the project review committee of the Health Systems Agency for Kane, Lake and McHenry Counties. The project in question is the proposed 29-million dollar construction of a 210- bed hospital two miles south of the present McHenry hospital, as relocation and expansion of the present facility. The HSA's staff recommended the refusal of McHenry hospital's ap­ plication for a "certificate of need" on the grounds of financial and economic feasibility, and on the question of whether the hospital had thoroughly investigated other alternatives. "We believe we have proved beyond question that our present facility must be replaced because of the im- practicality of adding to it," Corcoran commented. The present site is surrounded by immovable boundaries and its flood-plain footing would make a vertical addition unsound. "Weu4iM0me wttk ths iMf qI Jn HSA in Its self-described 'conservative' projection of hospital bed-needs for 1965. Wsnwlieve that our prediction of our 1965 workload and consequent need for workspace is demonstrably sound." In his testimony at the HSA meeting Santa Comes To City Park Saturday, Dec. 13, is the day long awaited by McHenry youngters. Santa Claus will make his first McHenry appearance. Drawn in a sleigh by four coachmen, Santa will arrive at Pearl park at 2 p.m. If messages from the North Pole are accurate, the sleigh will enter town at the south end of Green street heading north to Pearl park. Since Santa is scheduled to be in his hut from 2 to 4 p.m., the sleigh should appear on Green street sometime between 1:30 and 2 p.m. During Santa's time at the park, the Marines will again receive "Toys for Tots". The response last Saturday was overwhelming. All like-new toys, games, dolls, mittens, hats, etc. will be (Continued on page 19) Dec. 4, Corcoran noted that McHenry hospital is the largest hospital in McHenry county and has the greatest utilization and highest percentage of occupancy in this area. Its leadership role, he commented, was exemplified by its role as the Trauma center and Resource hospital for McHenry county and Western Lake county. "McHenry county as a separate health care entity should have an op­ portunity to provide for its own health care," he contended. Addressing the question of whether the hospital has exhausted all other alternatives to relocation, Corcoran described how the hospital's board of directors had pursued other possibilities: (its) attempt to purchase the adjacent East campus high school, which was defeated by referendum; a joint attempt to consolidate with Memorial hospital in Woodstock, which failed last year; and an attempt to purchase other property, which was found to be unavailable at the time. Consulting architect-planner James Cox then demonstrated through graphs and pictures that an attempt to build onto the present facility would expend A leader in the McHenry area walked into our office last week with a large, gentle dog she had found lying outside a local bank, watching customers enter and exit. He was a pet to be sure, and although the dog was judged to be not much past a year old, he was exhausted. Food and drink had less appeal than just lying on a carpeted floor and resting. Even the appearance of an Animal Control representative failed to ruffle the composure of this big, likable pooch who completely ignored six strangers surrounding him. As he left willingly, wearing an im­ provised collar around his neck, we had to feel that in spite of being homeless at the time, someone would step forth and claim him before his time ran out at county headquarters. We have had a less optimistic feeling about incidents involving otlj&f animals. The fact that we have betft told to expect at least one negative Public Pulse letter on the subject is a source of delight. (Continued on page 19) Robin Bujack, Wonder Lake "I think the lights help because its easier for the school buses to get off Crystal Lake blacktop." Ralph Brown, McHenry "They cause a pileup when trains come by, but there aren't too many trains anymore." The Christmas spirit was conveyed to more than 200 McHenry area residents last Saturday in spite of poor cooperation from the weather. It all took place in the Pearl street park, where activities were aimed at promoting a holiday mood. In top left photo, carollers sing. At top right, one of the younger participants is shown on her father's shoulders, directing him to just the right spot on the tree to add her oraamen. Mayor Joseph Stanek was present to help out. In lower left photo, he climbs high on the ladder to assist In the tree decorating. In lower right picture, dty crew workers, dressed as elves, pull Mrs. Claus to the park. SfAFF PHOTOS-WAYNE GAYLORD THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER .v.., v 1 • "" fi I i m' lUfriM -jftl'ilMiiT - r Min-*'--- • SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875 "The lights are helpful when there is a lot of traffic, but otherwise they seem pretty useless." (Question asked in the market place parking lot.) STAFF PHOTOS- WAYNE GAYLORD Chris Nicolai, McHenry "Going into town you have to wait longer, but turning left off of the blacktop is easier." Jean Grandt, McHenry "I remember asking for lights there in high school when teachers asked us how to improve McHenry." Mary 8chm!tt, Johnsburg