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* 100 YEARS * THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER "SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875" VOLUME 100 NUMBER 36 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1975 16 PAGES V5e Layoff Of City Employees Possible School Meeting Clarify Attitudes On Unit District P\0N£EM£KTtR •*< EXCEPTIONAL announce* program*- RtSWTEC^E mm Pioneer Center Inaugurates Respite Care Announcing a new program for families who have developmentally disabled people in their care, personnel at Pioneer center, McHenry, use this method to launch this free service program. Details are available at the McHenry County Association for the Retarded. From left are Mrs. Dixie Meyer, president; Tom Gollan, director of children's services; Robert Lambourn, executive director; and Mrs. Connee Meschini, named to handle the respite care program. (DON PEASLEY PHOTOGRAPHY) The approaching Christmas season is a time of wonders, especially for the very young. And we have seldom found anyone who would like to have that changed. But some of the wonders enjoyed by all of us are present the entire yftar, and often we are too busy to appreciate them. Not long ago a fifth grade teacher, in the middle of a health lesson, asked her class if anyone knew who discovered the vaccine that virtually wiped out polio. An 11-year-old in the front row raised his hand and asked, "What's polio?" The response characterizes two generations of children who have grown up never having heard of one of the most feared childhood diseases. Polio killed or crippled millions of children and adults from as early as 3700 B.C. until the discovery, development and widespread availability of a vaccine in 1955. Thirty years ago many diseases --pneumonia, meningitis, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, whooping cough, to name a few-were dreaded killers. Today, routine medical treatment effectively controls these diseases. Measles and mumps, as well as polio, were common among children twenty-five years ago. Now they are totally preven­ table. Today's research programs are directed toward the discovery of "wonder" drugs that will prevent or relieve some of our worst health problems of 1975. (Continued On Page 15) West Campus Musicians In Do you know parents who must forego a vacation or a special holiday weekend because someone close to them is what society calls "developmentally disabled?" Or someone who has a child or an adult member of the family requiring constant assistance? McHenry County Association for the Retarded has an­ nounced a special free service to help these families who need to get away because of an emergency or for a vacation-a program called respite care. "Developmentally disabled" refers to those people who are mentally retarded, epileptic, or victims of cerebral palsy. This new program is in effect now, Robert iLambourn, executive director who an­ nounced this new program, said Tuesday. Only cost is for the person to have a physical exam before being placed in this respite care program which is intended to be used for a few days - up to a maximum of two weeks. Tom Gollan, director of children's services for Pioneer center, has named Mrs. Connee Meschini to serve as respite care coordinator. She has contracted with several dif­ ferent residential facilities for bed space. These facilities will provide sheltered and skilled care, as needed. "We will assist in placing these people where personnel is trained to work with the developmentally disabled," said Mrs. Meschini. "This program is a federally funded program administered by the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities." To inquire about this service- -and another facet of it being developed- call Pioneer center, 385-3310. Agencies with which working agreements have been made (Continued On Page 15)1 A clarification of the at­ titudes of three local,, school districts regarding a unit district in the McHenry area occupied much of the discussion at the instructional meeting of the High School District 156 board Tuesday night. Representatives of Consolidated Grade School District 15 and Harrison District 36, Wonder Lake, at­ tended the meeting, held in East campus library, McHenry. Supt. Richard Swantz in­ troduced the discussion by explaining the study of the District 156 Long Range Planning committee in its evaluation of the high school plan. He said the committee desires more information concerning unit districts. Reference was made to the November meeting in which Dean Mack of the Illinois Education department reviewed for the committee how different types of districts operate, setting forth the ad­ vantages and disadvantages. When it was revealed rumors had reached the visiting boards that District 156 planned to create a unit district, James Althoff, the board's president, emphasized that the board had not gone on record either as being for or against such a district. Henry Nell, president of District 15, said, "We looked into the unit programs several times and found no benefits to District 15". He added that his board had been bothered by rumors that the high school was backing the unit system. Althoff then responded that he felt it would not be fair to the committee not to agree to a study of the unit concept. "But I appreciate your op­ position to the unit district", he added. Dorothy Vick, a member of the District 15 board, indicated her understanding of Althoff's position toward the committee, but stated, "My concern is that this high school committee is making high school problems the problems of all districts". At this point Althoff ob­ served, "We're all elected to manage the educational system, therefore, we're all involved". Dr. S.L. Ruggero, president of Harrison District 36, said he, too, had wondered if this was a District 156 board action and had been disturbed by that •thought. "We were asked to join the Johnsburg unit district, he said, "but only after all committees were named and much was resolved". Dr. Ruggero said his board had refused to join in the Johnsburg unit plan and he felt the same thing might be happening locally. Lester Smith, a District 15 member, spoke up to say that his profession is long range planning, and observed that it is impossible at this time to know all of the problems District 156 will face in view of the withdrawal of the John­ sburg community.v District 36 member, Henry (Continued On Page 14) Guns Stolen In One Of Several Burglaries home had been burglarized. Taken from the premises were a color television set, a portable stereo tape player, two speakers, a radio, a digital clock, an electric clock and a guitar. Warren Woods of 306 Riverside drive, McHenry, reported to authorities Tuesday morning that his garage had been entered and numerous items were missing. Taken were a 20 gauge Savage shotgun, a Marlin 22 caliber automatic rifle with scope, a U.S. Army rifle, an archery bow, a gun cleaning kit, an electric drill, a tape carrying case with about 20 tapes and several auto test gauges and hand tools. The building was entered sometime Monday night. When Alan Moll of 8904 N. Winn road, Spring Grove, returned home Sunday af­ ternoon, he discovered his Blame Local Drivers In Five Highway Accidents Ronald P. Rebel of 4009 W. Maple, McHenry, was ticketed by county police for improper passing following a collision at the intersection of Walkup avenue and Hillside road, north of Crystal Lake. The mishap occurred Tuesday afternoon about 2 o'clock. According to the police report, Rebel was north bound on Walkup and as he ap­ proached Hillside, he started to pass a vehicle in front of him driven by Elvera C. King of 81 S. Caroline, Crystal Lake. As he drew alongside her car, she made a left turn and impact occurred. Ms. King said her left turn signal was in operation at the time of the accident.' Opel J. Beyer of 2712 N. Stilling, McHenry, was cited by city police for failure to yield entering road from a private drive following an accident on Green near Elm street Friday morning. Janice K. Davidson of 3003 W. Mary lane, McHenry, told officers she was south-bound on Green when the Beyer auto pulled out of the bank parking lot in front of her and impact occurred. Ms. Beyer said she didn't see the other auto until it was too late to avoid the collision. A ticket for failure to yield at a stop intersection was issued to Vincent W. Kaminski of 9019 Holiday Concert Qffer Placement Tests At Marian High Dec. 7 Band, chorus, madrigal singers, solos, and special ensembles will make up the concert of traditional Christ­ mas music next Monday, Dec. 8, at the West campus auditorium at 8 p.m. The annual Christinas concert will feature the band with selections such as "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken" by Hayden, and "Russian Christmas", a considerably heavy selection by James Christensen. Also included by the band will be a medley of Christmas favorites (Continued On Page 14) On Sunday, Dec. 7, Marian Central Catholic high school will offer the high school placement battery for all eighth grade students in­ terested in the opportunity of attending Marian Central in the Fall of 1976. The test will be offered twice, at 9 a.m. and again at 1 p.m. Students do not need to register for the test. A small fee will be collected to cover the test expenses. The purpose of the test battery is to provide a com­ prehensive educational evaluation of the interested eighth grade students. This will be used in the course selection process at Marian. The results of the high school placement tests, as well as teacher recommendations from the jumior high schools, will provide the base for the counseling and course selection session to be he]d during fresh- continued On Page 14) Pine, Wonder Lake, last Saturday evening. Kaminski reported he stopped at the sign at Crystal Lake road and Route 120 and then pulled out. He didn't see another vehicle approaching until it was too late to avoid contact. The other vehicle was driven by Dale S. Schmitt of 3710 Franklin court, Crystal Lake. A two-car collision at 4400 W. Route 120 Monday afternoon resulted in a ticket being issued to Mary K. Wines of 7812 Oak- wood drive, Wonder Lake. She was charged with failure to * yield. According to city police, Michael B. Haffner of 4220 Ponca, McHenry, was west­ bound on the highway when the Wines auto pulled out in front of him. Ms. Wines reported she was waiting to turn left onto the highway. She saw two other vehicles approaching from the east with their right turn signals on so she began to pull out. In doing so, s^e saw the Haffner auto in the left lane and was unable to stop in time to avoid contact. Cheryl R. Koehl of 1816 Lakewood, McHenry, was ticketed for failure to yield at a stop intersection following a two-car collision at the in­ tersection of Route 120 and (Continued On Page 14) The Polish National Union camp, Spojnia and Flanders road, McHenry, was entered sometime last weekend. A cash register was taken containing a small amount of change. The register was found in a vacant field about a block away from the camp. It appeared the of­ fender had attempted to load the cash register into a vehicle. Robert Randall of 411 Mineral Springs drive, McHenry, informed county police that sometime last weekend, someone entered his auto while it was parked in the drive and took his attache case. The case was later found abandoned on vacant property a block away but missing were a mini-cassette recorder, a pocket calculator and savings account books. Fritz Mueller of 1508 N. River road, McHenry, reported that sometime Sunday, offenders sprayed various parts of his auto with gold spray paint. City employees may face the possibility of a layoff in March or April, according to a financial report given Monday night by Alderman Jack Pepping, chairman of the Finance committee. Department heads met with the Finance committee prior to the Council meeting Monday and determined that the city could meet its financial obligations through March. "Sometime around April, we are going to face some very lean times because we really don't have the prospect bet­ ween that point in time and the time when we receive our next real estate tax moneys of any additional income over and above that amount of $62,000 which is the average received into the General fund from monthly revenues," Pepping explained. This year the city did not receive its tax money until September and October. Since the "lion's share" of monthly expenses is due to laries plus overhead associated with people", this is where the cuts would have to come from, Pepping indicated. He pointed out that "salaries plus the overhead associated with people is the benefit package which includes their medical insurance, the city's contribution toward their Social Security or Illinois Municipal Retirement fund, unemployment compensation payments and all these overhead items." Stanek mentioned that $43,500 is spent monthly on salaries. Department heads reworked their budgets and presented revisions to the Finance committee which showed an overall reduction of $57,337 or 5.6 percent. The original budget adopted in May was for $1,017,868. The revised figure after six months was $960,531. Annual revenue is estimated at $900,000. The unexpended yearly budget allows for expenditures of $527,999 or $88,000 for the next six months. Since average monthly expenses run $83,269 and average monthly income is $62,078, there will be a monthly deficit of $21,191. After paying $116,854 due in January of 1976 for the retirement of general obligation bonds, and paying back inter-fund loans in the amount of $30,871, the General fund will have a balance from real estate revenues of $42,611 which will cover the monthly deficits for December and January. Real estate revenues in the amount of $278,515 have already been received and about another $28,000 is due. This should come into the city treasury sometime between February and April, Pepping said. However, the city will not realize the full $28,000 because for the first time, the expenses of the collector's office are to be apportioned to the different taxing bodies. The city's share to underwrite these collections will be somewhere in the neigh­ borhood of $10,000, Pepping stated. Another $3,000 is usually lost in terms of taxes levied but not collected, he explained. Therefore, only $15,000 of the $28,000 will be received in the General fund. This $15,000 along with $27,000 which is expected from liquor licenses and auto registrations sometime bet­ ween February ami-April, will put about $42,000 into the General fund and supplement the monthly deficits for February and March. The Finance committee's report showed that the major reduction in the revised budgets came from the Public Works department, which reduced its budget by $73,598. This was due to Motor Fuel tax *md Revenue Sharing credits which were obtained by that department for reimbursement of road work and other projects. The Police department cut its budget by $5,598 but the city clerk's department showed an increase of $21,859. Pepping explained that the city clerk has little control over expenditures in her department since the number of city em­ ployees and payments into their benefit funds are the major monthly expense. Mayor Stanek opened the meeting with a gavel about three times the size of an or­ dinary one. It was made and presented to him by his son," Pat. Stanek said the gavel was symbolic to him in that some of the recent meetings had not been very "harmonious". He expressed his intention to try and preserve the dignity of future meetings in the hope they could be more productive. Ma^or Stanek announced that City Clerk Terry Wilde was in the hospital and Grace Blake would be taking her place until she returned to work. The Council therefore appointed Mrs. Blake as assistant clerk , and deputy clerk. Both titles are necessary to fulfill legal requirements. To compensate for the additional work in­ volved, Mrs. Blake will be paid an additional 50 cents an hour. Alderman Pepping explained that this raise would not cost the city any money because under Mrs. Wilde's insurance coverage, her replacements, wages are taken care of during her absence. In other business, approval was given to continue the practice of- giving $15 to city employees for Christmas. The cost was estimated at about $750 since there are about fifty city employees. This amount was appropriated in the budget. Mayor Stanek reported on the progress of contributions being received toward development of Petersen park. He read a letter from the McHenry Kiwaftis club indicating it would undertake installing either the large or small play area at the park. It would do all the work and purchase all the equipment as designated by park specifications. In February, the club will inform the Park committee which project it will undertake Mayor Stanek also an­ nounced that Dan Robson of Hester Oil had pledged $300 and Baxter and - Woodman, engineers for the city, donated a check for $500 toward the park project. It was also noted that Miller Formless, Brake Parts and Rockwell International, which is Admiral, have been in contact with the Park com­ mittee. Alderman Hromec again made a motion that Fred Meyer be authorized to have Commonwealth Edison install the street lights along the south side of Route 120 as per a previous proposed contract. Her motion was seconded by Alderman Schaedel Mrs. Hromec said that since the revised budget showed there is money available under street lighting and the city would realize a saving of about $100 a month due to the change in telephone service, she felt the budget could afford to pay the $127.50 per month the new lights would cost. On a roll call vote, the motion failed 6 to 2, Hromec and Schaedel casting the yes votes. Following discussion on the necessity of an Obscenity or­ dinance in the city, Attorney Bernard Narusis was in­ structed to draw up a tentative ordinance, one for massage parlors and one to cover other areas included in a proposed obscenity ordinance. The Council voted unanimously to send a resolution to state officials indicating its support for House Bill 3774. This bill would allow policemen to voluntarily opt out of paying into both the Police Pension plan and Social Security. It would also save the city money since it would not have to make matching con­ tributions to both retirement plans. The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 15, at 8 p.m. Fair Association To Name Directors The annual meeting of the McHenry County Fair association membership will be held Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 8 p.m.,. Jim Pedersen, secretary of the board, has announced. The meeting will be held at (Continued On Page 14) Santa Hours In Hut SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS December 6-7-13-14-20-21 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY December 15-19 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. MONDAY AND TUESDAY December 22-23 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. WEDNESDAY December 24 10:00a.m.-3:00p.m. Dedicate Pentecostal Church Dedication services Will be held Saturday, Dec. 6, at 2 p.m. at the First United Pentecostal church, 258 Sunnyside, Lakemoor. The Rev. Ernest Breithaupt, secretary of the Illinois districi of United Pentecostal churches, will be the speaker. The musical program will feature the End Time Messengers of Waukegan. The Rev. Curtis Pierce is pastor at the local church. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD