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SOLUTIONS TO FISCAL PROBLEMS (Continued from page 1) much as adding to West campus and having a single tour-year high school." The Facilities subcommittee supplied the Task Force with an impressive quantity of support material to back up its preliminary recommendation. Included in this material was a telephone survey which revealed that 78 percent of the persons contacted were in favor of moving to one building, and 71 percent were for selling East campus.. As to possible cost reductions while remaining in the present two-building situation, Gerstad said that, "we cannot find any major cost reductions, only needs and reasons to spend more money..." This subcommittee did make some recommendations which would save District No. 156 some money, including preliminary suggestions to reduce the building tem­ perature in the winter to 66 degrees and only air condition West campus to a temperature of 78 degrees. The Facilities subcommittee was against moving the ad­ ministration office from its present Main street location because the money received from the sale would have to be used to develop offices at East campus. Finally, the Facilities sub­ committee recommended using zero-based budgeting in all departments, creating a situation where the instructors would have to prove the need for supplies before getting the money to purchase them. The Curriculum sub­ committee report, presented by Chairman Ed Cepulis, reluc­ tantly presented the Task Force with preliminary recommendions which would save the school $107,000. "The Curriculum sub­ committee regrets having to recommend any of these cut­ backs, as it is obvious that the learning levels in our high school will be affected," the report read. The largest area of savings found by this subcommittee would be the elimination of the Alternative School program, which, although presently funded by the state of Illinois, will soon become the respon­ sibility of McHenry high school. "The Alternative School program is acknowledged to. be an educational facility which can benefit a segment of our community," the report read. "However, this subcommittee recognizes that the cost ($65,000) of the program, which will be assumed by the district in the near future, is an extra expense which cannot be justified at this time. The thirty-three students affected can be absorbed into' our regular classes." The Curriculum sub­ committee also recommended that the data processing equipment which is rented at a cost of $17,000 annually to teach a data processing course at West campus, * could be eliminated. The course would then be taught only as a text­ book course, and the rental savings would result. The subcommittee did acknowledge that the quality of the course would be greatly affected by not having the equipment available, but Cepulis explained that if $500,000 is to be saved by the district, then major sacrifices would have to be made. It was at the termination of the Curriculum subcommittee report that some vital discussion broke out between Cepulis and the remainder of the Task Force. Prior to giving his group's report, Cepulis listened to Bob Mortell, chairman of the Co- curricular subcommittee, tell the Task Force that his sub­ committee felt, "there should be NO curtailment of co- curricular activities, as it is a proven fact that co-curricular activities are a valuable tool in * the total education of the youth of America. "As a subcommittee," Mortell's report read, "we feel the only answer to the financial problem of the school district, and we wish to point out that we feel this problem is very real, is to have a referendum which we strongly support... "We wish to point Out that in the support of a referendum, we do not want it to be on the premise that if the referendum does not pass, co-curricular activities would be eliminated." Cepulis told the Task Force that his subcommittee worked under the premise that either a referendum had just failed, or the school board chose not to have one. He felt the Task Force needed to determine if its ob­ jective was to find ways, no matter how much it would affect the quality of education, to save $500,000, or if the Task Force was to prove the need for a tax referendum? The importance of his statements were not lost, and later in the meeting, the Task Force outlined its direction for the future. ' Essentially, two or more plans will be drawn up. One will be the ar&ts of cutbacks which will have to be made in order to save the district $500,000 should a referendum fail or if the board of education decides against having one. Another plan will be presented to the school board recommending possible areas of cutbacks which will be less than $500,000, with the recommendation of a referendum being held along with the cutbacks. Whether the referendum, should the board of education decide to have one, will be for adding on to West campus, or if it will be for a completely new building, or for the refurbishing of East campus, is unknown at this time. That will be a matter for the school board to decide. Two other subcommittee reports were given at Thur­ sday's meeting, from the Support Services sub­ committee and from the Staffing subcommittee. The Staffing subcommittee chairman, Judy Zid, told the Task Force that her group was somewhat restricted because many of the possible areas of cutbacks involved parts of the teacher contract, and her subcommittee didn't feel they should tamper with those matters. Actual cutback recom­ mendations from the Staffing subcommittee included a 25 percent reduction in allowances for professional travel, a limitation on tuition reimbursements for teachers taking college courses, andy some extra duty assignments for teachers. Total savings from the three recom­ mendations, if accepted by the entire Task Force and the school board, would be around $9,000. The Support Service sub­ committee gave the preliminary recommendation of the elimination of all teacher aides, noting the $112,000 savings as the reason. Judy Garde, chairman, stated that many of the teachers felt that the aides were not necessary. However, further discussion noted that some additional teachers would have to be hired to replace some of the aides, and more supervision by teachers might result in the $112,000 saved being lost by higher salary demands from the instructors. Other preliminary recom­ mendations were given by all subcommittees, with the entire Task Force to meet again Monday, May 23. Before then, the sub­ committees will be meeting and formulating various plans before the final recom­ mendations are adopted and a proposal is presented to the board of education in late June. Faulty Wiring Blamed In Car Fire Saturday Faulty wiring is believed to be the reason for a fire which damaged the interior of an auto owned by a Wonder Lake man Saturday afternoon. At 3:05 p.m., the Wonder Lake Fire department was •summon^ to -the intersection of E. Wonder Lake road and Hancock drive to answer a report of a car on fire. The auto, owned by James Jacobson of 7213 Mohawk, Wonder Lake, was driven to the beach by Mrs. Jacobson. Shortly after leaving the vehicle, she looked back and discovered the interior was engulfed in flames. Police stated that a short in the wiring may have caused the blaze. a o 7? h * * •" r- ° S o 5 o O r- -1 * o > < o o » < </> 30 £ -a -n 2 O n *3 *4 | l r siff I 5 ° : ? Oi o ° <T> * I > S--0 ZO sr o 3 *" <rT O 3 5 - I S § 2 « 5 ^ - 3 C ? 2. </> Q Q_ --^ S-S - ° - Q_ -- O r. i % ™ < ° z s a, ^ O i 4A\ 3X - 1 (|J i f UU*0 si ill i sO ^ 5? o to n * * £ * 0) -< 5 • 3' 5<p * to City Moves Ahead On New Filtration System, Well PAGE 17-PLAINDEALER--FRIDAY. May ?n 1977 The city of McHenry is moving ahead on a new filtration system and a new well, which will provide town residents with "good" water in ample quantity. At Monday night's City Council meeting, Supt. of Public Works - Fred Meyer, reported on bids which were received for the new water treatment plant, with the projected cost being far below the estimates. While the actual awarding of contracts will not take place until the May 31 Council meeting, city officials were all pleased with the cost of the new treatment plant and developments on the new well. Presently, • the city is operating well No. 5, located at the end of Beach road south of Rt. 120, with no treatment facility to remove iron from the water. As a result, when that par­ ticular well is forced into operation due to a high water demand, city residents who receive that well's water, get a reddish-color of water from the tap. To remove the iron and other chemicals, the city is in the midst of having an iron removal plant constructed. Moreover, a new well, No. 6, is going up on the same property as well No. 5, and the treatment facility will be able to ac­ commodate the water pumped from both wells. The result will be clean, pure water due to the treatment plant, and an additional water supply due to the development of well No. 6. •. Alderman George Harker, who is working with engineers Baxter and Woodman toward the development of well No. 6, asked for, and received, the authority to have the engineers draw up specifications for the new well. Besides the obvious benefit which a new well and filtration system will have for the city's residents, the cost factor is proving to be something which the city can handle. "These numbers are ex­ cellent," Mayor Joseph Stanek told the Council. N . Stanek, Harker, and Meyer were all pleased with test boaringsfrom well No. 6, which show a Substantial layer of limestone, good for a large "wafer quantity wiQj only on«£ half the normal iron content. The city budgeted almost $374,000 for the new treatment plant, and did not include the cost of a second filter, for well No. 6, in its figuring. Bids, including a second filtration system, are substantially lower than the estimate. The mayor commented that due to the healthy nature of the account for the new treatment plant, it is possible that bonds will not have to be sold to pay for the facility. Meyer estimated that if things go smoothly, the new treatment facility will be in operation sometime next June. In the meantime, when water use goes up, well No. 5 turns on, sending untreated water into homes. j, Therefore, the city is at­ tempting to hold the line on water use, so as to keep well No. 5 from having to go into operation. Meyer reported that well No. 5 was started on May 10 to accommodate the city's water needs. The well pumped over one million gallons of water on that day and ensuing days, all untreated and of a reddish color. To keep from having to use the untreated water, the city has adopted an even-and-odd plan, similar to last year, in which sprinkling will not be allowed except on certain days and at certain times. Sprinkling will be ̂ permitted only after 6 p.m., and homes with an even address number can only sprinkle on even- numbered dates, with the converse holding true for odd- numbered house numbers and dates. This self-regulation will prevent well No\5 from having to be used except* on a limited basis. In other Council news, Mayor Stanek threw bouquets at City Attorney Regina (Reggie) Narusis for her efforts in enabling the city to close down Jake's Dead End lounge. "I'd like to commend Reggie for what she did on behalf of our city," Stanek said. Jake's was closed Monday night after a Circuit Court Judge in Chicago rendered a decision supporting both Stanek and the Illinois Liquor commission. The Council unanimously approved the preliminary plat for Glacier Ridge, the new housing development on the Wheelock property, on Draper road off Rt. 120. The property, which has already been annexed to the city, will have seventy-six lots with an average size of 64,000 square feet per lot. Tag day requests were ap­ proved for the Johnsburg Boys league and the McHenry Youth league. McHenry's will be July 9 and Johnsburg's July 23. The Council approved Stanek's nominations of Ed­ ward Parks to the Zoning board, and Sandra Eckstein to the Planning commission. Alderman Harker told the Council that residents of Cleerbrook street are seeking city water and sewer facilities on their property. It was stated that putting in the sewer and water lines would be beneficial to the city in that it would complete a loop where presently there are two dead end water lines. Since the city will benefit, the Council voted six-to-two to pay for a portion ot the cost ui putting the lines in. The City Council also refused to give $10,000 toward the- refurbishing of the tennis courts at McHenry high school West campus. Alderman Ernest Schooley requested that city police en­ force the city sticker regulation, explaining that he has seen numerous vehicles on the street without stickers. Mayor Stanek discussed the possibility of implementing auxiliary police to assist city patrolmen on Marine days, and emergency situations. Finally, eight lot owners on Ponca street are seeking an­ nexation to the city. Further investigation into the matter is forthcoming. FREE FUEL SAVER THERMOSTAT WHEN YOU BUY THE HONEYWELL ELECTRONIC AIR CLEANER Sov» up to 20% on your hooting bill. Savo on doanor air, too. fr - ajl call: DIRT Pollen dax[ H/Vi 0£Zn.£% 815/459-2300 HEATING AND COOLING SINCE mi Jill $. WRIGHT «D. McHENRY, ILL. FINANCING AVAILABLE 312/526-6286 & SPIRITS SINCE 1868 3425 W. PEARL ST., McHENRY (1 Blk. N. of Rte. 120 on Green St.) EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL PRIME RIB OF BEEF SALAD, BAKED POTATO *4.95 for our SUNDAY SPECIAL...- A Different Taste Treat Every Week FRIDAY NIGHT SPECIAL- Enjoy our famous BEER BATTER FISH EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT CARRY-OUTS PALM andCARD READING 385-3130 EVERY TUES. 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