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Record Praised Taxpayers While this sports car waits in Glacier Ridge Wednesday morning. Public Works employee Gary Gilpin, under the direction of Assistant Superintendent of Public Works Randy Meyer, clears drifted snow from the road. Gilpin is operating the new Hough payloader ordered by the City Council at Monday night's meeting. Purchased at a cost of $43,500, the payloader was delivered Tuesday and is already in operation clearing streets, fire hydrants, storm sewers and pushing snow back at intersections around the city. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD The McHenry City Council voted Monday night to spend over $50,000 on more equipment to help the city battle snow this winter and for the future. The Council authorized the purchase of a payloader, with a 24-yard bucket at a cost of $43,500. Also purchased were a uised 4-wheel drive truck, for $5,300 and a plow attachment for $1,092. The HougK payloader is made by International Har­ vester and was purchased in Libertyville. It was delivered Tuesday, and Wednesday was used to clean streets around the city. A total of $12,000 will be taken from the water and sewer fund to be used toward*h& purchase *• of the machine. The remaining funds will be taken from the general fund. Mayor Stanek indicated the machine could be used after small snowfalls for snow removal, and would be used to push the snow back from in­ tersections to make driving safer in the city. In the sum­ mer, the machine could be used for ditching. He reported that in previous years, the city never paid over $7,000 to hire outside equipment for snow removal. This year, the city has already paid over $20,000, without counting the Jan. 24 blizzard. Alderman Datz criticized the manner in which the machine was being purchased. "I don't deny there is a need for it," he said, but explained it could need more effective review and consideration. "We ran into some problems with the Big Wheels (sewer sludge removal truck)," he said Datz said he was con­ cerned with - the private negotiations taking place. Sjtgnek apologized for not going throfigh proper channels, but indicated the low price would not have been received through the bid process. Assistant Superintendent of Public Works Randy Meyer told the Council that most cities in the area had a payloader, including Woodstock, Crystal Lake and Harvard Alderman George Harker said an emergency situation existed because of the heavy snowfall, which justified the purchase of the vehicle without going through the bid process. "There are over 200 in­ tersections in the city where people have to push out to see traffic," he said. Aldermen Raymond Smith and William Bolger expressed their agreement with the ideas proposed by Datz and hoped that future major purchases would be discussed by the entire Council, but added the city needed to purchase the payloader. The Council voted 7-1 to purchase the Hough equipment with Datz voting no "on prin­ ciple". - The Council also passed a resolution that it was dissatisified that federal disaster aid funds were not made available until Jan. 20. The resolution asks that McHenry not be penalized for fast work in removing the snow, while other cities enjoy the benefit because they Veteran Alderman Retires We haven't touched on the subject of the RTA in a long time. After all, it Was the Christmas season and everyorie assumed a jolly countenance that carried over to a generous heart and a spirit that en­ compassed all manner of men. Now it's the middle of winter. We have been through a January like none on record and everyone is peevish enough to enjoy talking about un­ popular subjects. In fairness, we should state some ridership figures given to us recently by a pro-RTA resident. During four weeks in October, the range in passengers on the 807 route, which includes this area, was some over 1,000 per week. The 809 bus ranged from a low of 83 one week to a high of 182. Other schedules, such as the bus route in the Elgin area, ran considerably higher. On the other hand, one of the arch foes of RTA, Rep. Cal Skinner, Jr., recently stated that area drivers "have voted against the RTA gas tax with their accelerator pedals". Backing up his statement were actual revenues as opposed to those expected. Skinner says that original RTA projections said the tax would generate $89.4 million in annual collections. In reality, the total was only $67 million, or about 25 percent below the anticipated figure. His assumption is that im­ position of the 5 percent gas tax resulted in one-fourth of the gasoline purchases in the RTA region being diverted to surrounding parts of the state as well as the nearby states of Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. These sales, whatever their amount, mean a substantial loss in local sales tax receipts last year to municipal and county governments in the six- county area. About the same time, the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois was telling us that (Continued on page 20) Alderman William J. Bolger, a veteran member of the McHenry City Council, will not be a candidate for reelection in April. In a letter to the Plain- dealer Wednesday morning, he outlined the press of work as his reason, but did not rule out returning to the local political scene at some future time. His letter details reasons for the decision in this way: "Last Saturday, Jan. 27, while working on telephone lines from before dawn until well after dark, I made a decision not to seek reelection tattle City Council this year. *^"In 1978, I worked 370 overtime hours as a telephone repairman. My supervisor recently advised me that the demands in 1979 will likely be greater than last year. And so, reluctantly, I have concluded that at least for awhile I must give up my alderman's seat. "It was a difficult decision because I have enjoyed working with and for the people in this community. Indeed, if I were to put my years as an alderman, precinct com­ mitteeman, library board president, baseball manager and officer and all the other activities back to back, they would represent more than a century of working with McHenry people. Few people have had these opportunities and I appreciate them more than words can say. "Will I miss it? Of course I will, but maybe, like Ben Gurion, I might come back out of retirement some day to serve the city I love." Jack Pepping, a former alderman in Ward 1, has filed for election to the post Bolger leaves. The filing deadline is Feb. 13. ZONING HEARING The McHenry township hearing on the proposed new zoning ordinance is scheduled Monday, Feb. 5, at West campus high school, Crystal Lake road, at 1 p.m. This time differs from the previous an­ nouncement inadvertently released by the McHenry County Regional Planning commission. The map location is McHenry city hall. Feb. 2 Hearings Commercial Zoning Sought The Zoning Board of Appeals will meet at 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, at city hall, 1111 N. Green street, to render a decision on a petition submitted by Michael J. Wieser and Dennis A. Con­ way for property at 409 N. Front street. The petitioners are requesting a reclassification of the premises from "R-2" Single Family district to "B-l" Commercial Retail district with a variation which would permit the use of the property for the purpose of conducting businesses as found in the "B- 2" and "B-3" classifications of the City of McHenry Zoning ordinance. The original hearing was conducted Friday, Jan. 26 and recessed until Feb. 2. At 3 p.m. Feb. 2, the Zoning Board of Appeals will conduct a hearing on a petition submitted by J. Althoff Associates, Inc. which requests reclassification of property located at 420 N. Front street on the east side of Route 31. The petitioner asks that the premises be reclassified from its present "R-2" Single Family district to "B l" Commercial- Retail district to permit its use for a professional office building. Militant • AWOL Soldier VOLUME 103 NUMBER 54 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2. 1979 1 SECTION 22 PAGES 20* THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER "SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875 99.54 Percent Collected City To Fight Winter Snow With $50,000 Equipment reached $43,260,703 out of $43,515,603 levied." Highlighting the all time record high collections in McHenry county were the performances of sixteen of the seventeen townships who collected more than 99 percent of the real estate levy. Dunham and Seneca townships were highest with 99 99 percent, Burton township was lowest with 98.48 percent. Riley and Chemung township had 100 percent personal property tax collections; Marengo township had 99.27 percent; Riley township had 99.01 percent. Burton township was the only township which fell, below 90.0 percent collection level for personal property levies. In total tax levy combining real estate, personal property, railroad, leasehold ' and pollution control taxes, Chemung township was top in the county with 99.98 percent collection; followed by Seneca, 99.95; Riley. 99.94; Greenwood, 99.81; Alden, 99.78; Coral, 99.76; Grafton, 99.70; McHenry, 99.67; Hartland and Marengo, 99.54; Algonquin, 99.52; Rich­ mond and Dunham. 99.47; Nunda. 99.42; Hebron, 99.38; I}orr, 99.30 and Burton. 97.07. "School systems in McHenry county received 71.17 percent, or $35,396,910, of the $49,734,580 total distributed," Mrs. Walgenbach said. "Whereas all the county related funds, in­ cluding Mental Health and Tuberculosis, received 7.47 percent or $3,715,711." Cities and Villages received $3,995,920. or 8.03 percent. Township governments received $2,916,208, or 5.86 percent; fire protection districts received $1,495,926, or 3.01 percent. and a miscellaneous group of taxing districts (conservation, park districts, cemeteries, sanitary districts. libraries and hospital) received $1,374,012, or 2.76 percent. The county general fund received $69,109 in late charges on the 1977 tax collection An amount of $241,852, in addition to the 1977 tax levy, was colleced and distributed to taxing districts in the county as receipts from back personal property taxes, forfeited real estate taxes, privilege (mobile homes) taxes, and agriculture roll-back taxes. RDG Hearing Goes On-And On The Residential Develop­ ment Group's petition for annexation of the proposed Winding Creek planned unit development before the McHenry Zoning Board of Appeals goes on. Wednesday night, RDG presented the last of its wit­ nesses scheduled to testify. The ZBA vice-chairman, James Fouse, then recessed the meeting until next Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 7:30, at which time objectors to the petition will have witnesses testify. Subpoenas have been issued to Dr. Richard Farmer, superintendent of grade school District 15, Robert Swartzloff, superintendent of high school District 156 and Thomas Corcoran, director of McHenry hospital to appear before the board. Attorney Jeff Ladd, ^representing Shamrock Beef Cattle corp., which has opposed the petition, requested the board subpoena the men to testify in relation to the effect of the development on their schools and the hospital at the Jan. 19 meeting. The Zoning board told Ladd he could write up the subpoenas and they would be issued, but the ZBA would not enter into the legality of the issue, if those subpoened failed to testify. About eight observers were present at the hearing. At the first public hearing held on the issue in July in the East campus auditorium, over 300 people attended. Wednesday, Thompson A. Dyke, an associate partner of Harlem Bartholemew and Associates, returned with two memoranda aimed at an­ swering questions asked of him at the previous meeting. He had been questioned at length at the previous meeting, some questions which he could not answer. Under examination a second time, Dyke explained he didn't answer because he hadn't had time to check the mathematics of the study, not because he doubted the methodology used in the study. Dr. John Langum, an economic consultant and recognized authority in the field of economics, testified that reports and literature on fiscal impact studies supported the Harlem Bartholemew study. Langum explained the "Fiscal Impact Study Hand­ book", written by the center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers university, was the most authoritative book in the field of fiscal impact. "The 'Fiscal Impact Study Handbook' endorses the me­ thods used in this study com­ pletely," Langum said. He added that methods used were (Continued on page 20) Hurt In Jump A Spring Grove man, ap­ parently AWOL from the U.S. Army, was injured late Monday night, when his right leg was run over by a car. Sheriff's police responded to the report of a man injured on Johnsburg-Wilmot road. Upon arrival, police identified the man as Charles McGinni^, 10009 Wilmot road, Spring Grove, who was suffering from injuries to his right foot. McGinnis was taken to McHenry hospital by the Johnsburg rescue squad for treatment. Army recruiter Lester Long, along with assistant, Rodney Pirie, told police they had picked McGinnis up in an in­ toxicated state in Johnsburg, knowing he was AWOL. They reported that while attempting to return McGinnis to Fort Sheridan in a military vehicle, he became abusive, refusing to (Continued on page 20) McHenry county collected 99.54 percent of all taxes levied for the year 1977, Audrey R. Walgenbach, McHenry county treasurer, reported this week. Commenting on the tax cycle which closed a few weeks ago, Mrs. Walgenbach said, "The taxpayers of McHenry county should be congratulated once again for the near-perfect record of tax payments made this year. The 1977 percentage exceeded 1976 collections by one-tenth of one percent. Collections for '77 were $49,861,089 out of a possible $50,089,989, whereas for '76 they cleared the snow slower. McHenry had cleared the snow from the big blizzard before the funds became effective Jan. 20. In other action, the Council referred a request by John Cook and his wife, Claudia George of Chicago, to the Building and Zoning com­ mittee The couple had requested the city to annex their lot, 15,000 square feet, on the southwest side of McCullom Lake, so city sewer and water would be available to the property. They indicated they would then build a home on the land. The request, which was denied earlier, was sent to committee to study because of problems arising with a lot behind the subject lot, which borders on the lake. The owners of the other lot do not ap­ parently want to be annexed. Concern was expressed about an easement for a driveway for the other lot, the payment of sewer and water contributions which were never collected, and whether the parcels were actually divided. Derby acres, a 23-lot sub­ division on the east side of McCullom Lake, was given final plat approval. The ap­ proval was given based upon the receipt of an irrevocable letter of credit for $315,000 for sanitary sewer and storm sewer improvements. The irrevocable letter of credit on Woodcreek sub­ division on Draper road was reduced from $300,000 to $39,000 as recommended by Baxter & Woodman, city engineers. The reduction was made because most of the improvements in the area have been completed by the developer A deposit of about $10,000 was also returned to the developer The money was left from the retained personnel deposit, used to cover city's expenses incurred with the development, which was collected when annexation proceedings began The public hearing on the proposed use of 1979 revenue sharing funds will be held Feb 20 at 7:30, prior to the start of the regular Council meeting The bid of McHenry Oil company to provide gas for two overhead gas tanks at the city 's municipal garage was ap- poved The city will pay 57.25 cents for regular gas and 60.25 for unleaded fuel. The price is subject to change in market prices Superintendent of Public Works Fred Meyer told the Council that Assistant Superintendent Randy Meyer would make a "spot" check of culverts along creeks in the city, to be sure they are not blocked when the snow begins to melt. The check will be made to help reduce the possibility of the creeks flooding. The Council told the superintendent the completion , date of July 2, 1979, for the painting of the water tower was too late The firm hired to complete the painting notified the city of the date, but the city wants the job done by mid-May, to prevent a problem when people begin watering their lawns in warm weather. A purchase of a new typewriter by the police department for approximately $700 was approved. City Clerk Barbara Gilpin was authorized to obtain election judges for the April 17 election Alderman Bolger questioned the reasons the deductible on the city's insurance premiums was raised from $100 to $500. He explained that he could not remember the city deciding to change the coverage. The city has already had two claims on city vehicles. "Anyone can write a better premium if the deductible is lower," Bolger said, in reference to the lower price quoted by Arthur Gallagher & Co., when the firm was awarded the city's insurance program ' G a u l t ( G a l l a g h e r representative) promised to lead us by the hand," Bolger reminded the Council "We haven't seen him since the policy was written " "What else do we not know about9" Bolger questioned. Alderman Datz, chairman of the city's insurance committee, said he would return with in- ... formation on the deductible Superintendent of Public Works Fred Meyer tells the City Council Monday night the city had never spent more than $7,000 in a winter to hire^outside firms to remove snow. This year, the figure was already listed at over $20,000, not including the cost of the Jan. 24 blizzard. At the suggestion of Meyer and Mayor Stanek, the Council voted to buy a payloader at a cost of $43,500 to help battle the snow the rest of this winter and for many winters to come. A four-wheel drive truck and plow were also purchased at the meeting, at a cost of approximately $6,400. STAFF PHOTO-JOE DEHN