il§Kg Pursue Long Road To McHenry Man Leads State Post Pol i sh Ve t e rans Page 5 Halloween Costume Winners City-Sponsored Contest' Page 4 THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER FREE TV Guide In Today's Edition "SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION. S INCE 1875" FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1981 1 SECTION 18 PAGES VOLUME 106 NUMBER 29 The marriage of McHenry and McHenry Shores will work no miracles for the Shores residents, warned village trustee Rose Lillegard, and president Richard Panerali agreed as the village board met with the McHenry City Council, their attorneys and officials Wednesday to further explore the annexation process and its possible results. Lillegard emphasized, "This is no overnight solution." She further suggested at the end of the meeting that * "we go back (to our own villages) and hold discussion by the two city coun cils." McHenry's city attorney, Bernard Narusis, and Shores' attorney, William Cowlin, explained the two routes for merging the municipalities specified in state statutes. Narusis pointed out the deadlines which they would have to meet, and some action by both boards in early December if the question is to be put to referendum in both municipalities at the next consolidated election, which is March 16. The ordinances authorizing the question to be put to the people would have to be filed with the central election authority, which is the county clerk, 60 days in advance of the election, Narusis said. This means filing by Jan. 14, he noted. According to the attorneys' in terpretation of sections 7-1-15 and 7-1-16 of Illinois state statutes, municipalities seeking annexation or merger must have the approval of the majority of electors in each community. The question can be authorized by an or dinance of the city council or village board or by a petition of the voters in each community. The petition must have signatures of 10 percent of the registered voters who voted in the last election or 250, whichever number is the least, and the individual municipal board must then have the question placed on the ballot for referendum. Narusis noted that the advantage of having the municipal governing boards pass the ordinance is the possibility of negotiating the terms of the proposed annexation. If the action is taken by petition, then applicable state statutes govern, and there is no negotiating. Mayor Joseph Stanek opened the meeting with the comment that the McHenry City Council, in effect, was responding to legal initiatives Ifnade by the Shores village board to explore possible annexation. Shores village trustee Martin Koleno promptly corrected Stanek insisting, "The legal board never took the iniatitive. There was never a legal action at the board meetings." Stanek took note of it, "There's no problem unless the attorneys say there is a stumbling block." He added that the problem of contiguity of the two municipalities had been solved by the annexation by McHenry of six acres along Bull Valley road. Alderman Ed Datz pursued the authority question which he had asked last week. "Who represents who from the Shores?" Koleno added, "We don't know if the majority of the Shores are in favor." Alderman Liz Nolan asked a question she said constituents had put to her. "What will the (Shores) road repairs cost?" Stanek indicated that it would depend whether it was done quickly by special assessment or by city road maintenance over a long period of time. Ms. Nolan asked also about the (tax) revenue from the Tonyan in dustrial park (in the Shores) which had been touted at the last meeting as an advantage to McHenry by Shores representatives. Stanek responded that this could be determined from the village audit which is a public record. Narusis advised Stanek that he thought the question was narrower than that - that people were asking about revenue versus costs of service to Tonyans. Ms. Nolan reiterated her earlier question of ward changes to ac commodate the Shores population if annexed. Stanek said that it would be according to law which specified equal representation based on population. As the city population changed, ward boundaries aref changed The city government hafl always been fair about that, and he believed they would con tinue that policy. Trustee Lillegard asked and learned that with the addition of the Shores 1,000 plus residents, McHenry's population would rise to about 12,000, which would mean there would be about 3,000 per sons in each of the city's four wards. Shores trustee William Wilson, considering these numbers, speculated, "Can a Shores candidate win a position against a McHenry candidate?" He suggested there could be a question of representation for the Shores. Alderman Nolan downplayed this " concern. She felt the representation would be there. Stanek added, "That's been one of our strengths. There's been very little parochialism." And he predicted that road improvement would be gradual Roads in the Shores has been the guarded concern of some aldermen. He pointed out the other advantages of McHenry but conceded there would be negative aspects both ways. He con- (Continued on page 16) Goal Of A With a careful eye on the blade and an ear tuned to the motor, Herb Freund watches a large J piece of lumber pass through the blade of his lifelong ambition - having his own sawmill. More information and pictures appear on page 17 of this issue STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD STORY BY ANTHONY OLIVER Lifetime "All my life, I've tinkered around trying to build a sawmill," said Herbert Freund. "Everyone said it would never work because I didn't finish high school." Retired now, Herb Freund has ac complished both. Some years ago he passed the equivalency test for high school and, more recently, he has built a sawmill in the back of his home on Charles street, McHenry. "The minute I retired, that's when the trouble started," Herb said as the four-foot blade passed easily through a log. He started gathering the bits and • pieces and parts that would eventually become an operable sawmill in late 1977. Those necessary items that couldn't be bought or found or needed to be reworked for a special use, were made in the basement of his home. A metal worker in the heating and plumbing trades for most of his life, Herb has amassed quite an extensive shop and can "fix just about anything not made by God." "My wife doesn't like the dirt and the grease, but when you work with your hands...," he added. Just about everything connected with the sawmill, from the crane that lifts the log into place to the hydraulic unit that drives it into the blade, is automatic. (Continued on page 171 Holiday plans for McHenry are well under way, and the Chamber of. Commerce invites all area children through fifth grade to begin now to make ornaments for the big tree trimming party in Pearl street park Saturday, Dec. 5. It's best if ornaments are lyrdyVilii pottlWe msure an attractive ap pearance for the tree in spite of winter rains and snow. Good materials for these outdoor ornaments include painted soup or juice cans, styrofoam cutouts wrapped' in sticky-backed paper, sealed wood A sprightly clown with pink, white and orange hair straying in confusion from under a shiny black hat bounced into the office. It was just about 10 a.m. but this vibrant lady had started long before to distribute candy from her Halloween pumpkin. She hastened to tell us that her treats went mainly to youngsters who were not part of a local parade but were only standing along the sidewalk watching. She left as quickly as she had entered, and it was back to work. In the mail we found we were being wooed, for the first time this season, by tickets for a political fund raiser.. Certainly, we thought, November must be coming up on the calendar for fund raisers traditionally precede fall or spring elections. It is always a source of amusement how our popularity soars at these times. Candidates who have barely noticed us before, take a whole new look when we are behind the desk in an of fice that can boost or bust. cut-outs, or plastic Imagination and holiday fantasy are expected to produce a. magical tree made especially beautiful through the efforts of the community's children. Dec. 5 marks the official opening of "Home for the Holidays ", McHenry's festive celebration of Christmas and Hanukkah. The 3 p.m. tree trimming will culminate in Mayor Stanek's lighting the tree at early twilight. Carolers from local schools will a&d special touch to the day, as will free I (Continued onpage Only Vote Upset At MCC Two incumbent board members in Elementary School District 15, McHenry, were returned to office in Tuesday's election. They were Gary Lockwood, presently serving as president of the board, and Frances Lars en, who polled 538 and 474 votes, respectively. Making a good showing in his first race, for this office was Thomas Pr- zetacznik, with 380 votes. Lockwood was unavailable for comment Wednesday, but his wife, Cheryl, expressed disappointment in an election that brought forth so few voters for the money spent. This was the first school election held under the new Consolidation of Election law, which places it under the jurisdiction of the county clerk and provides for voting in political precincts. Mrs. Larsen said she was surprised at the small vote, but acknowledged that when she ran three and a half years ago, a referendum was also on the ballot. A request to raise the educational rate in District 15 brought large numbers to the polls to boost the vote for individual candidates. "It took over 700 votes to win the last time", Mrs. Larsen recalled. The successful contender, who was reelected to her second term, said she would like to see fewer precinct polling places open to save money on the' election. Mrs. Larsen added that it is unfortunate so few express sufficient interest to vote when the board is responsible for a large expenditure of money. In Johnsburg District 12, Kenneth J. Lund, with 285 votes, was elected to the board to serve with incumbent, Gerald Sobiesk, who was returned to office with 217 votes. The losing candidate was Jerome Olsen, who received the support of 116 voters. The only other local contest was for the McHenry County college board, where veteran Robert J. Weidner of Harvard lost his seat. He received 4,125 votes. The winners were Dr. William T. (Continued on page 16) Sue Maiorca Makes Big Run Sue Maiorca may not have been successful in winning a seat on the Johnsburg School District 12 board, but she probably made a better run than any other write-in candidate within memory. When the votes were counted Tuesday night, with 214 supporters, she had received only three less than the second highest vote getter, Gerald Sobiesk, the incumbent. The young mother of two congratulated the winning board members and said she had achieved two objectives. She wanted to make a (Continued on page 16) Mayor Reveals Public Didl-A-Ride Interest That was Friday morning. At 1 p.m., walking back to the office, we saw Ralph Ott hurrying to extend the wiring around his Main street home before the cold winds start to blow.' The Otts, it will be remembered, have what is probably the most brilliantly lighted Christmas display in McHenry. The switch usually is turned on about Thanksgiving time and there are many folks who go out of their way to drive this street just to get into the holiday spirit. As we were musing on this glorious fall day, with temperatures into the seventies, it occurred to us that in the span of just a few hours we had ob served forerunners of Halloween, Christmas, and an election down the way a bit. This prompted us to turn to a piece of reading for all seasons, the Farmer's Almanac for 1982, which recently came to our desk. We thumbed through, looking for more than the weather forecasts for (Continued'on page 16) By Anthony Oliver McHenry Mayor Joseph Stanek commented at Monday night's regular City Council meeting that he has been literally "bombarded" with letters concerning the Regional Tran sportation Authority (RTA) Dial-A- Ride program. The mayor noted that the situation was difficult regarding whether a government should be involved in the taxi business and added that there were a number of concerns to be addressed. One of these is whether the govern mental body should be responsible for continuing to provide the service should monies from the RTA stop short. Alderman Jack Pepping said the system was inefficient and commented that, according lo the last figures he could recall, the subsidized cost was $10 per person per ride. The local cab companies charge a couple of dollars to do the same, Pepping said. "From an efficiency standpoint, it is still the same impact regardless of whether the city operates the program or it is subcontracted to a private company," Pepping said. "It is still $10 a ride." Mayor Stanek pointed out that it was expected that the 100 percent subsidy would end and the RTA would probably require matching funds from the (Continued on page 16) Prepare For Tree Trimming Six-year-old Brad Maxson and Jackie Meyers, 7, are among the first youtgsters in McHenry to Join with enthusiasm into making ornaments lor the big tree trimming party to be held in Pearl street park Dec. 5. Brad is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ken Maxson. Jackie's parents are Mr. and Mrs. Jim Meyers. -- STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD