Happenings From County Board Meeting Tuesday

Twenty-Five Years Advocating for Social Services

Lorraine Kopczynski was honored by the McHenry County Board Tuesday for her 25 years as an employee of the Pioneer Center for Human Services. She is credited with starting at the Center in 1986 as a caseworker for the Community Case Management Program, then taking on greater levels of responsibility and leadership, ultimately being President and CEO of Pioneer Center for Human Services since July 2005.

Fleming Road and Route 120 Intersection Upgrade

An intersection at Route 120 and Fleming Road is being improved by Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and is causing many unhappy residents of the area. They expressed that displeasure to the McHenry County Board Tuesday.

Reportedly the work is the result of a motorist unhappy with having to wait longer than desired to make a left turn onto Route 120 from Fleming Road. A conversation with State Representative Jack Franks reportedly started the process to putting a stop light at this intersection.

According to information provided at the Tuesday morning County Board meeting, the project was bid and awarded a year ago.

McHenry County is required to enter into an agreement between the State of Illinois and the County defining the required participation in the improvement and the estimated required local share which is $182,330. This will be taken from the County Motor Fuel Tax Fund.

Seven of the County Board members voted against the agreement with IDOT and appropriation of the funding. These included Donley, Evertsen, Schuster- District 6; Heisler, Kurtz-District 2; Jung, District 5 and Wheeler, District 3.

New Technology for County Board

New technology is coming to the McHenry County Board. In a 20 to 4 vote the Board approved a contract with Carahsoft Technology Corporation for Agenda Management/ Webstreaming services at a cost of $22,800 per year.

During discussion regarding the project, which has been considered for some time, it was noted that the benefit of this program is more than just providing web streaming for the public. It also provides a system for file management of county board documents which saves considerable time.

This is a project that has been under consideration for some time. Although considerable conversation has been held regarding how many people will be able to watch what is taking place at County Board meetings, according to information gleaned from discussion at the County Board meeting, the prime benefit is the time saved in handling the county board document filing.

Regional Superintendent of Schools Position Remains Open

The position of Regional Superintendent of Schools remains open, although an individual was to be sworn in at the Tuesday County Board meeting. However, at the last minute Jeffrey S. Schleff decided against taking the position which was vacated in June 2011. The position remained vacant since the State of Illinois failed to fund the position until recently.

County Board Chair Elected At Large

The idea of a County Board Chair being elected by the voters rather than County Board members garnered some discussion at the County Board level. No decision was reached on what should be done. However, there was a suggestion that it could be discussed at a County Bard Committee of the Whole meeting.