High School District 155 Preparing For Winter

Winter is on the way. This is evidenced by preparations being made for snow removal by various governing bodies. A recent one, High School District 155 Board --Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South, Cary-Grove, Prairie Ridge and Haber Oaks -- are considering snow plow bids at a meeting of the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board this evening at 6:45 p.m. in the Center For Education,One South Virginia Road, Crystal Lake.

Words of Wisdom

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

- Thomas Jefferson

Government At Work

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18 –

7:30 p.m. – Crystal Lake City Council

Meeting in the City Council Chambers, 100 Woodstock Street –

 A number of proclamations have been requested by various groups including National Massage Therapy Awareness Week;

1776 Restaurant,-20^th Anniversary

 Accumation, Inc,- 40^th Anniversary

GKI, Inc – 40^th Anniversary

The Players Bench – 35^th Anniversary

ServiceMaster by Pletz -25^th Anniversary

The Council is being requested to support a Resolution in support of the Northwest Municipal Conference White Paper for solutions to inadequate ComEd outage response to repeated power outages in the Chicago region this summer. This has prompted municipal leaders in Chicagoland, in conjunction with the Northwest Municipal Conference, (Crystal Lake is a member) to craft solutions that implement higher reliability and outage response standards to better protect the health, safety and welfare of resident and businesses.

The recommendations of the NWMC White Paper call for measures to be adopted prior to any further consideration of legislation that raises rates and guarantees ComEd profits.

This consideration is the result of electric power outages that accompanied a series of severe storms in June and July resulting in extended power outages that left public facilities inoperable during crisis periods when residents and businesses were most dependent on these operations. Additionally, many communities needed to divert police and fire personnel to watch over downed power lines blocking streets for days while awaiting ComEd repair crews to arrive.

The White Paper of the NWMC has some recommendations for such situations including the recommendation of specific protocols for ComEd power restoration during widespread outage events. Also recommended are legislative and regulatory actions needed to ensure ComEd emergency management and preparedness is up to the task in future outage situations.

State Legislators are being asked to defer any further consideration of Senate Bill 1652 until the recommendations in the White Paper are adopted. SB 1652 is ComEd’s legislation to increase electric rates and corporate profits as part of implementation of “smart grid” technologies.

Among other matters before the Crystal Lake City Council for consideration are changes in parking for areas near South School with various times but primarily during drop-off in the morning and pickup in the afternoon.

Another parking issue being handled is to restrict parking Cress Creek Lake near the intersection of Cress Creek Court. Parking in this location makes it difficult for garbage trucks to make heir routine pickups along Cress Creek Lane

McHenry County Board Considering Compensation Tuesday Evening

7:00 p.m. – McHenry County Board, meeting in the County Board Room, County Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock.

An overview of the Water Resources Action Plan (WRAP) is to be presented to the County Board.

Five Zoning Board matters are being presented for approval including:

 Nunda Township -- Andrew/Jennifer Myers, request for a reclassification from A1-A1 Conditional Use on a five-acre parcel located on the west side of the intersection of Hillside Road and Oak Street in Nunda Township. The petitioners desire to use the property for the operation of a landscaping and snowplowing business and for outdoor storage of commercial equipment and vehicles. Recommended Approval

Algonquin Township – Richard Norwood/Nonika Zajac, requesting a reclassification from R1 to  R1V on property located at 214 Hickory Nut Grove Road, Cary.

Recommended Approval

Algonquin Township – Tom and Joan Claypool, request reclassification from R1 to R1V, to construct a storage shed to be located east of the existing residence in the front yard. Recommended Approval.

Coral Township – Grismer Trust, request reclassification A1 to A2,on 2.7 acres of a larger five-acre parcel located on the west side of Leech Road. Recommended Approval

Chemung Township - Kenneth/Mimi Book, request reclassification A1 to A2C.  The property is located on the south side of Graf Road adjacent to the McHenry/Boone County line. Recommended Approval

Two Resolutions dealing with compensation for County Board members and for certain Elected Officials whose terms begin December 1, 2012 are also being presented. As being presented for consideration by the full board, Compensation for the County Board Chairman is listed: “The Chairman of the Board will receive an annual salary of $82,200 for FY 2013 and FY 2014.

“Vice-Chairman of the Board: The Vice-Chairman will receive $5,000 per year more than Board members.”

“Members of the Board: The Members of the Board will receive an annual salary of $21,500 for FY 2013 and FY 2014.”

As for fringe benefits, it is proposed: “The Chairman and Members of the Board may choose to participate in any or all of the benefit programs made available, now or in the future, to all County Employees including, not limited to health, dental and vision plans, subject to the same rates, benefit levels, rules and regulations established for all County Employees.”

“It is further resolved that the Chairman and members of the County Board shall receive an annual increase for FY 2015 through FY 2021 based on the Consumer Price Index (CP) as provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Chicago-Gary Kenosha labor market, or the same pay rate increase provided to non-union employees, or 5%, whichever is less.”

Also being presented for approval in the compensation resolution is a statement as follows: “It is further resolved, that County Board Members will not accept mileage reimbursement attending County Board Meetings or County Board Committee Meetings.”

The rate for this has been 55.5 cents per mile traveled.

Additionally, for consideration is the statement.” Future County Boards may adjust Board salaries for years 2015 through 2021 if a resolution is approved by a County Board at least 180 day prior to the beginning of a new term.

Appointments Available for Cardiovascular Screen

Appointments are still available for the October 20^th cardiovascular screen being held at the McHenry County Department of Health (MCDH)’s Crystal Lake office (7:30am-9:30am, Community Room) located at 100 N Virginia Street. 

The screening requires a 12-hour fast and includes total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, blood pressure, cardiovascular education and heart age assessment.

  Appointments are required at 815-334-4536; cost is $35.00.   

Having high blood cholesterol puts you at risk for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states about 1 of every 6 adult Americans has high blood cholesterol.  In McHenry County, heart disease is the 2^nd leading cause of death (857 deaths in 2007 and 204 deaths from stroke). 

The more risk factors a person has, the greater the chances of developing cardiovascular disease.  Knowing the risk factors of heart disease is the first step towards lowering your chances of having a heart attack, stroke or similar health condition.

For more information on cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, visit the CDC http://www.cdc.gov/cholesterol/.

Words of Wisdom

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." 

--Thomas Jefferson 

Let Your State Representative Know What You Think

State Rep, Mike Tryon, R-64^th, has been meeting with constituents and learning about the issues important to them. 

As a continuation of that effort, Tryon advises that he is continuing that effort this Fall. The purpose of these meeting is two-fold. First, Tryon explains that he will provide a short legislative update about pending legislation and financial issues in Illinois. What he considers more important is the opportunity to take questions from attendees to the meetings and listen to their ideas of how he can best represent them in Springfield.

Representative Tryon will hold a town hall meeting Thursday, October 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the Crystal Lake City Hall, 100 W. Woodstock Street. This is one of a number of these meetings which last approximately one and one-half hours and includes light refreshments.