I don’t often comment on Northwest Herald stories on its web site, but reporter Jocelyan Allison follow-up story today to McHenry County Blog’s two days ago about MCC’s May 24th signing of the baseball stadium lease with promoter Pete Heitman deserved one.

She got a detail the college has been unwilling to provide in writing to me, despite numerous Freedom of Information requests.

Here’s what the story adds to the discussion:

College officials expect that revenue from the team will cover two-thirds of the debt to build the complex. The remaining debt will be paid through renting out the fitness center, which includes indoor basketball and volleyball courts, to traveling sports teams, (MCC President Walt) Packard said.

From Tim Stratton, former MCC board member, McHenry County Blog learned that the college should not to expect “any significant revenue from the project” for the first five years! Stratton informed McHenry County Blog this afternoon that he left the firm of Hutchinson, Shockey, Erley & Co. on May 30, 2007.

My comment under the Allison article follow (I have added the paragraphing that the NW Herald’s web site does not allow):

Congratulations for getting an outline of how the college intends to pay for this baseball stadium.

Taxpayers are still are denied the no-bid underlining documents from Equity One Development Compnay, which supposedly told MCC how the team and the fitness center will generate the money to repay upwards of $30 million worth of debt.

MCC also refuses to release the document from no-bid vendor PMA, which supposed conducted a “due diligence” review of, I suppose, the secret Equity One study.

SUSPICIOUS WAY TO AVOID A REFERENDUM.

Reminds me of Jimmy Carter’s primary election line “TRUST ME.”