September Comments to the McHenry County Board by Spring Grove Gravel Pit Opponents

Here is what unincorporated Spring Grove Resident Drew Knobloch told the McHenry County Board at its September meeting:

Public comment, September

My wife and I moved to McHenry county in 2015 because we were looking for a quieter life with more green space.

We looked at more than 70 properties all over NE IL and SE WI and decided on a wonderful property in northeast MCH Co, in Paddock Estates.

It was further than I wanted to drive to work each day, but we loved the 2+ acre plots and the country charm.

Where Thelen Sand & Gravel plans to expand its operations.

Now 2 yrs on there are many things we have learned to put up with: the constant truck traffic on Wilmot Road, always having a crack or two in the windshield of every car and occasionally being run up on by a 10 ton truck in a hurry to make as many loads per day as possible.

We even put up with the eyesore that is the gravel pit on Wilmot Road north of 173 and have thanked god that at least we are not that farmer who lives on the edge of a sheer dropoff.

But all that changed last month when we got wind that we soon could be that very farmer; when we got word that there is a plan to turn the 118 acres that border our property into yet another gravel pit. Needless to say, our concerns are many – from constant noise to choking dust to having bad water or no water at all, and the permanent destruction of our property value and then today I receive notice that my assessment is going up by 5% next year.

Infuriating!

The yard sign popping up around the proposed expanded gravel pit.

And I’m not alone – there are several hundred homeowners in subdivisions that border this property literally on ALL FOUR sides.

I’ve been coming to the County Board meetings for the past year and have listened as you’ve debated ways to improve the condition for residents of McHenry County – ways to attract business and to stem the tide of residents fleeing McHenry County in droves to areas with more employment prospects and lower taxes.

Here is a prime example of the way the quality of life in McHenry County is being eroded.

People move here for the schools, for the serene country charm, to enjoy the out of doors on the chain and in the state parks.

October meeting of gravel pit opponents.

No one wants to live next to the constant noise and dust of an ugly strip mine. Residents who bear the brunt of the tax burden in this county are being driven out by industry such as this.

Gravel pits are a cancer that is destroying the quality of life in Northeast McHenry County. You can see it spreading.

Please don’t let them do this.

If you are truly for McHenry County and in particular the residents in District 4, then I urge the board to halt the unchecked expansion of gravel pits in our area and instead work to find other more productive uses for the land that doesn’t further destroy our quality of life.


Comments

September Comments to the McHenry County Board by Spring Grove Gravel Pit Opponents — 3 Comments

  1. “People move here for the schools, for the serene country charm, to enjoy the out of doors on the chain and in the state parks”

    Really? That was yesteryear!

    Now people are moving out in droves to escape: the Section 8 crime transplanted from Chiraq, the hypertaxation to support the welfareites who flock to IL from adjoining states; poor schools replete with LGBTQ brainwashing; corrupt politicos like Franks and Althof and Rauner

    http://www.mchenrycounty1981.com/archives/2013/07/mchenry-county-deputy-zane-seipler-under-seige-again/

  2. You should have chosen a state that is on the way up, like Wisconsin.

    Instead you chose a state that is on the way out – Illinois.

    Better luck next time.

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