McHenry County Blog

While we were at the Eagle Ridge Inn this past fall, the Telegraph Herald out of Dubuque ran an article about the Chicago couple’s attempt to turn the movie’s Field of Dreams into a 24-field youth baseball and sports complex.

If that reminds anyone about the failed attempt to get the McHenry County Sports Complex off the ground, it probably should.

It’s not that the proposed Lakewood development would not have cost taxpayers money (although my request for what it did cost has not yet been fulfilled), but I don’t think that total amounted to what Oak Lawn couple Denise and Mike Stillman’s Go the Distance Baseball LLC proposal will cost taxpayers in Dyersville, Iowa.

The article said the All-Star ballpark Heaven got 3-1 approval from the Dyersvill City Council.

The cost to the city’s taxpayers?

$5.1 million in property tax rebates over 15 years.

The only person at the meeting, Pat Meinert, talked of agreement as “this elusive agreement that we’ve heard of for months,” but haven’t seen, according to the Telegraph Herald article.

Sounds pretty much like the Frontier League Baseball team proposal made by Mark Houser to the McHenry County College Board.

The difference is that no one on the McHenry County College Board voted against the proposal, although two did recant in comments before the Crystal Lake City Council. They were Donna Kurtz and Scott Summers.

As I understand the concept of the McHenry County SportsPlex planned for Lakewood, Illinois, it is to be a regional facility drawing teams from throughout the country.

Sure, it will aim to find players in the immediate vicinity of McHenry County, but its developers also hope to draw teams that travel nationally. They would fly into O’Hare or Midway Airports.

Now comes Oak Lawn’s Denise and Mike Stillman, baseball fans with friends with enough money to buy the “Field of Dreams” movie farm in Iowa.

And, what do you think they plan for the part of the 193-acre farm that was not used in the movie?

A regional baseball and softball complex.

Indoor training domes.

Opening in 2014.

Not quite the same as the proposed Lakewood facility, which would include soccer and other sports, but close.

And, competition, it seems to me.

Even if the developers are billing it as “a very affordable family tourist destination.”

The McHenry County SportsPlex has about three more months to come up with money to proceed under the extension granted by the Lakewood Village Board this summer.

On a related matter, as I was briefly looking at Northwest Heralds saved for me by my mother-in-law this summer before tossing them into re-cycling, I noticed that Woodstock minor league baseball stadium developer Mark Houser hasn’t found investors to build his vision either.

A press release from Joe Stefani, President of the Rockford Foresters Baseball Team:

FORESTERS TO HOST TEA PARTY NIGHT

FEATURING TWO CONGRESSMEN

ROCKFORD, IL – June 17, 2011 – The Rockford Foresters Baseball Team announced today it will be hosting “Tea Party Night” at the game on Saturday, July 9 at 6pm at Historic Marinelli Field in Rockford. Special guests for the night include Congressman Joe Walsh and Congressman Bobby Schilling, both of Illinois.

The night will start at 5:15 pm where the Rockford Tea Party, Congressman Walsh and Congressman Schilling will address the crowd.

At 5:30pm, Congressman Walsh and Congressman Schilling will take the field in a home run competition to benefit charity.

Before the game, both Congressman Schilling and Congressman Walsh will be throwing out ceremonial first pitches.

Congressman Walsh represents the 8th district of Illinois, which includes parts of McHenry and Lake County, was elected in 2010 by beating an incumbent Congressman. Walsh is a Tea Party conservative activist and is a consistent guest on national news media shows.

Congressman Schilling represents the 17th district of Illinois, which includes the Quad Cities. Elected in 2010 by beating an incumbent Congressman, Schilling is a restaurateur and has 10 children.

“The Rockford Foresters are honored to be hosting Tea Party Members from across the State of Illinois in addition to Congressman Walsh and Congressman Schilling,” said Majority Owner/President Joe Stefani.

“This is a great opportunity for members of the community to come out and meet tea party favorite Congressman Walsh as well as Congressman Schilling, who will be representing the Rockford area in the future with the new Congressional maps.”

Tickets for the game and pre-game activities are free and can be obtained by calling the Rockford Foresters box office at 815-312-2115 or by emailing tickets@rockfordforesters.com.

About the Rockford Foresters:

The Rockford Foresters are a member of the Midwest Collegiate League, which is a summer collegiate wood bat league that is based in Northern Illinois and Indiana. Going into their second season, the team comes off winning the league’s championship. The Rockford Foresters play at the historic 2,357 seat Marinelli Field, which is owned by the Rockford Park District. The Rockford Foresters are owned by majority owner Joe Stefani, who is the youngest majority owner of a sports team in the United States, in addition to a group of shareholders.

Note the clever play on words in the title of this press release from Algonquin resident Joe Sta

ROCKFORD FORESTERS ANNOUNCE SENATORIST NIGHT

Wisconsin Senators who were once tourists in Rockford are invited back on Saturday, July 16

ROCKFORD, IL – March 16, 2011 – The Rockford Foresters Baseball Team, a summer collegiate wood bat team in Rockford, announced this morning “Senatorist Night” where once missing Wisconsin State Senators are invited back to Rockford to once again be tourists on Saturday, July 16 at 6pm at historic Marinelli Field.

As part of Senatorist Night all 14 Wisconsin State Senators, who were once missing, will be invited to each throw out the first pitch at the Rockford Foresters baseball game.

Also part of the festivities, all fans with the first names of the missing Senators (see names below) will get in the game for free.

All union members (teachers, contractors, etc) will also get into the game for free if they present their union card.

Fans who first or last name is Walker, will be asked to pay their “fair share” of the Senator’s ticket prices, which is $86 ($6 average ticket price multiplied by 14 tickets).

“Hosting Senatorist Night on July 16 is a humorous way to invite the once missing Wisconsin State Senators back to Rockford, where most found themselves curious tourists in Rockford visiting such places as the Clock Tower Resort,” said Majority Owner/President Joe Stefani.

An open letter was sent this morning to all once missing Wisconsin State Senators to their offices throughout Wisconsin.

First Names of Missing Wisconsin State Senators:

• Tim/Timothy
• Spencer
• Jon
• Dave
• Jim
• Robert (2 named Robert)
• Chris
• Julie
• Mark
• Fred
• Lena
• Kathleen

For more information, please visit the Rockford Foresters website, www.RockfordForesters.com, or call the Rockford Foresters office at (815) 312-2115.

About the Rockford Foresters:

The Rockford Foresters are a member of the Midwest Collegiate League, which is a summer collegiate wood bat league that is based in Northern Illinois and Indiana. Going into their second season, the team comes off winning the league’s championship. The Rockford Foresters play at the historic 2,250 seat Marinelli Field, which is owned by the Rockford Park District. The Rockford Foresters are owned by majority owner Joe Stefani, who is the youngest majority owner of a sports team in the United States, in addition to a group of shareholders.

The McHenry County Board’s Finance Committee decided to award millions of dollars of Federal Stimulus Bond authority on a “first come, first served” basis.

The first two private entities in line were sports related.

One was Mark Houser’s EquityOne’s baseball stadium, to be located in Woodstock after the McHenry County College Board’s efforts to provide taxpayer-backed bonds failed.

The second was a new proposal for a McHenry County SportsPlex located in Lakewood.

Both received support from the municipalities in question.

But, in taking a “first come, first served” approach, along with the attendant publicity, the county board was telling other potential job creators they need not apply.

Last Friday Lakewood Village President Erin Smith issued a press release announcing that the financing could not be obtained in time to meet the December 31st deadline imposed by Federal law.

And, so, McHenry County lost the opportunity to see the money used for job creation.

While the SportsPlex did not drop out early enough to allow the subsidized interest loans to be re-directed, the baseball stadium did.

Sage Products, a provide job creator, got money to put on a addition.

One can only wonder if there were other successful manufacturers in McHenry County who were deterred from applying by the “First come, first served” loan allocation approach.

I continue to be amazed at how McHenry County Blog is used by people as a research tool. Sometimes comments are left on articles that were written a long time ago. Here’s a commentary from someone who lives on McConnell Road that was found today below this article from a year and a half ago.

It’s about the proposed baseball stadium, the land for which is to be donated after gravel mining is completed on the rest of the property.

It states on the Woodstock City website that, “Woodstock is the kind of city that people fall in love with.”

This can’t be the furtherest from the truth due to the gravel pit (aka baseball stadium, NOT) on Lily Pond Rd.

The noise starting at 7:00 a.m. is horrible and the dust is so bad that you can’t open your windows year round anymore.

We don’t live on Lily Pond but do live on the west side of McConnell Rd. I can’t even imagine what the people on Lily Pond Rd. or closer are going through!!!

I have talked to many people and many can’t wait to leave Woodstock, IL and definitely would not recommend living here.

The local governments lack of support for it’s people and the well being of Woodstock was made clear when they allow this gravel pit to exist.

This brings to question, Can the government here be bought or are they just plain ignorant?

I think we all know the answer to this question!!!!!

My ex-wife Robin Geist and I used to live on Lily Pond Road, so I know the area well.

There was a gravel pit then (the late 1970′s) between Lily Pond Road and the railroad track, but it wasn’t very active.

Algonquin’s Joe Stefani, president and majority owner of the Rockford Foresters, is interested in bringing a amateur college baseball players who would not be paid. The NCAA won’t let college players be paid.

Stefani started a team in Rockford this year called the Rockford Foresters. It plays in a park district-owned stadium on the south side of town.

The JackHammers are not the only minor league team in the Chicago area in financial trouble. So are the Schaumburg Flyers.

“It doesn’t make money. (Teams) almost always lose money,” Stefani told the Chicago Tribune.

Stefani was elected to the Algonquin Library Board and serves as an elected Algonquin Township Republican Precinct Committeeman.

= = = = =

In view of the Joliet and Schaumburg minor league baseball teams being in trouble financially, it is even more curious that the Northwest Herald decided not to endorse Donna Kurtz for McHenry County Board. After all, she and Scott Summers, the Green Party candidate for State Treasurer and, then, the McHenry County College Board President, who deserve a lot of the credit for derailing the MCC baseball stadium. (It would have been financed with 25-year bonds for which the taxpayers would have been responsible, while minor league baseball teams last about five years on the average.)

The Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water has made votes by McHenry County Board members up for election available to the public.

So, if the local newspapers didn’t ask the question you think is important, you might find some direction from actual votes the board members cast in Woodstock.

The weakness, obviously, is that challengers aren’t in the matrix.

Yesterday, land use votes were published on McHenry County Blog.

Today the votes on how the Federal Stimulus Bonds should be allocated.

Three projects are tracked,

• Lakewood’s SportsPlex
• the K-Nines Woodstock minor league baseball stadium and
• dredging Wonder Lake

Strangely, the county board members could not find any manufacturing firms who wanted to borrow money with Federal taxpayers subsidzing 25% of the interest.

Previously on the McHenry County Board, Nick Provenzano and John Jung were not serving when these votes were taken.

In two senses.

If they were an animal, their necks on on the chopping block.

In economic terms, there are for sale.

That’s what the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday.

Why do I keep bringing up a Will County minor league baseball team?

Just to remind you that most of the current McHenry County College Board members were avid supporters of putting us district taxpayers in debt for 25 years to build a minor league baseball stadium.

There is an election next spring when one of them are up for re-election: George Lowe of Cary.

Appointed to fill out the term of Harvard’s Scott Summers was Bob DeWitt of Crystal Lake.

Both have six-year terms.

Only 50 signatures are needed to get on the ballot. I’d advise getting 100.

Any folks out there willing to run for the board?

When the McHenry County College Board was relieved of its possibility of building a minor league baseball stadium that would be financed by its taxpayers if the team didn’t succeed.

The Board did not do that on its own. It was a result of the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Board’s opposition, which required a super-majority to re-zone the watershed property.

The Crystal Lake City Council could not muster that majority.

The Chicago Tribune reported Sunday that current team owners of the Joliet JackHammers may be toast.

I think someone pointed out that the average minor league baseball teams lasts about five years.

The bonds MCC’s Board proposed were for twenty-five years.