Wireless Estimator, Craig Lekutis’ online source for things aerial, had an article on BMB Communication Management’s attempt to build a 1,500 foot broadcast tower on property purchase from McHenry County College.
The problem, Lekutis summarizes, was that John Maguire’s “persuasive powers that worked with college officials couldn’t sway the FAA.”
Remember the 1,500-foot broadcast town which was to bring McHenry County College $6 million?
McHenry County Blog broke the story March 1, 2008, that the MCC board was being approached by BMB Communications Management’s John Maguire to build a broadcast tower.
That was the meeting during which former MCC President Walt Packard to keep me from taking more pictures through the wire mesh safety windows of the board room. They wrapped the room in plastic.
The MCC Board also broke the Open Meetings Law by forcing taxpayers and media out of the building before it was over.
Eleven months later (Feb. 2, 2008), BMB issued a press release announcing it wanted to build a 1,500-foot tower on college property, MCC would get $6 million for 3.6 acres, the release said. (Note, the college did not issue the press release; the company wanting to lease the land did.)
How high is 1,500 feet?Taller that the Sears, oops, Willis Tower, which tops out at 1,450 feet. You can see the height of the Eiffel Tower and the existing 300-foot FM aerial superimposed above on Chicago’s skyline.
Tonight at the MCC board meeting, after suggesting the board might want to go into secret session to discuss real estate, the board, in open meeting, heard that local BMB attorney Tom Zanck had called with regard to that broadcast tower.
Zanck conveyed the information that BMB’s tower experts had determined that the FAA would likely not approve of what BMB had proposed.
Similar information has reached my ears from local pilots.
“It is likely, according to their experts, that the FAA would not approve the tower as proposed.”
The attorney said the board could use due diligence to ask BMB’s experts to provide greater clarification.
“If you do nothing, Zanck can exercise (a clause to get out of the deal.”
“We knew going into this (was unlikely to be approved),” board member Barbara Walter said. “There is no sense in going on. I’d just let them out.”
When she added,
she drew laughter in the room.
“Let them do their thing and let them out of it,” Board President George Lowe added.
Later in the hall, Lowe said that the tower he had seen in Oklahoma had three television broadcast towers. Previously, Maguire had only talked about one.
What’s Crystal Lake going to get out allowing the tallest broadcast tower in the United States of America?
40% taller than the Eiffel Tower?
How about an annual tax of of $1,000 per foot in excess of the current maximum?
The biggest radio tower near MCC is now about 500 feet. But, it’s in unincorporated McHenry County.
The maximum in Crystal Lake is 45 feet.
So, 1,500 minus 45 equals 1,455 excess feet.
1,000 times 1,455 would be $1.455 million a year revenue for Crystal Lake.
That would make up for the million dollars that McHenry County College is going to miss out on because of its poorly drawn contract and then some.
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The towers on the top right and left are representations provided by BMB Communications Management. The one to the left is blowing in a 40 mile per hour wind.
At the bottom, you see the current 495 foot radio tower on the left, the Eiffel Tower and the Sears Tower. The proposed tower will be as high as the Sears Tower.
I remember the chastisement I received in an email for showing a collapsed broadcast tower whose image had been projected on the McHenry County College Conference Center screen.
BMB Communications Management spokesman John Maguire said I should have used a picture of the “first to yield” collapse. That’s when the stoutly constructed bottom section does not collapse, but higher portions do.
Such design, his engineer said, does not result in a flat out failure where the tower would lay out its entire length.
Well, maybe.
But, that’s not what happened in Wichita, Kansas, with a KYQQ-FM 1,204 foot broadcast tower the end of last month in heavy icing and strong winds.
It looks like a failure of the complete structure to me. Doesn’t the complete tower seem to be snaking across the grass.
What do you think?Two inches of ice is what the FM station spokesman told KFDI-TV, from whose video these pictures came.
If you want to see photos, here are some.
Video is here.
Route 14, Ridgefield Road and the Union Pacific railroad tracks are all within 1,500 feet of the BMB tower site.
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I asked before I posted this whether this tower was held up with guy wires, but didn’t get an answer until after it went up.
The answer is that this is a guyed wire tower, not a free standing one as BMB proposes in Crystal Lake.
Tonight in the MCC cafeteria, round tables were surrounded with educators, community leaders and just plain folks with an interest in the community college.
The purpose was the first meeting of the “MAP-Engaging the Community to Chart Our Course” process.
Led by McHenry County Community Foundation President/ CEO Director Kate Halma, it was the first pubic step of a Unicom-ARC designed attempt to mobilize support for the college.
“How wonderful for us as community members to be asked our opinion,” she said.
Participants were warned in a slide that the
“meetings will not be conducive to the format of an open forum or debate, meetings are work sessions that allow for the free exchange of ideas and data collection.”
I am sure someone familiar with this process will let me know what it is called. [From a comment posted below: "...that meeting looks like a classic application of the Delphi Technique. http://www.iror.org/delphi.asp and http://www.illinoisloop.org/committees.html (scroll down about 2/3)."]
“You don’t have to have the answers. You get to ask the questions.”
Interpretation will be left to a “facilitating team,” consisting of the following:
Community Members
- Dave Barber
- Pedro Enriquez
- Kate Halma
- Linda Liddell
- Lauri Olson
- Steve Weskrena
- Joe Williams
Student Member
- Deb Abraham
MCC Members
- Beverly Dow
- Kathleen Plinske
- Brian Seger
- Pat Stejskal
- Claudia Terrones
MCC Board of Trustees
- Donna Kurtz
- George Lowe
But back to Unicom-ARC for a moment. It looks like the firm is being paid $137,750 for the job.
My prediction is that this is all part of a 2010 primary election tax hike or referendum campaign. I hope I am proved wrong. I hope it’s just to improve the college’s damaged public relations.
Take a look at the time line and draw your own conclusion.
After the minor league baseball stadium debacle in which the board withheld crucial decision-making information from the public until Crystal Lake citizens were gathered with torches and pitchforks, there is no doubt that the institutional image need refurbishing.
The St. Louis firm hired specializes in preparing the way for tax hikes and passage of bond referendums. Local school districts for which Unicom-ARC has “delivered” include Carpentersville District 300 and Woodstock District 200.
The MCC Board might not have had tax hikes as its goal in hiring Unicom-ARC, but, given the secrecy with which the college pursues major goals concerning money, there is no way to be sure. (The picture of the tower is from near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and is way, way shorter than the 1500 foot tower contemplated. It is, however, a free standing tower such is planned.)
Let me digress a bit about more recent secrecy. Although the trustees first discussed leasing/selling the land to BMB Communications Management for the broadcast tower at the end of February, 2008, it made nothing public until early-February, 2009. Although the contract has been signed, there is no evidence of due diligence having been conducted concerning the sale other than a last-minute report from the college’s risk management firm.
From state records, we know that the college has said it will pry $7.1 million out of taxpayer pockets in order to obtain state matching funds. That may have been reduced by the pending sale of the land on which the 1,500 foot BMB Communications Management broadcast tower will be built.
Anyway, the first MAP community engagement meeting was held last night. I don’t know how many of the targeted community influentials attended. There was a preliminary list and a supplementary one.
There was a long introduction about what the group was expected to do by Halma and a “here’s where the college is and has been over the last ten years” by Acting President Brian Sager.
I found most interesting the declining appeal of the college to those aged 25 through 55.
Look at the chart and you will see something is happening. Maybe it mirrors population changes, one of six questions I left in writing for which I’m sure I’ll get an answer because others noticed the same seeming anomaly.
During the discussion period, the first table spokesperson, The Town Crier’s Iris Bryan, with whom I worked on publicity for the passage of the April 1, 1977, referendum to create the college, came up with the best line:
“What is it you don’t want to hear?”
Stew Cohen, another member of the media (Star 105.5) said his group wondered “if older students’ needs were being met?”
A group at a back table described as being full of educators wondered why the real estate tax is such a high percentage of the college budget.
That’s a question I can answer.
The college referendum committee told the voters that one-third of the money would come from local taxpayers, one-third from the state taxpayers and one-third from the students.
The state, it was soon discovered, lied. Now only 8% comes from state coffers.
The students are not holding up the share that voters were promised they would, but they are close at 29%.
Property taxpayers pay 60%–almost twice what was promised.
The next two-hour meeting is April 21st. It starts at 6:30. The question scheduled to be discussed is
“How will MCC enhance community engagement to better understand and respond to local educational, social, cultural and economic needs?”
It seems to me the person (probably a committee) deserves an incomplete for the question.
Explicitly included should be something about governance.
While there was all sorts of “happy talk” about how the MCC Board wants to hear what the citizens think, the trustees have a record of not listening to citizens.
Indeed, if you are one of the very few who attend meetings and say something in the three minutes allowed, what you say is not even recorded in the minutes. Not even the subject you discuss.
Here’s what’s in the board minutes for the February 26, 2008, meeting for public comment:
“OPEN FOR RECOGNITION OF VISITORS AND PRESENTATIONS“Mr. Eric Snave, Mrs. Julie Snave, Mr. Phil Snave, Ms. Berghaus, and Ms. Ritter addressed the Board.”
Wouldn’t you like to know what three members of the same family thought important enough to say to the board?
This board-directed record keeping shows such a disregard for the views of the public. There is no reason even to record the subject matter of those who spoke. It’s just not important.
My experience is that government keeps a record of everything it thinks is important.
So, you can see, I think the board has a long, long way to go if it wishes to
as the April 21st meeting topic professes.
And, I might as well add another existing roadblock to this stated goal.
The board refuses to tape record its meetings and make them available on the internet (or even for purchase).
Even though the board has found the money to put upcoming MAP meetings on the internet.
I can’t pull up the exact quote of one of the trustees, but it was to the effect that if people wanted to know what the board was doing, they could attend the meetings.
As if most people had nothing better to do than spend the third Monday and Thursday evenings of every month sitting in the MCC board room.
I guess these MAP meetings are more important that board meeting’s where $37-some million are spent each year.
I willingly admit that the board does at least one thing right, although not consistently. It posts the contents of the board packets on the internet. They are supposed to be there two days ahead of time. Usually they make it by the day of the meeting, if the two-day deadline is missed.
So, that’s a good thing.
I am willing to spend 7-10 nights in these little round tables in the hope that the board may actually figure out that some common sense changes need to be made if its not so hot current reputation is to be improved.
= = = = =
The photograph at the top is of Kate Halma and Brian Sager. Sager is also seen in front of the screen stating the topic of the next meeting. Various shots of those attending are sprinkled throughout the article.
Isn’t that special?Couldn’t wait until the regular meeting on March 26th.
I just chanced upon the special meeting notice, which you can see below:
Here’s the recommendation:
McHenry County College Board Report #09-49
Special Board Meeting March 12, 2009
Proposal to Sell Approximately
3.67 Acres of MCC Real Estate
Information:
At the Special Board Meeting of February 18, 2009, the Board of Trustees heard a presentation by Mr. John Maguire on behalf of BMB Communications Management, LLC, regarding a proposal to purchase approximately 3.67 acres of McHenry County College real estate for the purpose of constructing a 1,500 foot communications tower. A proposed purchase contract outlining the terms and provisions of the purchase was provided to the Board and made available to the public.
At the request of members of the Board of Trustees, the item is back on the Board’s agenda for consideration, along with a revised final purchase contract, a copy of which is attached. Mr. Maguire is unable to attend the March 12 Special Board Meeting. However, Mr. Tom Zanck, Attorney for BMB Communications Management, has a copy of the contract signed by Mr. Maguire and will be at the Special Board Meeting to address questions from the Board of Trustees.
The specific revisions in the proposed final purchase contract include:
1.All references to charitable contributions being made to MCC, the Foundation, or other charities designated by MCC have been revised to delete the Foundation and alternate charities. The contract now provides that the contributions will be made to McHenry County College District No. 528. Please refer to page 2, paragraphs 2a and 2b of the attached revised final purchase contract.2.Mr. Maguire has agreed to make a non-refundable initial deposit of $2,500 for the first six months during which time he will petition for approval of the communications tower construction at the project site by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Mr. Maguire believes he will know within six months whether or not the FAA will approve the project site. In the previous version of the contract, all deposits were refundable if the project were cancelled within four, six-month periods (24 months total). Please refer to page 5, paragraph 9f of the attached revised final purchase contract.
An additional consideration is that Illinois Compiled Statutes, specifically 110 ILCS 805/3-41, provide authority for the Board of Trustees
“To sell at private or public sale any personal or real property belonging to the district and not needed for community college purposes.”
It is, therefore, incumbent upon the Board to determine that the subject acres of real estate are not needed for College purposes.
Recommendation:
If the Board of Trustees believes the approximately 3.67 acres of real estate identified in the purchase contract is not needed for community college purposes and it is in the best interest of McHenry County College to sell those acres of MCC real estate to BMB Communications Management, LLC, according to the terms and provisions of the attached purchase contract, it is recommended that the Board
1) affirms a finding that the approximately 3.67 acres of real estate provided for in the purchase contract are not needed for community college purposes, specifically for McHenry County College purposes;2) approves the sale of the specified acres of real estate to BMB Communications Management, LLC; and 3) authorizes the Chair and Secretary, on behalf of McHenry County College District No. 528, to sign the purchase contract previously signed by Mr. Maguire.
Brian Sager, Ph.D.
Acting President
You can find the revised contract here.
So far there has been no evidence that the college board or officials have done any due diligence besides liability from the construction and potential (but unlikely) collapse of the tower.
There is no evidence that any outside expert in the radio tower business has been consulted to determine if the price offered is as much as could be expected.
I repeat, the junior college is willing to release no reports or analysis about this project beyond the memo above and the report from its risk management consultant.
The McHenry County College agenda for its Committee of the Whole meeting last night was amended before the meeting really got started.
Board Chairwoman Mary Miller announced that MCC attorney Sandy Kerrick had been contacted by BMB Communications Management, which had asked that discussion of its proposal to purchase 3.6 acres of land be delayed.
So much for the rapid approval that I expected to happen at Thursday’s regular meeting, I guess.
If there is great community interest, it certainly did not show itself Monday night. I was the only one to offer public comment. No pilots appeared.
There were two points:
First, the college should show constituents what the tower will look like during the day and the night. Let us see what red and white strobe lights will look like running up and down the 1,500 foot tower during the day and at night.Surely there is a similar tower someone can video and provide the college. That’s pretty much what I said to promoter John Maguire in my email last weekend.
Secondly, the college should hire an expert in broadcast tower finances since no one on the board has that expertise. I asked if the board were certain that the site wasn’t worth $30 million, pointing out that the college had refused to provide any evidence that anyone had done due diligence on the financial end of the deal.
Guess the next move is up to BMB.
= = = = =
The views of the proposed BMB tower above show it bending in the wind on the left and standing upright on the right. A picture of the Eiffel Tower has be laid in next to the radio broadcast towers now adjacent to McHenry County College. The 1,500 foot BMB tower will be 41% higher than the Eiffel Tower. Unlike the Eiffel Tower, there will be no public elevator or observation deck.
The McHenry County College agenda for its Committee of the Whole meeting last night was amended before the meeting really got started.
Board Chairwoman Mary Miller announced that MCC attorney Sandy Kerrick had been contacted by BMB Communications Management, which had asked that discussion of its proposal to purchase 3.6 acres of land be delayed.
So much for the rapid approval that I expected to happen at Thursday’s regular meeting, I guess.
If there is great community interest, it certainly did not show itself Monday night. I was the only one to offer public comment. No pilots appeared.
There were two points:
First, the college should show constituents what the tower will look like during the day and the night. Let us see what red and white strobe lights will look like running up and down the 1,500 foot tower during the day and at night.Surely there is a similar tower someone can video and provide the college. That’s pretty much what I said to promoter John Maguire in my email last weekend.
Secondly, the college should hire an expert in broadcast tower finances since no one on the board has that expertise. I asked if the board were certain that the site wasn’t worth $30 million, pointing out that the college had refused to provide any evidence that anyone had done due diligence on the financial end of the deal.
Guess the next move is up to BMB.
= = = = =
The views of the proposed BMB tower above show it bending in the wind on the left and standing upright on the right. A picture of the Eiffel Tower has be laid in next to the radio broadcast towers now adjacent to McHenry County College. The 1,500 foot BMB tower will be 41% higher than the Eiffel Tower. Unlike the Eiffel Tower, there will be no public elevator or observation deck.
Chicago media didn’t notice on their own, even though the Chicago Tribune sent a reporter for a while to the BMB Communications Management presentation of its proposal to build a 1,500 foot free standing broadcast radio and TV tower.
Saturday night, ABC Channel 7 ran a short story http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=274044&src=4 that, having seen the AP story in the Daily Herald Sunday, I’d guess was its source.
The Northwest Herald also ran a front page story with more information from the Wednesday meeting.
I still this McHenry County Blog’s article http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2009/02/mega-tower-details-presented-to-public.html is the most complete.
= = = = =
The woman in the photo is a Tribune reporter interviewing BMB Communications Management spokesman John Maguire before last Wednesday’s McHenry County College Board meeting.
There is another board meeting tonight at MCC at 6 PM.
Chicago media didn’t notice on their own, even though the Chicago Tribune sent a reporter for a while to the BMB Communications Management presentation of its proposal to build a 1,500 foot free standing broadcast radio and TV tower.
Saturday night, ABC Channel 7 ran a short story http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=274044&src=4 that, having seen the AP story in the Daily Herald Sunday, I’d guess was its source.
The Northwest Herald also ran a front page story with more information from the Wednesday meeting.
I still this McHenry County Blog’s article http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2009/02/mega-tower-details-presented-to-public.html is the most complete.
= = = = =
The woman in the photo is a Tribune reporter interviewing BMB Communications Management spokesman John Maguire before last Wednesday’s McHenry County College Board meeting.
There is another board meeting tonight at MCC at 6 PM.
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