McHenry County Blog

A press from the Crystal Lake Police Department:

Roll-over traffic crash – Rt. 176, Crystal Lake

On Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at approximately 8:36 a.m. emergency crews from the Crystal Lake Fire Rescue and Police Departments responded to Illinois Route 176 ¼ mile east of Bryn Mawr Lane for a report of a motor vehicle crash in which a vehicle had rolled over.

Upon arrival emergency crews tended to the occupants of the single vehicle involved; Alma Mendez, 25 of Marengo, IL, and her two sons; one two years old, and the other six weeks old.

It was determined through a subsequent investigation that Mendez’s vehicle, a 1997 GMC Jimmy, had been eastbound on Rt. 176 when loss of control occurred and the vehicle left the roadway.

The vehicle entered the ditch on the south side of the highway, rolling on its side multiple times, before coming to rest in a tree line.

While unconfirmed, it was reported Mendez had become distracted attempting to remove an insect from within the vehicle.

No other vehicles or utilities were involved. Several passers-by had stopped to provide aid, and assisted the occupants from the vehicle.

Alma Mendez and her children were transported by ambulance to Centegra Memorial Hospital, Woodstock.

d with a seatbelt or child safety seats within the vehicle.

The vehicle incurred extensive damage.

Traffic on Rt. 176 was reduced to one lane, and intermittently blocked for approximately forty minutes as the scene was investigated and the vehicle and debris was removed.

Alma Mendez was cited for

• Improper Lane Usage,
• Operation of an Uninsured Motor Vehicle, and
• Operation of a Motor Vehicle Without a Valid Driver’s License.

The end of January Northwest Herald Editor Dan McCaleb got Lakewood Village President Erin Smith to say that “in the future” Lakewood might be willing to discuss returning its fire protection to the Crystal Lake Fire Department. (The link provided is is not a link to the story; it’s a link to a page that will allow you buy the story for $2.95, if you so desire.)

For as long as I can remember (back to 1958 in McHenry County), Lakewood’s fire protection was provided by Crystal Lake.

But a couple of years ago Crystal Lake proposed a pricing structure that would have eventually eaten up Lakewood’s entire budget,.

While fire protection is important, Lakewood residents also value snow removal, road repair and police protection. Some even want a bicycle path and algae removal.

So the village staff and board did some hard-nosed cost-benefit analysis and concluded that it could start its own fire department, run by a private firm, American Emergency Service Corporation, and save money after the second year.

Lakewood now has begun the fourth year of a five-year contract for privatized service. Twenty-two months are left.

But “the future” mentioned in McCaleb’s column is now.

At the Tuesday before last’s closed session to discuss litigation, the Lakewood Village Board talked about settling the suit with Crystal Lake over disputed non-payment for fire protection service and returning to the fire protection umbrella of Crystal Lake.

Crystal Lake has lost about $750,000 in revenue each year because of Lakewood’s pull-out.

On a 6-1 vote (Jeff Thorsen voting “No”), it has raised its city sales tax rate by 75% at Mayor Aaron Shepley’s behest.

Empty stores are everywhere.

Clearly Crystal Lake would love to have Lakewood return to its fire protection foal.

But, unlike the headline on McCaleb’s column, it’s more about the money than the good government goal of shared services.

(Logic would say that the Lakewood fire station should serve the subdivision in Crystal Lake that is closer to Route 47 than Route 14.

(Likewise, the Crystal Lake Fire station on Bard Road should be protecting Country Club Additions, Turnberry and other nearby Lakewood subdivisions.

(But, logic doesn’t always work in local governmental relations.)

Before Crystal Lake wanted to charge Lakewood residents the same tax rate that Crystal Lake residents and businesses paid. Just as Lakewood residents would pay for Crystal Lake library services.

The city would not recognize that the mix of buildings in Lakewood is markedly different from that in Crystal Lake.

Lakewood does not have much business property. No high rise hotels.

Lakewood does not need all of the equipment that Crystal Lake needs to protect its large corporate structures.

In the past, Crystal Lake officials have failed to understand the concepts of marginal costs and marginal revenue.

The marginal cost of providing fire protection to Lakewood is low.

Any extra revenue is almost pure gravy.

Now, it may not seem fair to some city council folks that homeowners in Lakewood would pay less than those in Crystal Lake.

I can tell you it doesn’t seem fair to me that Crystal Lake gets to keep all my sales tax.

So, where one lives has advantages and disadvantages.

But getting “less” than one wants for something may be worth thinking about.

And maybe Crystal Lake is having such thoughts now that it thinks it has a stretched thin budget.

Right not the city budget is getting less than “less,” that is, nothing.

That resulted from a misconception of its bargaining position, of thinking Crystal Lake thought it had all the fire protection marbles in town.

Obviously, Lakewood came up with a satisfactory solution.

But, now the two sides are back at the bargaining table again.

And, it appears serious discussions are taking place.

I can’t imagine more isn’t on the table that fire protection. After all, what Lakewood has in place seems to be working well.

There has to be a third leg to the negotiations. Maybe even a fourth leg.

I would observe that if Crystal Lake wants to settle the suit, maybe Crystal Lake is not so sure it can win its collection case against Lakewood.

Likewise, if Lakewood wants to settle the suit, maybe Lakewood is not so sure it can emerge victorious.

It’s been my experience when one side of a lawsuit wants to settle, they are nervous about the outcome of their case.

What will the resolution be?

It certainly will be discussed in public if the contract with American Emergency Service Corporation (Lakewood’s fire protection firm) is to be amended.  I am not aware that contract changes can be kept out of an open meeting.

And, any lawsuit settlement will have to be at least voted upon in public, while it may be discussed in private by both ruling bodies.

Usually when sewers are installed, that’s the end of septic tank trucks going to an neighborhood.

But with the new Ryland Homes’ Bryn Mawr subdivision way out near Route 47 on Route 176, the septic tank trucks started coming after the sanitary sewers were installed.

Blame an uncooperative peat bog east of Mt. Tabor Cemetery.

Unfortunately, the problem was not found by soil borings and when contractor Gluth Brothers discovered it, the devised solution didn’t work.

They put the pipes on a “helical anchor system.” That’s a device that screws into the ground with a cradle the pipe sits on. The cradle just didn’t hold the pipe good enough to keep it on grade.

So 30 feet of peat won the day.

There is a small trench filled with water that my imagination thought might smell of sewage. But, I’m told the pipes have never carried sewage, so that’s not possible.

Ryland Homes has hired Neptune Construction to fix the problem. That will be accomplished by crossing Route 176 and laying 477 feet of new pipe on the south side of the road, thereby bypassing the peat bog.

Neptune started the job the Saturday before last and the hope is that it will be finished by the end of August.

In the meantime, homeowners have quite a deal.

They still pay for water.

The system isn’t looped, as it should be, but it is city water.

But Ryland is picking up the cost for sewage disposal.

Crystal Lake charges three cents a gallon for treating the sewage.

About six times a day a septic tank truck goes to the manhole near the entrance of the subdivision and pumps out the sewage and wastewater that cannot flow to the lift station on Briarwood. The defective pipeline is capped.

Then, it’s taken to Crystal Lake’s sewage treatment plant across from South High School.

At Thursday night’s park board meeting, one commissioner said he had heard that the total cost to the developer was $4,000 per day. If so, that’s quite a price.

This is not the first time peat bogs on 176 have bothered Crystal Lakers. It seems like decades ago, but there was a time when a fire started the one just west of Briarwood on fire.

Probably by someone burning leaves.

There was no way to put it out.

It burned all winter and into the next year until enough rain fell to put it out, I guess.

= = = = =
On the top left, Ryland Homes’ directional sign is seen on Route 176 in Crystal Lake.

In the foreground in the photograph below is the manhole where sewage is pumped out six times a day. The subdivision can be seen in the background.

Standing water can be seen above the peat bog where the sewage treatment pipe to the Bryn Mawr development did not meet Crystal Lake city approval.

On the left below the water shot is the re-enforced trench that has been dug on the south side of Route 176 where the pipe will be re-routed for 477 feet. A lot of the pipe is in place just to the east of the intersection of Route 176 and Haligus Road, as shown in the next picture, but, as you can, see a bulldozer was putting the rest in place farther east along Route 176 when it was not busy loading dirt into dump trucks to take to the east side of the entrance to the Bryn Mawr subdivision.

As I was taking the pictures mid-day Friday, another brace was delivered. My guess is that Route 176 commuters will see some delays sometime this week.

Near the bottom of the article is Mt. Tabor Cemetery, which is located to the west of the peat bog north of Route 176. You can see Route 176 traffic in the background.

Next appears a Google satellite photo of the area where the problem occurred taken before any digging had been done. The arrow is at the intersection of Haligus Road and Route 176.

And, if you think the sewage treatment pipe had water problems, take a look at this corner at the southwest corner or Haligus Road and Route 176.

All photographs can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Usually when sewers are installed, that’s the end of septic tank trucks going to an neighborhood.

But with the new Ryland Homes’ Bryn Mawr subdivision way out near Route 47 on Route 176, the septic tank trucks started coming after the sanitary sewers were installed.

Blame an uncooperative peat bog east of Mt. Tabor Cemetery.

Unfortunately, the problem was not found by soil borings and when contractor Gluth Brothers discovered it, the devised solution didn’t work.

They put the pipes on a “helical anchor system.” That’s a device that screws into the ground with a cradle the pipe sits on. The cradle just didn’t hold the pipe good enough to keep it on grade.

So 30 feet of peat won the day.

There is a small trench filled with water that my imagination thought might smell of sewage. But, I’m told the pipes have never carried sewage, so that’s not possible.

Ryland Homes has hired Neptune Construction to fix the problem. That will be accomplished by crossing Route 176 and laying 477 feet of new pipe on the south side of the road, thereby bypassing the peat bog.

Neptune started the job the Saturday before last and the hope is that it will be finished by the end of August.

In the meantime, homeowners have quite a deal.

They still pay for water.

The system isn’t looped, as it should be, but it is city water.

But Ryland is picking up the cost for sewage disposal.

Crystal Lake charges three cents a gallon for treating the sewage.

About six times a day a septic tank truck goes to the manhole near the entrance of the subdivision and pumps out the sewage and wastewater that cannot flow to the lift station on Briarwood. The defective pipeline is capped.

Then, it’s taken to Crystal Lake’s sewage treatment plant across from South High School.

At Thursday night’s park board meeting, one commissioner said he had heard that the total cost to the developer was $4,000 per day. If so, that’s quite a price.

This is not the first time peat bogs on 176 have bothered Crystal Lakers. It seems like decades ago, but there was a time when a fire started the one just west of Briarwood on fire.

Probably by someone burning leaves.

There was no way to put it out.

It burned all winter and into the next year until enough rain fell to put it out, I guess.

= = = = =
On the top left, Ryland Homes’ directional sign is seen on Route 176 in Crystal Lake.

In the foreground in the photograph below is the manhole where sewage is pumped out six times a day. The subdivision can be seen in the background.

Standing water can be seen above the peat bog where the sewage treatment pipe to the Bryn Mawr development did not meet Crystal Lake city approval.

On the left below the water shot is the re-enforced trench that has been dug on the south side of Route 176 where the pipe will be re-routed for 477 feet. A lot of the pipe is in place just to the east of the intersection of Route 176 and Haligus Road, as shown in the next picture, but, as you can, see a bulldozer was putting the rest in place farther east along Route 176 when it was not busy loading dirt into dump trucks to take to the east side of the entrance to the Bryn Mawr subdivision.

As I was taking the pictures mid-day Friday, another brace was delivered. My guess is that Route 176 commuters will see some delays sometime this week.

Near the bottom of the article is Mt. Tabor Cemetery, which is located to the west of the peat bog north of Route 176. You can see Route 176 traffic in the background.

Next appears a Google satellite photo of the area where the problem occurred taken before any digging had been done. The arrow is at the intersection of Haligus Road and Route 176.

And, if you think the sewage treatment pipe had water problems, take a look at this corner at the southwest corner or Haligus Road and Route 176.

All photographs can be enlarged by clicking on them.