McHenry County Blog

Pontoon boat delivering a message on the Fox River and Chain of Lakes.

While taking our boat to D’s Marina in McHenry, I found this p0ntoon.

I asked one of the guys about it and he said,

“Oh, you mean Noah’s Ark?”

He said it belonged to a minister of a church.

The message on the back is

God answers

prayers.  How can

we pray for you?

It’s from the Light House Church. The phone number is written beneath: 815-382-4223.

The church also seems to be known as “The Beacon.”

Right on top it says,

Shining the Light of Christ

on the Chain O’Lakes

When the Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced that the McHenry Locks connecting the lower Fox River to the Chain of Lakes would be closed Mondays and Tuesdays, along with fewer hours the rest of the week, Crystal Lake attorney Jim Bishop got activated.

He produced a petition aimed at the McHenry County Board that said,

We, the undersigned, hereby petition the McHenry County Board and the Fox Waterway Agency to join with us to protest the recent actions of the STATE OF ILLINOIS, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES whereby the locks maintained on the Fox River, at the William G. Stratton/Thomas A. Bolger Lock & Dam will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, commencing May 1, 2009 and other operating hours reduced during the 2009 summer boating season.

The closure of the locks will have a substantial negative effect on many businesses adjacent to the Fox River which depend upon summer boat traffic for a substantial part of their annual income.

The reduction in gross income of those businesses will result in a substantial loss of general sales tax revenues to McHenry County, the municipalities affected and the State of Illinois.

The closure of the locks will greatly affect the recreational activities offered by the Fox River to thousands of boating enthusiasts.

Bishop told me that the county board members he has contacted are receptive to his message and that McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler is going to propose a resolution to the McHenry County Council of Governments.

If you would like to print a copy of the petition, you can find it here.

A letter from State Rep. Mike Tryon:

Fox/Chain of Lakes Flooding Update

WATER LEVELS CONTINUE TO SLOWLY RISE ALONG THE UPPER FOX RIVER IN ILLINOIS.

THE RIVER WAS NEARING CREST TODAY IN THE UPPER REACHES OF THE FOX RIVER ABOVE ALGONQUIN.

A CREST IS EXPECTED NEAR ALGONQUIN BY EARLY WEDNESDAY.

While the threat of additional flooding along the Fox River and the Fox Chain O’ Lakes is not completely behind us, we did receive some cautiously optimistic news Tuesday morning from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. According to IEMA, water levels along the Fox appear to have stabilized; at least for now. The Chain will continue to be closed to all watercraft until further notice.

Local and State emergency response agencies are working together to continue to monitor water levels and to take steps to help those impacted should the water continue to rise. For more information visit http://www.state.il.us/iema/ or call my District Office at 815-459-6453.

Local and State emergency response agencies are working together to monitor water levels and to take steps to help those impacted by the rising waters. They estimate the Fox River levels to rise 2 to 3 more inches over the next few days, and the level on the Chain of Lakes to crest by the end of this week. My office is receiving twice daily updates and I will continue to pass along important information as it becomes available.

Many of you have asked how you can help communities in our state that have been devastated by recent flooding. IEMA suggest that contributions be made to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund. Here is the link to the Red Cross Donation webpage: www.redcrossillinois.org/donate-online.

Other flood related links:

Please go to http://www.ready.illinois.gov/ to learn of flooding developments in Kane County and elsewhere in the state.

This is a link to FEMA’s guidelines on what to do during a flood: http://www.fema.gov/hazard/flood/fl_during.shtm.

A letter from State Rep. Mike Tryon:

Fox/Chain of Lakes Flooding Update

WATER LEVELS CONTINUE TO SLOWLY RISE ALONG THE UPPER FOX RIVER IN ILLINOIS.

THE RIVER WAS NEARING CREST TODAY IN THE UPPER REACHES OF THE FOX RIVER ABOVE ALGONQUIN.

A CREST IS EXPECTED NEAR ALGONQUIN BY EARLY WEDNESDAY.

While the threat of additional flooding along the Fox River and the Fox Chain O’ Lakes is not completely behind us, we did receive some cautiously optimistic news Tuesday morning from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. According to IEMA, water levels along the Fox appear to have stabilized; at least for now. The Chain will continue to be closed to all watercraft until further notice.

Local and State emergency response agencies are working together to continue to monitor water levels and to take steps to help those impacted should the water continue to rise. For more information visit http://www.state.il.us/iema/ or call my District Office at 815-459-6453.

Local and State emergency response agencies are working together to monitor water levels and to take steps to help those impacted by the rising waters. They estimate the Fox River levels to rise 2 to 3 more inches over the next few days, and the level on the Chain of Lakes to crest by the end of this week. My office is receiving twice daily updates and I will continue to pass along important information as it becomes available.

Many of you have asked how you can help communities in our state that have been devastated by recent flooding. IEMA suggest that contributions be made to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund. Here is the link to the Red Cross Donation webpage: www.redcrossillinois.org/donate-online.

Other flood related links:

Please go to http://www.ready.illinois.gov/ to learn of flooding developments in Kane County and elsewhere in the state.

This is a link to FEMA’s guidelines on what to do during a flood: http://www.fema.gov/hazard/flood/fl_during.shtm.

Know when the best time to buy a boat is?

It’s now.

Or pretty soon.

The water is too high for boating on the Fox River and Chain of Lakes.

The season is almost over.

If you can’t use your boat and were thinking of selling it at the end of the season, you might be thinking that you might as well do it now.

The high water means you can’t use your boat the way you want to anyway.

And the price of gasoline has gone way up since a lot of people bought their boats.

So, if you want to buy a boat, as soon as you can, start driving along river and lake front roads and look for “FOR SALE” signs.

= = = = = =
Thanks for a friend of McHenry County Blog for the photographs of the Chain of Lakea and Fox River flooding. The marina is Blarney Island’s parking lot in the Chain.

Know when the best time to buy a boat is?

It’s now.

Or pretty soon.

The water is too high for boating on the Fox River and Chain of Lakes.

The season is almost over.

If you can’t use your boat and were thinking of selling it at the end of the season, you might be thinking that you might as well do it now.

The high water means you can’t use your boat the way you want to anyway.

And the price of gasoline has gone way up since a lot of people bought their boats.

So, if you want to buy a boat, as soon as you can, start driving along river and lake front roads and look for “FOR SALE” signs.

= = = = = =
Thanks for a friend of McHenry County Blog for the photographs of the Chain of Lakea and Fox River flooding. The marina is Blarney Island’s parking lot in the Chain.