McHenry County Blog

When I went to the mailbox this afternoon, I found something that obviously was supposed to be delivered before yesterday’s election.

It was the Illinois Family Institute’s 2010 Voter’s Guide for the primary eleciton.

Since the races for governor as so close, I thought people still might be interested in what the statewide Illinois government candidates had to say about civil unions, abortion, gambling, medical marijuana, the Equal Rights Amendment, the Marriage Amendment, sex education increasing the state income tax by 50% and allowing illegal aliens to have Illinois drivers’ licenses.

You can see the candidates’ answers below. Click to enlarge.

Actually, it wasn’t raining as I drove to Woodstock for the McHenry County Board’s Finance Committee meeting Tuesday.

“Historical.  If an existing company, balance sheet and profit & loss statement for the last three fiscal years.  Include accountant’s opinion letter and any schedules and notes to financial statements.”

“*The entity that will own and operate the stadium will be a start up company that will have no historical financial information.”

A friend dropped this flying pig on my front porch last week.

I haven’t seen him in a while, but I guess I told him the story about Illinois Senate President Pate Philip’s having said the state income tax would be raised “when pigs fly.”

That was before Governor Jim Thompson somehow convinced him to get enough Republicans to vote “Yes” to hike the income tax.

Today we have McHenry County Board Republicans deciding whether a pig will fly.

The pig in question is the Woodstock baseball stadium.

If ever there were a pig in a poke, this is it.

The board’s Finance Committee meets at 9:30 this morning.

The flying pig above seems to be a hood or motorcycle ornament.  I guess it would be a “flying hog,” if put on the right motorcycle.

Toot, toot.

Or is it,

“Hoonk, hoonk?”

That train speeding down the track is the one delivering authority for the Woodstock baseball stadium developer to use $15 million in Federal Stimulus Bonds to finance their proposed stadium.

The beneficiary of this largess is Equity One Development Corporation. The application form lists Mark Houser as the 100% owner of the firm.

Here are a couple of relevant sections of the proposed resolution:

Section 1. The County meets certain conditions specified in the Act required to designate the County as a Recovery Zone, those conditions being a significant increase in the unemployment rate, an increase in the rate of home foreclosures, and general distress and the County has been designated as a Recovery Zone.

Section 2. The County Board hereby approves the Project submitted by Equity One Development Corporation and designates $15,000,000 of Recovery Zone Allocation to Equity One Development Corporation for the issuance of Recovery Zone Facility Bonds to finance the Project.

Section 3. The Allocation shall be used to issue bonds to finance the Project and said Bonds must close no later than March 1, 2010. In the event the Bonds do not close by March 1, 2010, then the Allocation shall expire and revert back to the County.

Section 4. All actions of the officers, agents and employees of the County that are in conformity with the purposes and intent of this Resolution, whether taken before or after the adoption hereof, are hereby ratified, confirmed and adopted.

Here are the committee members who will meet next Tuesday at 9:30:

Chairman: Marc Munaretto

Vice Chair: Lyn Orphal
Members: Scott Breeden, John Hammerand, Tina Hill, Daniel P. Ryan, Mary Donner

Up for election this year are

• Lyn Orphal in the Crystal Lake-Lake in the Hills District 2the Woods
• Tina Hill in Woodstock-Lake in the Hills-Huntley District 5
• Dan Ryan the Huntley, Marengo, rural Woodstock, Harvard, Hebron, Alden District 6

In yesterday’s article about this pending decision, I laid out the campaign opportunities it would offer Democrats.

The light at the end of this tunnel could be what Democrats planning to run for county board are seeing.

With only councilman Richard Ahrens voting in opposition, the Woodstock City Council approved a special use permit for gravel mining across Route 14 from Centegra Hospital down to Lily Pond Road.

A privately financed minor league baseball stadium promoted by Mark Houser and Peter Heitman will be built northeast of Lake Shore Drive and Route 14.

The third of the threesome who showed up at a secret meeting of the McHenry County College Board in March of 2007, Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee, only to duck out the back door of the board room, was also present for Woodstock’s public meeting.

The stated plan is to have baseball games starting in May of 2010, but when the council was discussing how the 38 acres to be occupied by the stadium would be conveyed to the city ownership if a stadium were not completed within five years of approval of the rezoning, Houser asked for an extra five months.

If a stadium is not completed by May of 2014, the city would get the parcel.

So, two years if all goes well and five if there are hitches.

In the meantime, Merryman Aggregates will be mining gravel, stockpiling enough each year to provide what the firm thinks it can sell.

Tom Zanck, attorney for the proposal, and others kept calling the operation by other names, e.g., “aggregate extraction.”

Members of the newly renamed McHenry County Defenders, now, the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County complained of the fast track for the re-zoning. The report from the McHenry County Soil and Water Conservation District had just arrived Monday and had not been reviewed by city staff.

Those wishing to slow down the approval process pointed out that it should have been ready before the Planning Commission had reviewed the petitioners’ plan.

Right before the vote, starting at 12:42 AM, Mayor Brian Sager read the report’s executive summary.

In his summation, Sager reported that 41 citizens had contacted him prior to the council meeting had been “strongly in favor.” One was distinctly opposed and two others wanted to make sure certain questions were answered.

Ahrens opposition centered on the far eastern parcel in the proposal.

It fronts on Lily Pond Road, which is where the gravel trucks would leave the property.

Ahrens thought the highest and best use would be something other than the county fair and exhibitions.

Several members had made lists of pros and cons. The pros obviously were considered more persuasive for the six voting in favor of the re-zoning. (Except for the mayor, they are listed in alphabetical order. Picture are in seating order, from left to right with the exception of Ahrens.)

Mayor Brian Sager
Councilwoman Julie Dillon
Councilwoman Maureen Larson
Councilman RB Thompson
Councilman Mike Turner and
Councilman Ralph Webster

But they didn’t agree with the proposal without placing upwards of 50 conditions, a couple of which were strongly disputed by the petitioners.

One was the citing of a state law which said that the city could impose a ticket tax.

When Houser objected, city attorney Richard Flood pointed out that they could take it out, but this council could not bind future council in such a matter. And, since it was in the state law anyway putting it in the document did not harm to the petitioner.

Houser finally agreed.

More contentious was a city proposal which would allow levying an extraction tax. Merryman wanted his surety bond used first, if something were not done which he had promised. It turns out the city wanted to hold his business responsible for any infrastructure failures of the baseball promoters as well, which the council must have thought unfair, because they limited the liability to the mining operation.

Several times, Mayor Sager said that he didn’t want to end up with the problems that Woodstock’s neighbor to the east, aka, Crystal Lake, had with Vulcan Lakes.

Merryman did not propose a pit going beneath the water table and he proposed reclaiming the land as he moved from one part of the property to the next.

Ahrens, Thompson and Turner are running unopposed for re-election.

= = = = =
On top you can see Equity One’s Mark Houser explaining his and partner Peter Heitman’s baseball stadium proposal. Below is Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee on the right and Heitman on the left. A shot of some of those attending the meeting follows. Mayor Brian Sager is seen directly below with dissenting Councilman Richard Ahrens below him to the left. The council members voting from the proposal are from left to right on the top row, RB Thompson, Maureen Larson and Mike Turner. On the next row you seen Ralph Webster on the left and Julie Dillon on the right. Mark Houser talks to his attorney Tom Zanck directly below. Woodstock City Attorney Richard Flood is below right. At the bottom is another picture of the audience, this time from the back of the room. All photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.

With only councilman Richard Ahrens voting in opposition, the Woodstock City Council approved a special use permit for gravel mining across Route 14 from Centegra Hospital down to Lily Pond Road.

A privately financed minor league baseball stadium promoted by Mark Houser and Peter Heitman will be built northeast of Lake Shore Drive and Route 14.

The third of the threesome who showed up at a secret meeting of the McHenry County College Board in March of 2007, Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee, only to duck out the back door of the board room, was also present for Woodstock’s public meeting.

The stated plan is to have baseball games starting in May of 2010, but when the council was discussing how the 38 acres to be occupied by the stadium would be conveyed to the city ownership if a stadium were not completed within five years of approval of the rezoning, Houser asked for an extra five months.

If a stadium is not completed by May of 2014, the city would get the parcel.

So, two years if all goes well and five if there are hitches.

In the meantime, Merryman Aggregates will be mining gravel, stockpiling enough each year to provide what the firm thinks it can sell.

Tom Zanck, attorney for the proposal, and others kept calling the operation by other names, e.g., “aggregate extraction.”

Members of the newly renamed McHenry County Defenders, now, the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County complained of the fast track for the re-zoning. The report from the McHenry County Soil and Water Conservation District had just arrived Monday and had not been reviewed by city staff.

Those wishing to slow down the approval process pointed out that it should have been ready before the Planning Commission had reviewed the petitioners’ plan.

Right before the vote, starting at 12:42 AM, Mayor Brian Sager read the report’s executive summary.

In his summation, Sager reported that 41 citizens had contacted him prior to the council meeting had been “strongly in favor.” One was distinctly opposed and two others wanted to make sure certain questions were answered.

Ahrens opposition centered on the far eastern parcel in the proposal.

It fronts on Lily Pond Road, which is where the gravel trucks would leave the property.

Ahrens thought the highest and best use would be something other than the county fair and exhibitions.

Several members had made lists of pros and cons. The pros obviously were considered more persuasive for the six voting in favor of the re-zoning. (Except for the mayor, they are listed in alphabetical order. Picture are in seating order, from left to right with the exception of Ahrens.)

Mayor Brian Sager
Councilwoman Julie Dillon
Councilwoman Maureen Larson
Councilman RB Thompson
Councilman Mike Turner and
Councilman Ralph Webster

But they didn’t agree with the proposal without placing upwards of 50 conditions, a couple of which were strongly disputed by the petitioners.

One was the citing of a state law which said that the city could impose a ticket tax.

When Houser objected, city attorney Richard Flood pointed out that they could take it out, but this council could not bind future council in such a matter. And, since it was in the state law anyway putting it in the document did not harm to the petitioner.

Houser finally agreed.

More contentious was a city proposal which would allow levying an extraction tax. Merryman wanted his surety bond used first, if something were not done which he had promised. It turns out the city wanted to hold his business responsible for any infrastructure failures of the baseball promoters as well, which the council must have thought unfair, because they limited the liability to the mining operation.

Several times, Mayor Sager said that he didn’t want to end up with the problems that Woodstock’s neighbor to the east, aka, Crystal Lake, had with Vulcan Lakes.

Merryman did not propose a pit going beneath the water table and he proposed reclaiming the land as he moved from one part of the property to the next.

Ahrens, Thompson and Turner are running unopposed for re-election.

= = = = =
On top you can see Equity One’s Mark Houser explaining his and partner Peter Heitman’s baseball stadium proposal. Below is Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee on the right and Heitman on the left. A shot of some of those attending the meeting follows. Mayor Brian Sager is seen directly below with dissenting Councilman Richard Ahrens below him to the left. The council members voting from the proposal are from left to right on the top row, RB Thompson, Maureen Larson and Mike Turner. On the next row you seen Ralph Webster on the left and Julie Dillon on the right. Mark Houser talks to his attorney Tom Zanck directly below. Woodstock City Attorney Richard Flood is below right. At the bottom is another picture of the audience, this time from the back of the room. All photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.

It won’t be on watershed of Crystal Lake watershed at McHenry County College.

But it will be just up the road across Route 12, north of Centegra’s Woodstock hospital.

It will include a minor baseball stadium.

But, it will not it will not cost county taxpayers any money.

And, it won’t be just for baseball. Being promoted are lacrosse, soccer, football, concerts, trade shows, antique shows, car shows and festivals.

And the same guys who fleeced McHenry County College taxpayers are apparently among the driving forces behind the proposal.

Mark Houser and Pete Heitman building a sports facility without a public subsidy.

The 250-acre site will preserve 53 acres of wetlands and 22 acres of oak savannah, seen to the right of the stadium. Click to enlarge.

The area is also being held out as a possible new home for the McHenry County Fair. More specifically, most of the land between the railroad track, Lily Pond Road, where I lived for a while, and Route 14.

The site is also being promoted as a place for not-for-profits and service agencies to locate.

Victor Narusis has been the glue that has put this idea together for the McHenry County Community Foundation. When he told me at the Pro-Life Pig Roast at the end of June that he had several million dollars committed and that there would be no tax dollars involved, I wished him luck.

“We are proud to present this project with no request for public funding,” Narusis said (with my piecing together parts of two sentences from the press release.)

He said the site selected “rose to the top of the list” because it is “located in the central part of the county and along a regional traffic corridor” providing “convenient access for all county residents.”

The sports stadium will sit 6,500 or 10,000 with lawn seating.

The land is being donated and graded by Rick Zirk of Woodstock’s Merryman Enterprises. After site preparation, the remaining land will be made available to the Foundation and the McHenry County Fair Board.

“This approach supports smart land use, economic resource planning, wise budget practices and would provide numerous resources with the many benefits of tourism,” McHenry County Community Foundation Board Chairman Mark Ehlert.

You can read the MCCF press release here.

It won’t be on watershed of Crystal Lake watershed at McHenry County College.

But it will be just up the road across Route 12, north of Centegra’s Woodstock hospital.

It will include a minor baseball stadium.

But, it will not it will not cost county taxpayers any money.

And, it won’t be just for baseball. Being promoted are lacrosse, soccer, football, concerts, trade shows, antique shows, car shows and festivals.

And the same guys who fleeced McHenry County College taxpayers are apparently among the driving forces behind the proposal.

Mark Houser and Pete Heitman building a sports facility without a public subsidy.

The 250-acre site will preserve 53 acres of wetlands and 22 acres of oak savannah, seen to the right of the stadium. Click to enlarge.

The area is also being held out as a possible new home for the McHenry County Fair. More specifically, most of the land between the railroad track, Lily Pond Road, where I lived for a while, and Route 14.

The site is also being promoted as a place for not-for-profits and service agencies to locate.

Victor Narusis has been the glue that has put this idea together for the McHenry County Community Foundation. When he told me at the Pro-Life Pig Roast at the end of June that he had several million dollars committed and that there would be no tax dollars involved, I wished him luck.

“We are proud to present this project with no request for public funding,” Narusis said (with my piecing together parts of two sentences from the press release.)

He said the site selected “rose to the top of the list” because it is “located in the central part of the county and along a regional traffic corridor” providing “convenient access for all county residents.”

The sports stadium will sit 6,500 or 10,000 with lawn seating.

The land is being donated and graded by Rick Zirk of Woodstock’s Merryman Enterprises. After site preparation, the remaining land will be made available to the Foundation and the McHenry County Fair Board.

“This approach supports smart land use, economic resource planning, wise budget practices and would provide numerous resources with the many benefits of tourism,” McHenry County Community Foundation Board Chairman Mark Ehlert.

You can read the MCCF press release here.

Mike Thiessen is the deal maker for Heartland Community College’s minor league baseball stadium in Normal, Illinois.

This started out as a “we investors will pay for the stadium” deal, but you can imagine what is happening with public money there.

Hey, if you don’t ask, you won’t get, right?

“We’re starting to see who has got what interest and what they are willing to bite off in terms of their financial commitment,” Thiessen told Bloomington Pantagraph reporter Randy Reinhardt.

Three leagues are bellying up the bar for this one.

Of course, there’s the only one that the McHenry County College board deemed important enough to talk to. That’s the Frontier League, for those of you with short memories.

In addition, the Northern League and American Association are interested.

At least the Heartland board is willing to listen to competing offers. MCC President Walt Packard was unwilling to do that.

And the college’s president, Jon Astroth, wants the board to decide at its May 6th meeting.

There does not allow a whole lot of public discussion.

Here’s a gem from Thiessen about using taxpayer dollars:

”Thiessen called negotiations ‘non traditional’ because the Town of Normal and Heartland have said the ownership group would have to foot the majority of the expense involved with building a stadium and fielding a team.”

Want to bet that those with a beneficial interest in the baseball team won’t be made public?

That’s a bad template from McHenry County College that I’ll bet catches hold.

While those holding a beneficial interest in land being sold to a public body must all be identified, those signing a lease with a junior college do not have to make public their investors.

They should and can be forced to by a college board, should the board have public disclosure as one of it operating tenants.

McHenry County College does not. All of the investors, except Frontier League baseball promoter Pete Heitman, remain unknown in the Crystal Lake proposal.

In other news, McHenry County College President Packard announced last month that the board would kill its baseball stadium proposal at next Thursday’s meetings. Too much public opposition.
= = = = =
The elevation of a baseball stadium comes from drawings Mark Houser’s Equity One. The firm received a no-bid contract to do a feasibility study, which was severely panned by Economics Research Associates, the firm that grew out of people who designed Disneyland and went on to design the other Disney theme parks. Then, the MCC asked for a re-do. The MCC board even gave Houser the authority to pick the vendors to do the work on the stadium. That was a way to hide what vendors were getting how many tax dollars. Not a lot of baseball stadium transparency in McHenry County for the $10 million, plus interest, that Heitman and Houser wanted the taxpayers to guarantee. A Northwest Herald columnist comments on the risk to taxpayers. But, no referendum needed. MCC planned to sell debt certificates. Who’s stuck if the minor league baseball flops? The taxpayers, of course. Or the students with higher tuition. Houser is on the left, Heitman on the right.

Mike Thiessen is the deal maker for Heartland Community College’s minor league baseball stadium in Normal, Illinois.

This started out as a “we investors will pay for the stadium” deal, but you can imagine what is happening with public money there.

Hey, if you don’t ask, you won’t get, right?

“We’re starting to see who has got what interest and what they are willing to bite off in terms of their financial commitment,” Thiessen told Bloomington Pantagraph reporter Randy Reinhardt.

Three leagues are bellying up the bar for this one.

Of course, there’s the only one that the McHenry County College board deemed important enough to talk to. That’s the Frontier League, for those of you with short memories.

In addition, the Northern League and American Association are interested.

At least the Heartland board is willing to listen to competing offers. MCC President Walt Packard was unwilling to do that.

And the college’s president, Jon Astroth, wants the board to decide at its May 6th meeting.

There does not allow a whole lot of public discussion.

Here’s a gem from Thiessen about using taxpayer dollars:

”Thiessen called negotiations ‘non traditional’ because the Town of Normal and Heartland have said the ownership group would have to foot the majority of the expense involved with building a stadium and fielding a team.”

Want to bet that those with a beneficial interest in the baseball team won’t be made public?

That’s a bad template from McHenry County College that I’ll bet catches hold.

While those holding a beneficial interest in land being sold to a public body must all be identified, those signing a lease with a junior college do not have to make public their investors.

They should and can be forced to by a college board, should the board have public disclosure as one of it operating tenants.

McHenry County College does not. All of the investors, except Frontier League baseball promoter Pete Heitman, remain unknown in the Crystal Lake proposal.

In other news, McHenry County College President Packard announced last month that the board would kill its baseball stadium proposal at next Thursday’s meetings. Too much public opposition.
= = = = =
The elevation of a baseball stadium comes from drawings Mark Houser’s Equity One. The firm received a no-bid contract to do a feasibility study, which was severely panned by Economics Research Associates, the firm that grew out of people who designed Disneyland and went on to design the other Disney theme parks. Then, the MCC asked for a re-do. The MCC board even gave Houser the authority to pick the vendors to do the work on the stadium. That was a way to hide what vendors were getting how many tax dollars. Not a lot of baseball stadium transparency in McHenry County for the $10 million, plus interest, that Heitman and Houser wanted the taxpayers to guarantee. A Northwest Herald columnist comments on the risk to taxpayers. But, no referendum needed. MCC planned to sell debt certificates. Who’s stuck if the minor league baseball flops? The taxpayers, of course. Or the students with higher tuition. Houser is on the left, Heitman on the right.