McHenry County Blog

Here’s the press release:

The McHenry County Board is accepting applications for the McHENRY COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH from INDIVIDUALS, PHYSICIANS and REGISTERED NURSES.

One (1) vacant position is available with a term expiring June 30, 2016 and must be filled by a REGISTERED NURSE.

One (1) vacant position is available with a term expiring June 30, 2016 and must be filled by a PHYSICIAN.

One (1) vacant position is available for INDIVIDUALS interested in appointment to the McHenry County Board of Health and has a term expiring June 30, 2016.

Application forms are available at the County Board Office, Room 209, McHenry County Government Center, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock, IL 60098 (815-334-4221) or at the County’s website http://www.co.mchenry.il.us/departments/countyboard/PDFDocs/AppointmentApp.pdf.

Completed applications should be returned to the County Board office no later than 2:00 p.m. on THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013. If mailing your application, certified or registered mail is recommended.

Mailed applications should be sent to the following address: McHenry County Board, 2200 North Seminary Avenue, Woodstock, IL 60098.

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Does anyone but government put the number in parentheses after the word for it?

The McHenry County Non-Dedicated Roads Coalition has sent letters and questionnaires to each person running for the McHenry County Board.

Those who live on roads not maintained by Township Road Commissioners just don’t understand why their usually older subdivisions get such a small cut of the Township Road District pies.

Municipalities, for instance, get 50% of a Township’s Road and Bridge Fund property tax collections on properties within their boundaries.

Here’s the August 9th letter sent to County Board members:

I am writing to you in your capacity as a candidate for election to the McHenry County Board. I am writing to all candidates, incumbents and newcomers.

My purpose in writing is to provide some basic information about an issue that is of utmost importance to some ten thousand McHenry County residents who live in old heritage subdivisions. In addition to providing you with a brief information sheet explaining our issue and how it involves the McHenry County Board, we are including a candidate questionnaire that is self-explanatory.

Our motivation is straight forward and selfish. We want to indentify who needs knowledge of our issue and/or who is already up to speed with it and has an opinion and is willing to share it with us. We intend to be active supporters of those who hear our cause and are sympathetic to helping resolve it. Quite simply, we want to know who we would like to see elected and then try to help that come about.

Our questionnaire includes an opportunity for you to seek additional information and clarification. Any of our ten member steering committee, one or more of whom you probably know, would be willing to provide that information. If you don’t already know of our issue, let me summarize by telling you that we seek nothing from the county other than utilizing a State of Illinois statute that enables the county to modify road standards for old heritage subdivisions that are shut out of their share of township road and bridge taxes collected by the township because of standards that the county now has in place and are impossible to meet but were not in place at the time these old subdivisions were platted.

While we would appreciate and sensibly utilize any help we might receive from the county or township, what we really seek is only our fair share of the road and bridges taxes that we pay for the roads that go by our homes. It is our position that it is the townships that are denying us a return of our tax dollars but that it was the lax or non existent standards that the county set, or didn’t set, many decades ago, that lets that happen.

Thank you for participating in the democratic process with us. We seek no hand outs or preferential treatments. Please hear our story and help us.

Sincerely,

John Reihansperger, President

Here’s the questionnaire:

McHenry County Board Candidate Questionnaire

This questionnaire is the initiative of the McHenry County Non-Dedicated Roads Coalition. For over five years our coalition has been attempting to resolve an issue with our respective township road districts that requires involvement by the McHenry County Board for resolution. We make up over ten thousand McHenry County citizens.

Thank you for helping us assess how much work we have to do. We eventually need three-fifths of the entire board for us to be successful.

Candidate name (as it will appear on the ballot)_________________________________

McHenry County District #____________

Address_________________________________________________________________
(#—-Street—city—state—ZIP)

Phone #s

e-mail__________________________ Web site? _______________________________

Please circle your response.

1.) Do you live on a non-dedicated road? YES NO

2.) Do you know of our issue? YES NO

3.) Have you already been informed enough and made a decision about whether or not you are supportive of our position? YES NO

4.) If “No”, would you be willing to provide us the opportunity to explain our issue and listen to our talking points?   YES NO NA

5.) Do you support our position?  YES NO DON’T KNOW

Please circle above the phone number, e-mail, or snail mail address that we should use.

(H)_________________(C)__________________(Fax)_________________

THANK YOU!!!

Please respond ASAP

Keely keeps watch throughout the year for the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax Collectors from the Heath Department.

Here’s the announcement:

The McHenry County Board is accepting applications from INDIVIDUALS interested in appointment to the McHENRY COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH.

Three 3-year terms are available with terms that will expire on June 30, 2015.

Application forms are available at the County Board Office, Room 209, McHenry County Government Center, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock, IL 60098 (815-334-4221) or at the County’s website at http://www.co.mchenry.il.us/departments/countyboard/PDFDocs/AppointmentApp.pdf.

Completed applications should be returned to the County Board office no later than 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 7, 2012. If mailing your application, certified or registered mail is recommended. Mailed applications should be sent to the following address: McHenry County Board, 2200 North Seminary Avenue, Woodstock, IL 60098.

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I would note that this is the Board that came up with the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax in an attempt to raise more revenue.

A press release from Distrcit 3 McHenry County Board candidate Michael Walkup:

Walkup Points to “Outdated and Overly Restrictive Regulations”

Mike Walkup

The potential business climate in McHenry County is being stifled by outdated and overly restrictive regulations of all kinds.

A case in point is the use of agricultural property.

Not everyone in McHenry County lives on 160 acres of land that can be farmed with corn and soybeans. Many people have varying size properties that are currently unused.

When some of those people want to try to put their land to productive use, and help preserve open space in the bargain, they are often stymied by the County.

For instance, an apple orchard cannot take it’s blemished apples and make and sell apple sauce.

Someone who raises popcorn can’t pop it for customers to have a taste unless he or she puts in a certified kitchen.

You cannot have more than one person working for you in a home occupation unless they are a member of your family.

If you raise free range chickens or turkeys, you can slaughter up to a 1000 of them yourself in the back yard with minimal regulation and sell them to people who come over if you have agricultural zoning.

However, if you sell just one chicken that you have raised yourself and have taken to a certified inspected state or federal processor, you are violating the law.

If you do try to do one of these things, you are told that can apply for a Conditional Use Permit.

This requires hiring an attorney, but that is the least of your costs.

The county will also make you pave your driveway, no matter how long it is, so you can have one handicapped parking space that can be marked.

Then you have to put in male and female handicapped accessible bathrooms, on their own septic system, plus maybe a sprinkler system in your barn.

This brings the cost of a jar of apple sauce up to around $100,000.

You can. however, sell honey from your bees that are also in jars with no problem.

Attempts to develop an “agritourism” ordinance that would allow for more leeway floundered in committee at the County Board when the County attempted to force registrations and require each business to apply for Conditional Use Permits after three years of operation.

This assumes that everyone who wants to sell an apple corer at their orchard intends to try to become “AgriDisneyland”.

We need more common sense at the County. That’s why I am running for County Board, District 3, on March 20th, in the Republican Primary. Please be sure to vote.

Keely Cat can continue relaxing after Andy Andresky reassured those big people who feed him.

After attending “Under the Streetlamp,” a concert by the stars of “Jersey Boys,” at Huntley High school, the Skinners went to eat at 1776 in Crystal Lake.

Proprietor Andy Andresky, as usual, came around to greet us and, after catching up on family affairs, I asked about the Cat Tax.

Andresky, who is now President of the McHenry County Board of Health, told me that it wouldn’t come up this year.

So, it seems Keely Cat can relax for another year.

No need to keep watch for the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax Collector.

The patriotic decor of Crystal Lake’s 1776 restaurant was an ideal setting for Wednesday night’s meeting of the McHenry County Young Republicans.

It was so much more appropriate that the little room in the Pizza Hut basement outside the men’s and women’s restrooms where I remember the YR’s once met back in the 1970′s.

The main speaker was U.S. Senate candidate Ed Varga, a resident of Richmond and a ten-year member of the McHenry County Board of Health.

Varga was upbeat, having just been invited yesterday to give a five minute talk in Springfield to the Illinois Republican County Chairman’s Association at 10 today.

He previewed the speech on the YR’s.

Varga described himself as a 42 year old engineer who was a single parent of an 11-year old son who had lost his health insurance last year. His father emigrated from Europe.

He described his greatest achievement in his pubic service as

“Our leaders in Washington, D.C., have forgotten how to listen,” he continued.

“People are speaking, but people in in Washington aren’t listening.”

Varga outlined his “core values:”

• Pro-life
• 2nd Amendment supporter
• In favor of state’s rights
• Opposed to national health insurance
• Favors a strong, well-equipped military
• Opposed to cap and trade
• Supports the military’s patrolling our borders
• Opposed to devaluation of the dollar caused by the Stimulus Package
• Opposed to global environmental standards

From his hand out, I see Varga is [Mistake originally published follows: "also opposed to." Correction has been inserted following this parenthesis.] in favor of same sex unions. (Click to enlarge the image.)

After Varga’s short speech, YR President Bryan Javor announced the group now has 726 members and the goal of activating 10% of that number.

One of the on-going projects is to notify Young Republicans who live in a precinct which now had no elected GOP precinct committeeman and encourage them to run for the office.

Javor then called on heads of committees for reports.