McHenry County Blog

Grafton Township Trustee Gerry McMahon expresses his disdain for constituents by facing away from them. Here he points at ally Trustee Rob LaPorta.

Grafton Township Trustee Gerry McMahon is known for not facing the audience.

Now, I learn that a Belvidere Township Trustee has the same disdain for his constituents.

Other similarities to Grafton Township include the Board’s desire to buy a building, the old Eagles Club.

It sounds a lot like the old Grafton Township Board before Linda Moore defeated John Rossi.

Belvidere Township Supervisor Pat Murphy and Trustees Debbie Carlson, Bill Robertson, Bob Turner and Paul Zeien seem to have an edifice complex. (A condition in which public officials want to have their names affixed in bronze so people can see who was responsible for it construction or purchase.)

The Board wanted to offer $150,000, but were backed down by constituents.  The building later sold for $60,000 Boone County Board member Cathy Ward wrote in the Rockford Register-Star.

Ward reports on the budget meeting at which no public comment was allowed.

One of the questions someone would have asked was,

“Why didn’t you significantly lower the levies to reduce our taxes when you have more than enough cash on hand to pay projected bills for more than two years?”

That’s probably a question that could be asked of many township boards, such as last year’s Nunda Township Board, sans Supervisor John Heisler, who was not at the budget-setting meeting.

Unlike in Grafton Township, the entire board is unified. A $3.7 million Town Fund was approved, along with a $6.2 Road and Bridge Fund.

The column points out that many consider the amounts “dangerously bloated with projected expenditures that have never been spent in past years and simply cost Belvidere Township residents more in taxes and keep adding to township carry-over funds.”

Ward was joined by Pat Mattison, Bill Wolf and Max Newport, good government guys from the time I served Boone County in the Illinois House of Representatives, joined with Ward and Don Sattler is signing on to the guest column.

The column ends with the information that petitions for next year’s elections will be available in August.

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Thanks to Boone County Watchdog for pointing me to this story.

Yesterday I drove a friend to Belvidere for medical treatment. I had about an hour to wait, so I went exploring in the city I represented in the Illinois House of Representatives for eight years in the 1970′s. Since I knew that the Amtrak route selected by Governor Pat Quinn when through the town, I wondered where the station would be.

I thought the little white building across the tracks on State Street might be a candidate for an Amtrak station.

I stopped on Business Route 20 (State Street) and took the picture above. I wondered if the little white building across the tracks might turn into a train station.

A block east there are parking lots to the north and south of the tracks.

The train would be coming in from the east. The empty spaces you see on the left and right on the other side of the street to the east are parking lots. I drove down to see if Pat Mattison, the publisher of the Belvidere Daily Republican I knew, who was running Belrock Printing after he sold the paper, was still in there.

Belvidere City Hall

He wasn’t.  His old office and plant was now the new Belvidere City Hall. I figured someone inside would know where the new train station would be located. I hit the jackpot.

Belvidere Alderman Andrew Racz

Alderman Andrew Racz was walking in the building as the woman at the City Clerk’s office was telling me that a display was inside the locked door. He recognized me and, while I couldn’t pull his name out of my ancient memory vault, I did remember his face.

Belvidere Mayor Frederic Brereton

He ushered me into to see the mayor, Frederic Brereton, who was outside in his reception area. I thanked him for his council’s having endorsed an Amtrak station in McHenry County before the McHenry County Board did. He told me there was a good working partnership.

Belvidere Mayor Frederic Brereton explains the elements of the display outside his office.

Brereton showed me the display outside his office, telling me the train station was going to be across the street from City Hall.

Mayor Frederic Brereton points to a drawing of the Amtrak Station. You can see City Hall across the tracks to the left in this aerial view.

“Go out the front door, stand in the middle of the street and look to your left. That’s where the station is going to be.” He told me that State Senator Brad Burzynski had gotten some state aid and that by eliminating a grad crossing by putting the station across Whitney Boulevard, he hoped that Amtrak might kick in some money as well, since the fewer grade crossing the better, as far as Amtrak was concerned.

The proposed Belvidere Amtrak Station will straddle Whitney Boulevard north of the tracks next to the Boone County Historical Museum. The street will be closed. Mayor Frederic Brereton envisions the station serving Metra trains as well.

So, I went outside, stood in the middle of the street and took the photo you see above. What will the station look like?

The proposed Amtrak/Metra Station as seen from the direction of State Street, which is Business U.S. 20.

Here’s another drawing I found outside the Mayor’s office.