McHenry County Blog

Just thought folks might be interested in what Erin Smith, Lakewood’s new village president is telling constituents:

From the Village President

Dear Neighbors,

It’s been a busy summer in the Village of Lakewood and, on behalf of the Village Board and Village Staff, I want to thank you for your ongoing support. At this time, I would like to update you on a number of exciting initiatives that have kept us very busy over the last few months:

New Committees Formed

I am thrilled with the overwhelming response to my request for committee volunteers! We had more than enough volunteers and a very good representation of various neighborhoods. I hope that residents who were not appointed to the committees this year will remain active with the committees as informal members. Every committee meeting is open to the public and the meeting schedule, meeting agenda, and meeting minutes will be available to the public per the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

Four new resident committees have now been formed, which we believe will improve communication and increase the number of projects we can pursue each year. Each committee has met at least once to begin the process of setting goals for 2009 – 2010. The members of each committee are listed below along with their term on the committee, and I would encourage you to reach out to these members with any ideas you have related to the charter of that committee.

Economic Development Committee — Ken Santowski, Board Liaison; Julie Richardson, Chairman (3-year term); Steve Bottorff (2-year term); Blake Hobson (2-year term); Robin Cero (2-year term); Harriet Ford (1-year term); George Mueller (1-year term); and Bob Rosenberger (1-year term).

Parks and Recreation Committee — Dorothy Pfeuffer, Board Liaison; Ed Kisman, Chairman (3-year term); Sharon Bean (2-year term); Carlie Dobbeck (2-year term), Wendy Frederick (2-year term); Gail Bialk (1-year term); Tom Podraza (1-year term); and Lis Tevyaw (1-year term).

RedTail Golf Club Committee — Gene Furey, Board Liaison; Rich Ford, Chairman (3-year term); Sandy Holden (2-year term); Bill Peterson (2-year term); Rick Clark (2-year term); Tim Heagy (1-year term); Jeff Wolfgram (1-year term); and Jeff Iden (1-year term).


Special Service Area #1 Committee — John Pfeuffer, Board Liaison; Jesse Waldon, Chairman (3-year term); Pam Eddy (2-year term); Don Foster (2-year term); David Harris (2-year term); Debbie Hall (1-year term); Jane Kutilek (1-year term); Phil Lambruschi (1-year term).

Amazing Neighbors

I’d like to take an opportunity in every newsletter to recognize the contributions of volunteers in our community. I have the privilege of witnessing the generosity of so many residents, and I hope you will join me in thanking these neighbors.

This quarter, I’d like to highlight the amazing contributions of the SSA-1 Lakes Committee and other residents who live in this area. Following the unfortunate fish kill on Lake 1, I was overwhelmed by the number of residents who signed up to assist our Village Staff with this difficult cleanup effort. Following this work, these residents have continued to meet on a regular basis for “Algae Hoedowns,” spending up to 8 hours at a time manually removing algae from the lakes using boats and rakes they have adapted for this work. A number of Village employees have also contributed to this effort. Other neighbors provided food and drinks for the volunteers. The result has been that the Village had not needed to purchase chemicals to treat 3 of the 4 lakes.

Additionally, several of the members of the SSA-1 Lakes Committee have contributed many hours toward the process of completing a Section 319 Grant application that, if successful, will provide $400,000 toward the restoration of natural buffers and other features that will improve the health of these lakes and surrounding areas from an environmental perspective.

Please join me in thanking these committee members and everyone else who has donated many hours every week toward preserving the lakes in this area.

MCC Promise Program Volunteers

The Village of Lakewood is now officially registered as a McHenry County College Promise Program agency. The Promise Program provides free tuition to students who volunteer in the community for at least 16 hours every semester. We have identified a number of projects that are well suited to the efforts of the Promise Program students, including public properties maintenance, open space rehabilitation projects and assistance for disabled or elderly residents. Please encourage college students in this program to sign up for Lakewood projects. And if you or one of your neighbors is in need of additional assistance with yard work, please contact Village Hall to inquire about receiving help from one of the students.

Improving Resident Communication

I have decided, with the support of the Trustees, to begin a new process for soliciting ongoing feedback from residents. I would like to meet with one neighborhood every quarter to engage in discussion about topics that are most relevant to that neighborhood. Our first meeting will be dedicated to residents on the east side of Lakewood on Gates 1 – 23. Thanks to a generous donation from our own Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, we will call this neighborhood meeting “Pizza with the President”. We will meet on Tuesday, September 29th, at 6:30 pm, at the home of Rick and Ernstiena Clark (464 Meridian). Please RSVP to Rick at (815) 459-4938. This is the only notice for this meeting, so please put it on your calendar and spread the word.

Highlights from Recent Board Meetings

Some of the notable decisions or updates from recent Board Meetings include:

o Conceptual approval of the RedTail Clubhouse architectural design. Business case and funding to be determined in partnership with the RedTail Golf Committee
o $200,000 approved in State Capital Bill for repaving RedTail Drive (estimated for spring 2010). A special thank you to State Representative Michael Tryon for his assistance in securing this funding for the Village of Lakewood
o Significant progress toward annexation of properties west to Route 47 and beyond, with several businesses signed to voluntarily annex
o Conceptual approval to pursue commercial development opportunity at Route 47 and 176
o Martial arts studio signed lease agreement for development at Lakewood Commons
o Renewed refuse contract with MDC Environmental Services with several favorable modifications
o Approved and installed dry well on Lake Avenue to relieve standing water problem

Our Board Meetings are the second and fourth Tuesday of every month, at 7:00 p.m., at RedTail Golf Club. I hope you will be able to join us for some of the meetings. And, as always, please contact me anytime with questions or suggestions. Phone: (815) 356-8005 Email: erin.smith_2009@yahoo.com.

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The sunset over Lakewood’s part of the Crystal Lake shoreline was taken from outside the Crystal Lake Park District’s Main Beach in late September.

At Tuesday night’s meeting of neighbors at Rick and Ernstiena Clark’s home on Meridian Street, newly-elected Village President Erin Smith told the upwards of 30 people gathered that Lakewood has been approved for a grant of about $330,000 to complete the relining of the sanitary sewer project on the east side of the village.

This pertains to the water headed to the Crystal Lake Waste Treatment Plant in Country Club Additions between the lake and the Crystal Lake Country Club.

I asked the village staff for details and here they are, compliments of Finance Director Carole Robertson:

The Village of Lakewood has applied for a Water Pollution Control Loan through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) for $310,000 for relining of sanitary sewer and the rehabilitation of manholes on the east side of the Village to minimize inflow and infiltration into the sanitary sewer system.

The current sanitary sewer system in this area is over 70 years old and does not operate as intended due to excessive infiltration and exfiltration.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the IEPA may issue the Loan at zero percent (0%) interest and forgive $77,500 of principal (25% of the loan amount).

Bids will be opened on November 3rd with work to begin a week afterward. Work will most likely continue into spring 2010.

Ironically, the sewers were originally installed through Works Progress Administration. For those whose Great Depression history is a bit weak, the WPA put people to work during the 1930’s.