McHenry County Blog

This morning at 7:10, Gus Philpott published this article on his Woodstock Advocate.

Apparently a reader got tired of the Northwest Herald failure to follow up on a tip apparently supplied via email on June 7th about, to put it in Woodstock Advocate’s words, a

“home [which]  was originally a seven-room home, with two bedrooms and two baths, according to the permit application in the property file at Woodstock City Hall. This home was listed for sale in 2012 as a ten-room home with four bedrooms and three baths, and a finished basement.

“[But] as of July 20, there wasn’t an application for a Permit in the City’s file for this property that reflected these additions, along with calculation of the Permit Fees and the Impact Fees, and the required Certificate of Occupancy after the necessary inspections of electrical and plumbing work. The fees could total $8,000 or more.”

Philpott emailed Mayor Brian Sager July 27th about the matter.  No reply as of when the story was posted.

The property was sold on July 16th, Philpott writes.

Later in the day (10:59), the Northwest Herald published an article about Clifton’s retiring nine months from now.

Plenty of time for people to inquire about the allegedly owed fees.

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I ran into Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager tonight at State Rep. Mike Tryon’s fundraiser and asked him about the permits.
As nearly as I could understand the explanation, the previous owner of the house may have failed to pay something, but Clifton did not.

The current McHenry County Ethics Commission has three members whose terms are expiring:

• Walter J. Packard, former McHenry County College President, who is now retired with a golden parachute
• Robert Blaizer, recently retired Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce Exec and former District 47 Grad School Superintendend
• Rev. Karen Stunkel, former Home of the Sparrow administrator

Replacements being recommended at Tuesday’s 8:30 AM meeting of the Management Services Committee are

• Deborah Nier – Administrator, City of Marengo
• Major John Price – Salvation Army, Crystal Lake
• Robert Martens – Director, Family Service & Community Mental Health Center

It appears that the original members, appointed Feb. 1, 2005, were

• Walter J. Packard, President McHenry County College
• Art Osten, Jr., Village Administrator Fox River Grove
• Robert Blaizer, President Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce
• Timothy J. Clifton, City Manager City of Woodstock
• Karen Stunkel, Executive Director Home of the Sparrow