On March 31, 2007, McHenry County Blog has a story entitled,
In it, Chemtool Jim Athans said,
“We’re not looking for tax breaks, TIF districts, we just need zoning.”
He owns land in three potential locations:
- Garden Prairie next to Route 20,
- a Marengo-area location 1 mile west of the old Shady Lane Theater on Route 20, and
- Sharon, Wisconsin.
I got the impression that wherever he gets zoning first will snag Chemtool.
But, maybe not.
When I called the Boone County Building Department to ask if an application had been filed for a building permit, the answer was,
“No, not yet. As far as I know, no, nothing has been submitted to us.”
The part of the proposed McHenry County property, which Athans owns, is zoning for manufacturing. Another parcel, which he has not yet purchased, but for which he has a willing seller, is not.
I haven’t followed the efforts of Marengo to lure Chemtool, but I sense that April’s election returns may have made the city more likely to provide the zoning that is needed.
Maybe the zoning race is not over.
Maybe Boone County is the hare and Marengo is the tortoise.
If so, what a coup for Marengo Mayor Don Lockhart!