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WILLIAM G. STRATTON-THOMAS A. BOLGER LOCK AND DAM PROJECT AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
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Real estate bid gets no vote County Board rejects hiring firm owned by former member By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
Kiewit Infrastructure Company crews pour concrete into forms for the mitre gates assembly at the Stratton Lock and Dam in McHenry. The $16.7 million improvement project will improve the gates, boat lock and berm on the west side of the Fox River.
Easy travels for Fox Lake boaters? Engineer says extending boat lock will cut wait times at least in half By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com McHENRY – Boaters on Fox Lake can expect unencumbered travels through the William G. Stratton-Thomas A. Bolger Lock and Dam this year as a $16.7 million renovation project is ahead of schedule and should not cause detours. Significant progress has been made in only a few months on the project that includes extending the Stratton boat lock downstream to double capacity,
the proper water level, should be able to handle eight large It was never officially documented, but boats at a time instead of the current four. there were really, really long wait times. Rita Lee, the chief engineer of Studies Section for the IlliRita Lee, chief engineer of Studies Section for nois Department of Natural Rethe Illinois Department of Natural Resources sources, said wait times during peak hours could be as long as two hours, but the new lock will replacing the gate structure and wait times for the more than cut that time in at least half. “It was never officially docrehabilitating the berm on the 24,000 boats that pass through west side of the Fox River to fix the lock annually on the way to umented, but there were realthe upper and lower river. The ly, really long wait times,” Lee erosion problems. Extending the boat lock is ex- lock, which pulls in or releases See WAIT TIMES, page A6 pected to drastically cut down water to raise or lower boats to
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WOODSTOCK – The McHenry County Board soundly rejected hiring a firm owned by a former board member and current Metra representative for its real estate brokerage needs. On a 19-3 vote Tuesday evening, board members opposed appointing M.J. Munaretto & Co. as the county’s nonexclusive agent for brokerage services on an as-needed basis. The issue was supposed to go up for a vote at the March 3 board meeting, but was taken off the agenda and sent back to the Management Services Committee because of questions and concerns. The business’ owner, Marc Munaretto, had served on the County Board from 1998 to 2012 and was appointed by the board last year to represent the county Marc on the Metra Board. The Metra Munaretto Board seat comes with a $15,000 is the owner annual salary. “This just smacks of a con- of M.J. Munaflict of interest. It makes us look retto & Co. very bad if we approve this,” and a former board member Nick Provenza- County Board member from no, R-McHenry, said. County staff reached out to 13 1998 to 2012. real estate companies and adver- Munaretto tised the job, but Munaretto’s also currently company was the only one that represents responded. It cleared the Man- the county agement Services Committee on the Metra on a 5-2 vote. While opposed by Board. chairwoman Tina Hill, R-Woodstock, and Michael Walkup, R-Crystal Lake, the majority concluded that the county followed the proper procedure for bidding out the service. While the committee, which is in charge of board rules, said it wants to explore a “revolving-door” rule, or a ban on bids from individuals with compensated board-appointed positions, committee member Anna May Miller, R-Cary, said no such rules exist now to forbid awarding the job. “We would like to see a policy like that in place. However, there is no policy in place right now,” Miller said. The three board members who voted yes – Miller, Yvonne Barnes, R-Cary, and Robert Nowak, R-Lake in the Hills – represent the same district that Munaretto did. Munaretto also served for two decades as clerk for Algonquin Township, where Miller works. He unsuccessfully ran in 2013 for township supervisor.
Personal stories, preventative efforts underscore forum on suicide By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – Weeks after her grandmother died, Sara Crain started her sophomore year of high school grieving and feeling sadness, anger and a host of other emotions. The feelings lingered well into the school year, as Crain
grappled with her decision not to be at the hospital room to witness the passing of a grandmother she adored. She said she regretted the decision and spiraled into depression. Crain’s grades slipped. She withdrew from friends and quit the volleyball team – the moment when her parents started noticing changes with-
in their daughter. “I did have thoughts of suicide. I thought it would be easier to not live than to live,” Crain said. “But I found myself in a position where I thought about my grandmother and realized that I wanted to live for her. I wanted to show her every day what happened happened and that I could move on
and live a better life than this.” Crain, now a freshman at McHenry County College, said she is in a better place after she began the “long process” to manage her depression, talking with counselors about her feelings and her grandmother. She surrounded herself with positive influences and supportive friends.
Crain shared her story Wednesday during a suicide prevention forum at McHenry County College, a week after two Crystal Lake high school students committed suicide in separate incidents. As the community looked for ways to respond to the tragedies, numerous social service groups and police departments
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in McHenry County decided a forum was needed to provide residents with knowledge and resources to try and prevent another suicide, organizers said. About 100 people attended the forum, including representatives from more than two
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