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IEPA awaits financial data from Hebron
SUICIDE RATE DOWN IN MCHENRY COUNTY
A hopeful sign?
Village’s president: Past leadership misused funds By SHAWN SHINNEMAN sshinneman@shawmedia.com
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Katie McKenna of Crystal Lake holds a portrait of her brother Keith outside their Crystal Lake home Tuesday. Katie’s brother, Keith, committed suicide in 2012.
Drop in deaths may mean recent upward swing is over By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com During the hour-long drive to work in the morning and home in the evening, 24-year-old Katie McKenna’s mind lingers on one thing every day: her big brother. She also thinks about him during hikes through Sterne’s Woods and on bike rides through nearby paths – some of their favorite things to do together before Keith McKenna, 27, committed suicide Dec. 10, 2012.
Now acutely aware of any suicide that occurs in the area, Katie McKenna said she was surprised to learn the rate of suicide has fallen in McHenry County after steadily rising for the past few years. “When you’re a survivor of it, you notice it every time it happens, so if anything, I thought it was going up,” she said. “The fact that it’s going down, though, I hope it has something to do with more
See SUICIDE RATE, page A9
McHenry County suicide statistics Number of suicides recorded between 2004 and 2013 by the McHenry County Coroner’s Office: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
20 19 20 23 17 29 37 29 40 31 13 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Information provided by county coroner’s office
On the Web: To view county statistics on suicides, visit NWHerald.com.
HEBRON – The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency wants to know whether Hebron officials spent funds that should have been earmarked for the village’s sewer plant. Village President John Jacobson for months has claimed that under previous leadership, the village took money from the sewer fund and put it into the general fund. The move broke the village’s ordinance and contributed to the dire financial status of the small town just south of the Wisconsin border, its troubled leader says. The village collected as much as $1.4 million in fees from developers that should have gone to upkeep and maintenance of the plant, and to paying back the $4.5 million loan to the IEPA on the plant, Jacobson said after the July meeting of the Village Board. “They kept that,” he said. IEPA officials have requested financial audits to show the accounts’ activity over the past several years, IEPA spokeswoman Kim Biggs said. The audits will serve a dual purpose, as IEPA officials look to build a clearer picture of the village’s financial outlook. The two sides are in talks to devise a plan to pay back the loan without bankrupting the village. “Our last contact from them was the end of June,
and they were just recontacted again last week seeking audited financials,” Biggs said. “It’s been a slow progression as we continue to work with village officials to get the additional information.” The plant has been a source of continuous headaches for Hebron’s residents. In 2005, with housing developments lined up to at least double the village’s population, officials opted to build a new wastewater treatment plant rather than spend about $2 million to renovate the old one. The new plant was to allow Hebron to grow, officials said, and the loan was structured so that the village could pay only interest for the first five years. But when the housing bust hit and development never came, the full burden of the loan fell on existing residents. The IEPA has granted extensions on the original five years of interest-only payments, but the agency has applied increasing pressure on the village to come up with a plan to start paying down the principal. “I have no specifics on how they would meet their loan obligation at this point,” Biggs said. “It would be too early to speculate on that. We are trying to get a grasp on the finances of the village and take steps from there.” Jacobson said a recent move to lay off one of two full-time police officers is
See IEPA, page A9
Oakwood Hills suspends public business over threats Village leader: Cancellation related to controversial power plant issue By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com OAKWOOD HILLS – The Oakwood Hills Village Board is suspending public business until further notice because of threats made to board members, according to a message posted on the village’s website, and later confirmed Saturday by Village President
Melanie Funk. “We’re temporarily shutting things down until things cool down a little,” Funk said. Funk said the Oakwood Hills police department has been made aware of the threats, and the decision to suspend public business was made Friday with the Village Board. Police Chief Peter Gold-
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man would not comment on the type of threats made, but said the police department is running as normal. The message on the website states: “Due to personal threats to board members and threats to prevent the conducting of business at the scheduled village board meeting for August 7, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. the meeting has been canceled. “Village Clerk hours are suspended until further notice. No public business will be conducted.”
Board meetings are normally scheduled for the first Thursday of the month. Funk said the threats stem from the controversial proposed $450 million power plant in Oakwood Hills. Hundreds of people showed up to protest at two zoning board meetings held at the Crystal Lake Holiday Inn. Zoning board members postponed a vote on the project until October. The two meetings have been heated, with attendees shouting down project devel-
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McHenry County tattoo policies vary based on industry and culture / D1 LOCAL NEWS
‘I don’t know how he does it’ Crystal Lake’s Chris Jackson was born with physical deformities but has continued to play golf through most of his life / C1
‘Payday’ for 4-Hers Livestock auction among Saturday’s McHenry County Fair activities / A3
opers and board members before voicing their objections during the public comment portion at a July 24 meeting. Public comments were removed from the agenda for the July 31 meeting. “Since the last [zoning] board meeting really escalated, we’ve had some threats to us, so we’ve decided that the Thursday meeting is going to be canceled,” Funk said. “I have a clerk that’s afraid to come to work because of the way [protesters] have been acting.”
As to when the village would return to doing public business, Funk said, “Right now, we’re just waiting to see if things calm down.” Chris Reining, who started a Facebook page against the proposed power plant, said he started the page to show why the power plant is not good for the community and that he is trying to lead a peaceful campaign. “I don’t agree with people making threats toward village
See OAKWOOD HILLS, page A8
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