The Huntley Farmside

              inside
• Honor society members named
• Park Board minutes
35 cents
The Hiaiitlev Faimside
Thursday, December 31,1998
A Press Publications newspaper mr serving the Huntley community
Volume 38 Issue 38
Time to eat
Jaclde Lowe and Patricic Weidl put the finishing touches on the gingerbread houses they made while at Huntley Elementary SchooL See story on page 3.
Huntley Fire District looks ahead toward new fire stations
Steve Brosinski
Press Pubtications The deed for a 1.4 acre-parcel was handed over to the ttuntley Fire Protection District this month for a future fire station on Route 47 near Freeman Road, across from Sun City.
Earlier this year, the Prime Group Inc. announced that the land would he given to the fire district during the dedication of a 1-million-gallon water tower.
Fire Chief David 'Veath said. the district lacks the money to build a fire station at the site and
no decision has h>een reached on when a referendum will appear on the ballot.
"It is up to the Board of Tmstees," Veath said. 'There is nothing the board is going to rush into until a space analysis study is done."
'Veath said the district may seek a third property northeast of town in Lake in the Hills, near Cambridge Homes.
Veath said the department intends to gradually add man¬ power as the needs of the com¬ munity increase. A new eligibil-
see Stations—page 2
Dhamer plans on seeing road improvements in '99
Steve Brosinski
Press Publications
Village President James Dhamer said he expects road- work to top the list of projects that will take place in town next year.
"The biggest project is get¬ ting Main Street and Route 47 widened," Dhamer said. "We are working with the Illinois Department of Transportation and I have a set of plans to get started in 1999."
Dhamer said the cost of the intersection improvement could approach $7(X),000 and will be funded mostly through the state. In addition to adding a tum lane on Route 47, the job will include installing overhead traffic sig¬ nals and moving property lines back about 10 feet from the roadway. Work should begin abovA May and he completed in two to three months, he said.
"IDOT has been great to work with," Dhamer added.
A more ambitious project, the widening of Route 47, north of Sun City through town, is slated for sometime around 2005, Dhamer said.
Residents of Woodstock Street may have a wish epme ti^e, if the state comes through with funding to re-brick the his¬ toric street. The village is wait¬ ing on approval of a state grant through the McHenry County Historical Society, he said.
Dhamer said the cost of restoring Woodstock could reach $300,000, including $177,000 for the brick, about $90,000 spent on new curbs and sewers and an estimated $100,000 to lay the brick.
Unfortunately, Dhamer said
the money spent on Woodstock could create a delay of road- work planned for a stretch of Dean Street, which was recon¬ structed 18 years ago.
One major infrastructure pro¬ ject that is now underway will be on line sometime this spring. Del Webb is constructing a sewage treatment on Main Street that will he tumed over to the village. Dhamer said the vil¬ lage is hiring two additional public works employees to maintain the facility.
West of town, the county will begin work on the bend at the Hemmer/Harmony roads inter¬ section. The roadway will be straightened and a stop sign will be placed at the intersection, Dhamer said.
"It will slow down the traf¬ fic," Dhamer said.
As the first residents begin to move into Del Webb's Sun City and Kirk Home subdivisions, Dhamer said the village will begin to see the rapid growth forecasters are predicting. The first residents will be moving into Kirk Homes and Sun City
"The biggest project is getting Main
Street and Route 47 widened. We are working with the
Illinois Department
of TV-ansportation,
and I have a set of
plans to get started
in 1999."
James Dhamer
Village president
in the spring.
"It is happening," Dhamer said about the way Huntley will change with the new develop¬ ments. "It's kind of sad that these old bams and old land¬ marks are coming down."
Dhamer said he targets trans¬ portation and schools as the No. 1 issues that will confront Huntiey in the years to come.
"Just being able to move through and around Huntley will be tough," he said.
The village is footing the bill for a water main connection from Sun City to Well No. 6. This main will be in addition to one running from the 1-million- gallon Well No. 7, a $2.9 million facility north of the shopping center that was funded through tax increment finance funds.
Early next year, officials take a first glimpse of two docu¬ ments that will be used in long- range planning - the updated see Improvements—page 2