The Huntley Farmside

              Inside Village Board meeting agenda * School Board minutes
35 cents
Thursday, March 11,1999
The Himtley Famiside
1,-11 1QQQ A Press Publications newspaper/ir serving the Huntlev communitv vr
Volume 38 Issue 48
Village lays out big plans for next 2 decades
Steve Brosinski
Press Publications
Village officials took a peek into the future Thursday, when they met with consultants who put together two long-range studies that will be used as municipal planning road maps.
The comprehensive plan and traffic study are useful tools to target areas of expected growth, to identify where roads will be needed and to help set future zoning districts.
The village commissioned Itasca-based Civiltech Engi¬ neering Inc. and Thompson and Dyke to produce the joint stud¬ ies at a cost of $43,400.
Gary Overbay of Civiltech recommended the village focus its resources on making improvements to arterial road¬ ways surrounding Huntley. These traffic sectors are: improvements to the Route 47/Tollway interchange; devel¬ opment of Briarwood Road as an  alternate  bypass  west  of
"We're looking at
all the options. A lot
of these options will
be built by the
developers, not
the village."
James Dhamer
Village president
Huntley; and development of Lakewood Road as a bypass east of town.
Civiltech's proposals are based on Northem Illinois Plan¬ ning Commission population projections of approximately 40,000 residents in 20 years. Overbay said the study doesn't hold the village to a strict timetable and doesn't attempt to put a cost on the recommenda¬ tions.
Overbay said a less costly modification to the Route 47/Tollway interchange would
";-.t.'   .!« File photo
A crowd enjoys a summer concert in "downtown " Huntley. Village officials are studying two plans that show major changes for Huntley's central business district and the rest of town.
free up money for possible improvements to an interchange east of town. The state-funded $23.9 million project includes the addition of a westbound entrance/exit ramps and improvements to the bridge deck.
"We're trying to get away from that plan," Overbay said about the planned $35 million Tollway project. "We think the community would be better served by improving at [Route]
47 and another interchange."
Village President James Dhamer, on the other hand, said there is little chance of getting the state to make any alterations. He said the cost of Tollway interchange is pegged at $23.9 million.
"I think it's one big reach. When you take these things to the Tollway people they draw a line in the sand," Dhamer said. "They claim they are looking at
making the improvements in 2003-2005. And they aren't going to change the program."
Overbay said the village's proactive approach to studying these issues will pay big divi¬ dends in the future. Civiltech didn't address any major improvements needed for the Route 47 corridor, which will probably be widened to a five- lane road, years from now.
see Plans—page 2
District cautions parents on weapons policy
Steve Brosinski
Press Publications School District 158 officials decided to place a student on probation for violating the dis¬ trict's weapons policy March 3. In response to the second incident in a month, the board reviewed the district's weapons policy. Superintendent Jerry Hartley said.
The superintendent has the authority to exclude a student from school activities if he or she is suspected of bringing something to school that is con¬ strued to be a weapon.
Expulsion will result when authorities believe there is suf¬ ficient evidence of malice or imminent danger to either the student or his or her classmates.
Hartley said the elementary stu¬ dent is on probation because he violated the policy, even though he meant no harm.
"He was a very young stu¬ dent and he had forgotten that he was not allowed to bring a pocket knife to school," Hartley said.
School officials were alerted when a bus driver spotted the
knife and asked that it be turned over.
District 158 follows strict state and federal guidelines and a zero tolerance weapons poli¬ cy. Any student from preschool to high school can be expelled for up to two years for violating the policy.
In an unrelated matter, the groundbreaking on the 18,000-
square-foot middle school addi¬ tion began this week. Some administration offices have already been transferred to the building and the remainder will be moved over by fall.
A groundbreaking for the two new schools on Reed Road in Lake in the Hills and Harmo¬ ny Road campus will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 17.