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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 10/10/1991 - Committee of the WholeCOMMITTEE FETING OF THE WHOLE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1991
A Committee Meeting of the Whole was called to order by Mayor
Busse on Thursday, October 10, 1991 at 7:00 P.M. in the McHenry
Municipal Center Council Room. The following Aldermen were in
attendance: Donahue, Locke, Smith, Serritella. Absent: Bolger,
Lieder, Adams, Patterson. City Staff in attendance were: City
Clerk Gilpin, City Administrator Peterson, Park Director Merkel.
Also in attendance were Robert Kirschner, Senior Planning Officer
for Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, and his two
assistants Jay Clark and Holly Hudson.
Mayor Busse announced that this meeting was being held as a
public information meeting regarding the McCullom Diagnostic
Feasibility Study which has been conducted over the past two years.
He explained that the City acquired the lake bottom back in 1984
when the assets of the Lakeland Park Property Owners Association
were transferred to the City. He said that McCullom Lake was an
extraordinary resource for the City of McHenry and like any asset,
the lake needed to be properly managed.
Recognizing this obligation, the City entered into an agreement
in 1989 with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) and
the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) to conduct a
Phase I Diagnostic Feasibility study of the lake. This Phase I
program was a 50/50 cost sharing program, with the City contributing
50% of the costs and the Federal Government under the Clean Lakes
program contributing the other 50%.
The City entered into this Diagnostic Study Program for the
purpose of diagnosing the lakes current water quality, ecological,
recreational problems inherent in a lake, identify some of the
causes and evaluate a feasible restoration and protection strategy.
The City also wanted to enter into this program to find some type of
long-term management approach. Sedimentation, acquatic plant
growth, swimming quality, fishery management, and future
recreational uses were some of the items of special interest to the
Council. They also wanted to identify pollution of the lake and
sources of the pollution. The original project was to last two
years, but it went on for three years due to the drought of 1989.
The purpose of this meeting tonight was to present and review
data that was collected by the technical investigations of the NIPC
staff. The project concludes December 31, 1991. The Council wanted
to hear from area residents what their ideas were for potential uses
of the lake. Kirschner and his staff would then answer questions
following their presentation.
Sixty-one people signed in at the meeting, almost all of whom
were from areas directly adjacent to the lake, Subdivisions
represented were West Shore Beach, Spojnia Camp, Village of McCullom
Lake, Lakeland Park, and Lakewood.
Kirschner gave the project background, the lake history and
presented a diagnostic study overview. He detailed the McCullom
Lake water quality, the water sediment depths, watershed land use,
existing lake uses and problems, and presented information on
developing a lake management plan. Following his presentation, he
answered questions from Aldermen and people in the audience.
On a show of hands, it was evident that the people in attendance
were interested in seeing the lake used for fishing, swimming,
sailboating, sailboarding, and boating with motors restricted to no
more than 7 1/2 horsepower. The majority definitely did not want
more public access points to the lake.
The meeting was tape recorded for anyone interested in listening
to the complete 3-hour presentation.
The meeting adjourned at 9:50 P.M.
dA,G-�CHY CLERK