LITH Leaders Angry With County's Bid Plans for Continuous Flow Intersection

Village leaders oppose plans for a continuous flow intersection at Randall and Algonquin roads.

Lake in the Hills Village Board members were not pleased when the McHenry County Board's Transportation Committee added a last-minute agenda item for its meeting last Wendesday. The item called for bids for a continuous flow intersection at Algonquin and Randall roads, the First Electric Newspaper reports. The last-minute agenda item called for Phase II design proposals to rebuild the clogged Randall-Algonquin roads intersection to improve traffic flow, FEN reports. LITH leaders oppose the continuous flow intersection proposal as they fear it could hurt local businesses.

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County Board Rejects Referendum Asking Voters to Choose Chairman

The McHenry County Board held a special meeting Friday and voted against a proposed referendum that would have asked constituents if they want to elect the County Board Chairman, the Northwest Herald reports.

  Members of the McHenry County Board during a special meeting Friday, Jan. 18, voted against a referendum asking residents if they want to elect the county board chairman, the Northwest Herald reports. Board members needed to decided on the matter by Tuesday in order to place a referendum on the April ballot, the article stated. The board voted 9-11 to reject the referendum and cited lack of information, perceived haste on the matter and support of the current system where the 24 County Board members elect the chairman after each November election, the Northwest Herald reports.

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McHenry County Board Selects Tina Hill as Chairman

Hill beats out longstanding chairman Ken Koehler, R-Crystal Lake, for the county board chair post.

  The new McHenry County Board on Monday elected Tina Hill, R-Woodstock, as board chairman, the Northwest Herald reports. Hill beat out longstanding chairman Ken Koehler, R-Crystal Lake -  who has held the post for the past eight years - and challengers Ersel Schuster, R-Woodstock, and newcomer Joe Gottemoller, R-Crystal Lake, for the position, the Herald article states. It took the 24 members of the county board two voting attempts before Hill won the necessary 13 majority votes. Eventually, Hill received 14 votes, Koehler got four, and Schuster and Gottemoller each received three votes, the Herald reported.

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District 158 Board President Must Resign before Joining McHenry County Board

Board president Mike Skala expected to resign by Dec. 2, the Northwest Herald reports.

District 158 board President Mike Skala had planned to hold onto his current position while serving as a McHenry County board member until the district resolves a lawsuit, but the Illinois Attorney General’s Office says serving on two boards is a conflict, the Northwest Herald reports. Skala will be sworn in as a county board member serving District 5 on Dec. 2, so he will have to resign from the school board before then, the newspaper reports. As Patch previously reported, Skala was elected to the McHenry County board Nov. 6 with 9,857 votes, in unofficial returns. Skala was the top vote getter among six candidates for the District 5 County Board seat. Skala first ran for District 158 school board in 1997 and last won reelection to the …

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McHenry, Kane County Races Results

It's election night. Stay up to date on the latest results on Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Patch.

Like" Algonquin-LITH Patch on Facebook | Get election night "breaking news alerts" with our newsletter Above, you will find the unofficial election results from Kane County, which are pulled from the results page on the Kane County Clerk's election website.The Kane County results do not factor in the city of Aurora results, which are calculated separated and can be found here. We have included local races below in McHenry County as well as other races of interest. The election results are preliminary.  For results from congressional, state house and state senate races, visit here. Check back to algonquin.patch.com throughout the night for our latest in election coverage.  The results in this article are county-specific. Just because a …

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Electronic Billboards Causing Problems in Algonquin, LITH; County to Discuss Moratorium

The Lake in the Hills Village Board is expected to vote tonight to approve a resolution requesting a county moratorium on all new and pending permits for billboards. Last week, the Algonquin Village Board OK’d a similar resolution.

Electronic billboards have been popping up all over McHenry County and village officials are demanding that something be done to stop what some call a "blight" on the community. The McHenry County Board is expected to discuss an ordinance establishing a temporary moratorium on electronic billboards in unincorporated portions of the county at its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 18. That discussion comes after several village boards requested the county stop accepting permits for new billboards until it OKs its Unified Development Ordinance. The ordinance will regulate all areas of development in rural McHenry County and includes tougher regulations on electronic billboards. The UDO is not expected to be passed until early next year and in the …

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McHenry County Board Forms Task Force to Look at Effect of Family Service Collapse

Family Service and Community Mental Health Center closing, leaving 6,000 clients to search for help elsewhere, the Northwest Herald reports.

  McHenry County chairman Ken Koehler announced the county is forming a task force to examine the effects the closure of Family Service and Community Mental Health Center will have, the Northwest Herald reports. County officials worry it could be the “tip of the iceberg” as other social service agencies struggle for financing, according to the NWH.

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A Painless Education Cut To Make

The McHenry County Board appointed a new regional superintendent of schools this week.

The McHenry County Board appointed a new regional superintendent of schools this week, but should the office even exist? I'm sure Leslie Schermerhorn is a nice, intelligent and capable woman. But this column isn't about her. It's about wasteful spending and ineffiency. For some perspective, last year Gov. Pat Quinn cut funding for the 44 regional school superintendents. They weren't paid for four months. Eventually Quinn relented and restored the funding. Think about that for a minute. If you work in government and Pat Quinn thinks your position is useless, it's probably pretty useless. I mean it's Pat Quinn, not the TEA Party. Sure, the title sounds important: Regional Superintendent of Schools. It must be vital, right? Here are some of …

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Social Service Agencies Warn Illinois Budget Cuts Could have Chilling Effect Locally

Agencies give McHenry County board an idea of the effects budget cuts would have locally.

Drzal Endorses Skala for County Board

Don Drzal sent a letter of endorsement to Huntley Patch.com, supporting Michael Skala’s run for a seat on the McHenry County Board.

Drzal serves as a member of the Consolidated School District 158 School Board alongside Skala. “In support of Mike Skala for District 5, McHenry County Board: As the election approaches, I hope to see Mike Skala elected to the McHenry County Board for District 5. Through his leadership and experience as president of the District 158 School Board, our district has exhibited fiscal responsibility while attaining high student achievement. Examples include: Freezing recent salaries in the district. Abating $2.4MM in order to keep the tax levy the same as last year. Restructuring bond payments to reduce last year’s tax rate. Having the lowest unit district operating cost per pupil in McHenry County. Offering new Blended Learning and AP courses…

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