Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The End is Near

We are nearing the end of this journey, ladies and gentlemen. And Meyer has become desperate. As we know, they will say and do almost anything in order to get the pit approved by the Village of Cary Board. After all, they need 5 out of 7 votes to get the original Chally Farm agreement amended. If they don’t get those votes, they cannot mine on that land.

So, they use fear and rumor. They have employees tell us that this is a “done deal” and that the “equipment has already been bought.” They spread rumors about de-annexation to Lake in the Hills or Algonquin. Don’t be fooled. This is a scare tactic designed to get support for their proposal and to make us think that we cannot get a better deal.

But we can get a better deal. And the better deal would be NO PIT.

To Meyer, this is a matter of profit: the materials under the ground could get them upwards of $100 million. So they try to sell a plan to the people of Cary and to the Cary Village Board so that they can make that profit. They try to portray themselves as benefactors who will bequeath to Cary land that will be more valuable once they are done mining. They show us beautiful designs of a park and a lake. They discuss landscaping and park access. This, they say, will be Meyer’s “gift” to Cary.

This is a façade. One need only to look at the current pit on Klasen Road. The new pit will merely be an extension of the old. That pit is not beautiful. There are steep, dangerous cliffs. The land surrounding the pit, including the berms that were established to shield the pit from Fox Trails residents are overgrown with weeds and not maintained.

And, there is no "lake." Look carefully at that pit. Next time you drive down Klasen, slow down and look at Cary's future. The water that sits at the bottom is not a lake that can be used. If there is no usable lake in the current pit, one can surmise that there will not be much of a lake when this pit is expanded. It is that simple.

So Meyer is getting desperate. They made an offer to “protect” home values in Fox Trails. However, like so much of what Meyer has promised, this proposal is empty and does not at all protect property values. What it does is makes Meyer a controlling party in the home selling process; a dangerous idea to say the least.

As for the rumors in regard to de-annexation? Although this is something that theoretically can happen, a lawyer has told us that the probability of it succeeding is almost zero. Why? If that land is de-annexed, that would leave parts of Cary no longer connected to Cary. And that makes the probability of success for Meyer very slim.

So Meyer is desperate. They are throwing proposals around to try and hook potential votes on the board and to sway public opinion in their direction. The Mayor submits his own plan that allows Meyer to mine but forces some minor concessions on Meyer. Again we are made to think that this may be the best we can get. The Mayor’s plan may be nothing more than a behind-the-scenes deal with Meyer from the beginning. It is smoke and mirrors. The Mayor is Meyer's biggest salesman.

The fact remains that Meyer needs 5 votes to get the Chally Farm agreement changed.

That means that only 3 votes can defeat Meyer.

Only three votes stand between the people of Cary and an ugly, harmful pit.

It is hoped that three people on the Village board have the courage to stand up to Meyer and simply say “no.”

For that is the right thing to do.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

So how will deannixation leave parts of cary not connected to cary? Does the chally property not abutt Route 31 which is the municipal boundary of Cary anyway? North to South it may not connect, but a lot of municpal boundaries are not straight lines.

Bruce Janu said...

Yes, the Chally property abuts route 31. However, the land immediately to the west of route 31 is in Cary as well. In fact, there are two parcels of land on the west side of route 31. If the Chally farm property is de-annexed, that would leave two parcels no longer connected to Cary; they would become "islands."

See the map at:

http://www.caryillinois.com/2004streetmap.gif

Anonymous said...

Intresting...However, I'm sure if Cary were to deannex the Chally farm, they would also put the other two parcels along with it. Cary is good for giving land away to neighboring communities. Just the Holiday Inn in Crystal Lake!

Jim T said...

Gravel mining is the PITS!!
Meyer is horrible!!
Bruce is a stand-up fellow!
I am like any other resident, too busy to come to every meeting! I fought this fight before,

Anonymous said...

I was initially very much against this gravel pit, but there are a few positives.

1. Our taxes should remain the same for the next 10 years. Home values are going down, and it would be hard for McHenry to justify raising our taxes while property values go down.

2. Less homes in Cary means less inventory of homes in Cary. Long term (after pit is closed) effect may be very positive.

3. The wood trail that connects fox trails with White Hen and other communities could be extended to include the new 'lake' - that would be nice - if it were to happen.

4. Traffic on 31 - it's already bad, but now it would get worse - if homes were to be built there.

Deep in my heart I wish that the pit did not happen, but if it does, one has to look for the positives.

Anonymous said...

To the Anonymous above -

Those may be good things (I don't think it is worth it) but the real danger is the camel's nose under the tent. This is just the start for Meyers. Three or four years from know, the Hoffman property will be sold - and Meyers will buy it. Then the Mayor and the Board (if they are still there - and I'm afraid they will be) will just roll over again. Those 600K/ month sanctions starting in 2017 will just be ammended to start in 2035 or whatever Meyers needs. We are not looking at 10 years it is going to be 25 - 30 years. And, its no longer just Fox Trails, now its the homes behind White Hen, Cimarron, and the Greenfields.

Anonymous said...

Camel nose under the tent? Hilarious. Considering camels are usually found in desert which consists of SAND...and MEYER (not Meyers) mines SAND and gravel. Anon...that is just hilarious! ha ha ha ha. For the hoffman property to be sold, doesn't the town of cary have to vote for the park district to sell it since it was purchased with taxpayers money? Heny penny sounds like the sky is falling according to anon here. Me, I'm getting my suntan lotion ready to ride my new camel into the cary desert....

Anonymous said...

Sand Warrior -

I'm glad you got the metaphore - I didn't think many people would. Yes, selling the Hoffman Property requires a vote - IT WAS ON THE BALLOT LAST FEBRUARY. Only 57% were against it. Since the property belongs to Crystal Lake it will be the Algonquin Pit all over again. Except, Cary no longer will be able to claim that it does not allow gravel pits. The Algonquin Pit fight was lost because one document was not filed on time. Cary held the high ground because of its stance on mining, and almost won. The Meyer company will offer some token to the Mayor and the Board, they will jump at it, and the South West side of cary will become a large gravel pit for the next 20 to 25 years. Long after You and I have passed away (or are too senile to care) there may be a park there. In the mean time, buy a jumbo size bottle of lotion - it will have to last you a long time.