Here we go again....

The Village Board meeting on October 4, 2016, went about as well as you can imagine.

After a lengthy discussion and vote regarding Sage Parkway, Meyer presented their new plan to the Village.

Or, as I should say, their plans.  Yes, Meyer presented three very convoluted plans to the Village Board. It was understood that the Village Board was to vote on one of those plans. But that did not happen.

Meyer presented plans A, B and C. However, in the course of the discussion, Meyer explained that they want plan A, which involves the use of a dredger and either plan B or C, which involves the hours of use.

It was convoluted and confusing. The Village Board was unsure exactly what they were voting for. But for three Trustees and the Mayor, that didn't matter at all. They want to get Meyer back in before the next Village Board election, that is very clear.

Meyer assured the Village Board that this new plan would be quieter. Meyer spokesperson Randi Willie even took some sound samples from a quarry in Wisconsin using some sort of sound-capturing device. However, having worked extensively with microphones and video (I have a video production business), it seemed very clear to me that the equipment was not used correctly nor was there any indication of where the microphone was placed or what type of microphone was attached to the device in the first place.  I can tell you this, I will not trust any sound measuring done by a Meyer employee sitting in a boat holding a device in his hand.

Nonetheless, many residents spoke out against granting Meyer a waiver.  As I mentioned in my comments, Meyer seemed to be just throwing plans at the board hoping to have one stick and this is the reason why we have a "cooling off" period to begin with. I also spoke about the fact that many Fox Trails residents received a notice in the mail from the Village and Meyer announcing the ZPA hearing Meyer's petition on October 13. I stated that this "looks bad" because a meeting has been scheduled for something that has not even been voted on as of yet. Even though the letter was signed by the village of Cary, many Trustees did not know of this letter.

Others spoke about their objection to the dredger; a few people spoke about how Fox Trails residents at an earlier meeting were blamed for living in Fox Trails in the first place.

It was deja vu, really. Many of the same arguments were being made over and over again back in 2008.

The most objectionable part of the meeting came when Trustee Chapman decided to arrogantly and condescendingly chastise Fox Trails residents for speaking out at the meeting.

"I don't know what you want," he stated, even though several residents stood up and said not to grant Meyer the waiver. But he went on and on. He even claimed to have gone door to door in Fox Trails.

He didn't come to my door, that's for sure. He didn't come to the door of my neighbors. So, I am not exactly sure who in Fox Trails he spoke to or when he actually went "door to door."

He went on to praise Meyer and then to say this:

"If you guys have problems with the dust and stuff--absolutely, there's a gravel pit back there. And I get it."

It was almost as if he was telling us to just deal with it.  Let me say this, I am glad that there is a Village Board election coming up in April. (To hear Chapman's comment, click here)

So the vote came and as usual it was Trustees Cossler, Covelli and Kraus who really seemed to listen to the concerns of the residents, who didn't seem to like the fact that Meyer was being given another chance. They voted no.

Trustees Chapman, Dudek and McAlpine voted yes. The tie breaking vote came from Mayor Kownick.

So on October 13, Meyer will present their petition to the ZPA. And then it will be back to the Village Board sometime quickly after that.

After we know what exactly Meyer will be presenting, we will be putting together a protest petition to this new ordinance.  We have to wait, however, until after the Zoning Board meeting. Several of us will then walk the neighborhood, gather signatures.

More to come.

Meyer Zoning Board Meeting, Thursday February 11

Thursday night is the night Meyer Material Company will stand in front of the Zoning Board to make their case for a time extension to thoroughly clear the pit of any remaining gravel. Although mining operations were to stop this year, Meyer wants the mining to continue for two years, with one year for "restoration" of the land.

The meeting is being held in at the Holiday Inn in Crystal Lake at 7:30 (February 11, 2016). This is the best opportunity to let the Zoning Board publicly know of your feelings in regard to this matter. The Zoning Board will make a "yes" or "no" recommendation that evening, so your voice is essential.

Here are some key points to consider:

• If Meyer does not get the extension, Cary still gets a lake, an asphalt path around that lake and a small parking lot with access via Klasen Road. The lake will be only slightly smaller than the original plan.
• Many people assume that this land will be like the Three Oaks facility in Crystal Lake. It will not.
• Meyer will continue paying the Village impact fees, but they have not offered anything to the residents of Fox Trails.
• Meyer signed the original deal in 2008 and agreed to hefty monthly penalties if they did not finish mining by 2016.  Meyer does not want to pay these fees, so they simply want to extend the time frame. Should Meyer not pay penalties for breaking the contract? If you or I were to break a contract or not meet a deadline, there would be consequences we would not be able to brush away with a two-year time extension.
• Also, let us not forget that Meyer Material is owned by Aggregate Industries, which is owned by the large Swiss-based multinational Holcim, ltd. They make over $15 billion a year.

The fact is this: the Village likes having Meyer. As was stated at a previous Village Board meeting last summer, Meyer's impact fees make a "significant" part of the Village budget. What has the village been doing with this money? 

If Meyer were to get this extension, we should ask for something in return; something that would particularly benefit the residents of Fox Trails. Now Meyer did pay some of the residents through a homeowner's assistance program. Should that be reinstated?

Think about it.

Let the Zoning Board know. 

Your comments at the Zoning Board will go into the public record and will be available for the Village Board when they make their decision, which will most likely be in March or April.

The meeting begins at 7:30.

Hope to see you there.

What about that Lake?

In the recent letter sent to Fox Trails residents, Meyer claimed that they wanted an extension in their mining operations in order to "expand the lake as much as possible."  That misleading statement is meant to convey the idea that the purpose of the gravel pit is to make us a nice lake. This is a gravel pit first and foremost.  Meyer is in the aggregate business and is owned by Holcim, Ltd. headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. The annual profits of this conglomerate average around $15 billion or so.

Due to various reasons, Meyer will not be able to finish mining gravel by the June 2016 deadline. In order to avoid paying the agreed-upon penalties of $100,000 a month, Meyer wants to extend the contract through 2020, with mining continuing until June 1, 2019 and restoration finished by June 1, 2020.

The picture below is the most recent Google Earth image of the gravel pit, taken in June, 2015. Rollover the image with your mouse to see some details about the gravel pit and the areas still left to mine. The area that still needs to mined is directly adjacent to the Fox Trails subdivision.
         

But what about that lake?

Originally, Meyer stated that the finished lake would be about 94 acres. But, due to the problems they have had with overburden, the new estimated size will be around 89-90 acres.

If they do not get the extension, Cary still gets a finished lake, but it will be around an estimated 76 acres or so with more land around the lake.

Roll your mouse over the image below to see the roughly estimated sizes of the shoreline.



What does Cary get out of this when all is said and done?

When the mining operations are finished, Meyer will present Cary with a lake. There will be a multipurpose path around the lake and a small parking lot located off of Klasen Road in the village of Algonquin.

The banks of the lake will be seeded, like they have already started doing in 2015. Below is an image of the western portion of the lake and the bank that was seeded early last year.

This is more of what the banks will look like when completed. This is a view of the south eastern portion of the lake that was one of the first areas to be finished a couple of decades ago.

A multi-use path will be built around the lake, regardless of its final size with a small parking lot located in the south east portion of the property. This is the original proposal of what the lake and grading will look like, as presented by Meyer:

Many residents outside of Fox Trails believe that this is going to be a recreation area on par with the recently opened Three Oaks Recreation Area in neighboring Crystal Lake.  I hate to disappoint people, but this is not the case.

First of all, the village of Crystal Lake spent $14.37 million converting a portion of that former gravel pit into a recreation area. Although nothing has been decided as of yet, the Village of Cary and the Cary Park District will have to work out a plan. Anything beyond what Meyer deeds to the Village of Cary will be costly in terms of upgrades and maintenance. Plus, as half of the property is actually located in Algonquin, rights and access will need to be negotiated between the two government bodies.

Here is what we need to find out:  Meyer has paid the Village of Cary $250,000 a year in impact fees since the start of the mining operation for a total of $2.5 million (and an additional $2 million total to a Land Conservancy fund). What has Cary done with that money from impact fees?

During the July 7, 2015, board meeting, Trustee David Chapman admitted that the Meyer payment is a "significant portion of the Village's budget."  So where has that money gone?

Based on this alone, I am convinced the Village will grant the extension just in order to gather those impact fees for a few years more.  But what do we, the residents located next to the pit, get?

Four more years of dust and noise, to be sure.

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The Zoning Board and Appeals meeting is set for Thursday, January 28.

Meyer Material, Round 4 Begins in January

What did you get for Christmas? We got a nice letter from Meyer informing us of their intent to request an extension on mining next to the Fox Trails Subdivision until 2020.

This new letter is very misleading.  It begins, "As you may have read in the local newspaper, we will be filing a petition to extend the time to mine our Cary property, so that we can expand the Lake as much as possible." [emphasis mine]

What? It's one thing to ask for an extension, but do not pretend that it is being done for us. The purpose of the extension is not to make the lake bigger, but to remove the gravel. It is a gravel pit. Plain and simple. Last summer, even the Northwest Herald referred to Meyer's gravel pit as a "lake project." It is not a lake project. We can't let them reframe the purpose of the extension.

It all comes down to this: Meyer is asking for the extension because they do not want to pay the $100,000 monthly penalty for failure to complete the mining operation by June, 2016, as was the original deal.

If Meyer wants to extend their time, they also must be willing to give something for it.  Some ideas floated by people in the neighborhood:

• a reinstatement of the home-owner's assistance program, prorated for the time frame
• building of a sidewalk on Foxtrails South

If you have other ideas, please leave them in the comments. You can read the entire letter below:


The Zoning Board Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 28th when Meyer will officially ask the Zoning Board for the extension. We encourage everyone to come.  If Meyer does not get the extension, Cary still gets the lake. And let's not be deceived: the lake we are getting will be nothing at all like the lake at Three Oaks in Crystal Lake, as some people believe. What we will get is a lake, a small parking lot located in Algonquin off of Klasen Road and a path around the lake.  That is it.

So mark your calendars. The Meyer show is back in town!

Typical Village of Cary.....

Big Zoning Board meeting tonight to discuss the request by Meyer Material Company to extend the time they want to rip gravel from the ground next to the Fox Trails subdivision.  The meeting is being held at the Holiday Inn, Crystal Lake at 7 pm. 

Or, at least I think so.

The problem:  there is no information at all on the Village website in regard to this meeting.

Not only that, there is no information regarding the Zoning Committee.  No agendas.  No list of those who are even on the committee.

Nothing.

This has been  a problem with the Village Board in the past.  And not much has changed.  In fact, it appears to have gotten worse.  At least back in 2008, there was a page on the site dedicated to the Zoning Board committee.

Not anymore.

So I called the Village and was transferred to Jacob Rife.  He was very nice and gave me the members of the committee.  It's basically the same people who were there in 2007-08.  Joe Tournier is still the chairperson.  And the committee still includes Jim Graziano, Frank O’Laughlin, Patrick Jasper and Patrick Khoury. There are two new members, Holly Kelps and Alyssa Pelican.

Due to his association with Meyer, Frank O'Laughlin has recused himself.

The Village has to do a better job with its website and access to information.  I thought that was what much of the last election was about?

See you tonight.  Don't forget, we'll be live-blogging the event here.

Meyer Material Zoning Meeting

On Thursday, November 10, the Village of Cary Zoning Committee will hear the new petition from Meyer Material asking for an extension of their mining privileges within the borders of the Village. The meeting will begin at 7 pm in one of the large rooms at the Holiday Inn, Crystal Lake.  Hopefully, you can make the meeting.  The more people the harder it will be for Meyer to get the board to roll over this time.

Hope you can make it.

If you can't make the meeting, but would like to know what's going on, I'll be "live-blogging" the meeting.  I'll be posting comments in real-time, which you can view below.