Information regarding the Meyer Extension Vote Tonight

The Village has placed a lot of information on their website.  Here is a breakdown of the mining schedule if approved:

If approved, the mining, which was to stop on June 1, 2016, will continue until June 1, 2019. Three years. 

Here's the thing: according to the current contract, Meyer would have to pay $100,000 a month for every month they go beyond the June 1, 2016 date.  This comes to about $600,000 a year.

Here is the updated ordinance that will be voted on tonight.

The entire packet, including Zoning Board minutes and resident emails can be read here. Beware, it is long:

This is it...The Meyer Vote Comes on Tuesday

After a couple of postponements, it appears that the Board is now ready to vote on the Meyer extension. And all signs point to a "yes" vote. But only we can prevent that from happening.

It appears, as usual, Meyer has sweetened the deal. Somewhat. They've sweetened it at least enough to make this new board feel inclined to vote yes.  And, at the last couple of meetings, a very nice "plan" was presented on what the Village would like to do with the land. A plan that cost some $16,000 to put together, by the way, with no real proposals on how it would get done.

According to the new deal, Meyer is now going to pay for some improvements to the Fox Trails subdivision (as one person on Facebook remarked: Maybe now we can get an 'S' for our sign) totalling some $50,000. This sounds good to the board, but one has to remember that Meyer will have to pay fines if they go beyond the June 1, 2016 date. So one month of fines is more than double what they have offered. Doesn't sound like a great deal to me.

Here are some other points:

1) The Zoning Board gave a resounding "no" to the extension deal back in February

2) The homeowners of Fox Trails were assured by a previous board back in 2008 that the penalties in the contract would make it so Meyer wouldn't come back and ask for an extension.  And here we are. This board is increasing the fines, but who is to say the same thing won't happen in three years?

3) If Meyer stops mining as they should on June 1, we still get a lake. Meyer still needs to restore the land. The lake will be a little smaller, but so what.

4) The area that still needs to be mined is right next to the Fox Trails subdivision. Happy summer everyone!

5) Half of the proposed recreation area is in the Village of Algonquin. I'm not sure if this has been worked out as of yet.

I think most of us are just tired of this mess. We want it done. We are tired of the dust and the noise. It's time to say goodbye to Meyer Material Company.

Please come to the meeting on Tuesday. The more people who show up the harder it will be for them to vote yes on the extension. If you can't make the meeting, please send a message to the board at villagehall@caryillinois.com

Meyer Discussion on April 19.....Vote on May 3

At the Committee of the Whole meeting on April 19, the board will be discussing options for the Meyer pit. At the last meeting, the board presented a drawing of "Option B" in regard to creating a huge recreation area out of the pit. What Option A was, they did not say. The Village spent $16,000 for these nice drawings.

So another meeting will commence to discuss what to do with the pit.The biggest issue: Half of the pit is in Algonquin. The Village of Algonquin is considering ceding that land to Cary in exchange for some revenue sharing. We'll see.

Mark your calendars for May 3. That is when the final vote will be taken.

Next Meyer Meeting is....(drumroll) TOMORROW!

Yep. You read that right. The next time the Village Board discusses the Meyer Petition is TOMORROW night, April 5 at 6 pm.

The Village does not want you to go to this meeting, apparently.

I downloaded the Committee of the Whole Agenda from the Cary website and examined the metadata. The pdf was created on Friday.  I'm not sure when it was posted.

But then again, there was no indication that this was going to be discussed. There is nothing on the Village website, except for the agenda, which has to be downloaded in order to be viewed.

The current Cary Connection newsletter with the information about the meeting is dated April 4--the day before the meeting. Today. Thanks for the notice, Cary!

For those of us who have been around for a while, this is very typical when it comes to meetings involving Meyer Material.

So we need to go to this meeting. We need to say the same things we said at the other village board meeting.

The Committee of the Whole meeting is at 6pm on Tuesday, April 5. Then, the mayor will update the Village Board at the meeting at 7:30. The final vote will be taken on April 19.

Hope to see you at the meeting tomorrow!

The Village Meyer Hearing (Plus, an apology on my part)

What a way to spend St. Patrick's Day, eh? Listening to Meyer again try to explain why they need more time to mine in the area next to the Fox Trails Subdivision and not pay the penalties.

It was basically the same story they gave at the Zoning Board Meeting: Bad economy, too much overburden, not enough time.

The fact is they don't want to pay the fines that they agreed to back in 2008.  So now, they want to extend the time, pay the regular impact fees and be done by 2020.

Again, many residents stood up and expressed their concerns about the proposal. It was clear that people do not care if the lake is smaller--they just want this whole thing finished.  It was clear that they thought Meyer should be held to the original contract. After all, that's what contracts are for, right?

That is what I spoke about: Meyer signed a contract, they should stick to it. I also talked about how we all knew back in 2007 and 2008 that this would happen. In fact, the first time Meyer tried for an extension was back in 2011. They were denied then at the Zoning Board and decided not to pursue it further at the Village level.

The point I made then was that Meyer really hasn't done anything to fix the problem: no new equipment or employees. It seemed businesses as usual for the last few years. I believe, and I stated this at the meeting, that they have been banking from the beginning to get an extension.

I also made a comment that Mr. Thomas Zanck, Meyer's attorney, did not like. I said that Meyer has known about the overburden for quite some time. Later, when I was addressed by a Village Board member, I repeated the claim and said that they knew about the overburden back at the beginning. I may have even stated the year as 2008, I am not sure.

When it was Mr. Zanck's turn, he replied "we take issue with Mr. Janu." He then said that they didn't know about the overburden until 2014.

I said what I said based on what was stated at the Zoning Board meeting back in February.

I probably misspoke, and for that I apologize. I really thought they had stated that they knew about the overburden early. It was in my notes from the Zoning Board meeting.

So, I went to the transcript from that meeting and Mr. Zanck did say something that led me to believe that the overburden was known from the beginning.

Zoning Board Commissioner Patrick Jasper stated, "I understand that there are surprises that occur along the way."

Mr. Zanck then replied, "About a month after we agreed to it, you bet."

I made an assumption that he was talking about the overburden. Obviously, I was wrong and I apologize for making claim.

However, his statement that they didn't know about the overburden until 2014 is not correct as well. According to Mr. Randi Willie they began to run into issues when they started mining the north part of the pit.

He stated at the February Zoning board meeting, "As we went further north in 2013, we found it to get actually worse." Then, in 2014, they decided to drill some bores in order to see just how much overburden was there. And there was a lot, apparently.

Meyer screwed up. In fact, Mr. Zanck said as much at the Zoning Board meeting back in February: "It's the consequences of the economy and the overburden that we were not aware of. And shame on us...We know there was a miscalculation."

But this doesn't change the essence of the issue. And that issue is that Meyer signed a contract and needs to be held accountable. Should we be held accountable for Meyer's "miscalculations" and mistakes?

As I stated at the meeting, "We need to hold them to the deal. If they want to continue mining, fine. Pay up. If not, stop mining and restore the land and give us the lake on schedule."

Unfortunately, this meeting was not as well attended as the Zoning Board meeting. And that is because it was St. Patrick's Day, I am sure. We have had a history of having meeting around holidays, haven't we?

The next meeting will be held at the Village Hall sometime in the future. It holds about 150 people. This could be good---let's fill that place!

More to come.

In the meantime, if you weren't at the meeting, please let the board know of your feelings by sending an email to villagehall@caryillinois.com.

Next Meyer Meeting: St. Patrick's Day!

It may be St. Patrick's Day, but it is also the day that Meyer goes in front of the Cary Village Board to plead their case one more time.

Let's recap:

1. Meyer stood up in front of the Zoning Board on February 11 and said they wanted to get an extension for their mining operation in order to "make the lake as large as possible."
2. Cary residents didn't buy it and called Meyer out on their misleading motivations
3. Meyer did not offer anything new
4. The Zoning Board gave a resounding NO recommendation for the extension

Don't get me wrong: that NO vote was important. But, in the end, it does not matter much. The Village Board can decide the opposite, as the Zoning Board is just a recommendation.

And we already know that the Village sees Meyer's financial contribution as "substantial." Therefore, this time around, it is going to be harder.  The Village Board, as you know, has had a very cozy relationship with Meyer Material. They all loved the tour from last summer. They would like to see Meyer continue to pay its impact fees.

But Meyer signed an agreement and they should stick to it.

Which is why we need to be at the meeting in larger numbers than before. We need to tell the board with as much passion as we did on February 11 that Meyer extension is not welcome. That if they want to continue mining they need to stick to the original agreement--that means Meyer should pay those fines, or turn over the land on schedule.

The meeting is on THURSDAY, MARCH 17 at 7:30 at the Holiday Inn in Crystal Lake. Hope to see you all there.

If you cannot make the meeting, please email the board your concerns. You can email them at villagehall@caryillinois.com

Whether or not they make a decision at that meeting is unclear. That decision may be made at a different meeting, which only draws things out more--but we need to remain diligent.

Hope to see everyone there!

Next Round--St. Patrick's Day

Last month, I was so proud of how my neighbors calmly, eloquently and with measured doses of anger and passion explained why Meyer should not be given a free pass when it comes to the mining extension they want the village to approve. Meyer, of course, offered nothing to residents, except the pity-party they were hoping would change minds.

It didn't. In fact, the Zoning Board gave a resounding "No" to the mining extension.

However, as we know, that "no" was just a recommendation. And Meyer is coming back, this time in front of the entire board.

This is going to be a bit harder for us in this round. Even with a "no" recommendation from the Zoning Board, the Village Board can still vote "yes." They can change the deal. They can force Meyer to pay the fines. Everything is up in the air.

But here is the reality: the Village Board has relied on Meyer's fees as part of the budget for years. Last year, Trustee Chapman admitted at a Village Board meeting that Meyer's fees were a "significant" part of the budget.

As they say, money talks.

But we can be loud. We can be passionate. If the Village Board sees that in us, then the outcome is anything but decided.

The meeting will be held once again at the Holiday Inn on Thursday, March 17 at 7:30.  Yes, it is St. Patrick's Day. No, it is not a good time.  But that is the hand we were dealt, and that is what we must play.

Please mark your calendars.

Let's show the Village Board the same amount of passion that was unleashed last month.

Let's not make it easy for them.  Let's make it clear that Meyer should pay fines if they want to continue mining. Let's make it clear that we are perfectly fine with a smaller lake, if Meyer decides to end the mining this year.

If anything, let's make it clear to the board that we will not let a corporation have its way with residents who knew, back in 2008, that this was going to happen.

Let's make it clear that we, as a community, are not going to sit back and just let Meyer steamroll the board without hearing from us first.

Hope to see you all next week.