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County
sues over annexing of lake
Chicago Tribune -
10/30
McHenry County
State's Atty. Gary Pack waded into the muddy politics of Wonder
Lake on Tuesday, suing a village and possibly sinking plans to
dredge the lake and dig a controversial gravel pit nearby.
"We're not
afraid to get involved," Pack said.
His lawsuit
alleges that the Village of Wonder Lake did not follow proper
procedures when it annexed the bottom of Wonder Lake earlier this
year.
The lawsuit seeks
to sort out ownership of the bottom of the lake, which has been
filling with mud for years. But the suit also is the latest salvo
in a protracted fight between the villages of Wonder Lake and Bull
Valley over annexation rights and growth and development in
central McHenry County.
Wonder Lake wants
to annex a site near the corner of Thompson Road and Illinois
Highway 120 so that Harvard Aggregate can dig a gravel pit and
build an asphalt-mixing plant there. In return, the company has
promised to pay the $4 million to $5 million lake-dredging tab and
store the gunk from the lake bottom on the site.
But Bull Valley
officials oppose such a project so close to their tranquil
village, which has no heavy industry. Bull Valley tried to annex
the same property to prevent Harvard Aggregate from digging.
Two years ago,
when residents with access rights to the private lake came up with
the dredging plan, neither village had authority over the land in
unincorporated McHenry County.
Harvard Aggregate
wanted to work with the Village of Wonder Lake because officials
there had endorsed its project. So village officials annexed the
lake bottom, making the property where the plant would be built
contiguous to the town. Then they annexed the property, which
borders the lake at its southern tip.
The bulk of the
Village of Wonder Lake is on the western shore of the lake, which
is also bordered by several unincorporated subdivisions. Many
residents in those subdivisions oppose the gravel pit, which Pack
said is one reason his office stepped in.
When Bull Valley
also tried to annex the disputed property, the issue went to
court. A judge ruled in March that Wonder Lakes' petition for
annexation had been filed a day before Bull Valley's petition. The
Village of Wonder Lake, the judge said, had legal claim to the
site.
But that ruling
could unravel if Pack's lawsuit prevails. It claims that the
Village of Wonder Lake improperly annexed the lake bottom.
If a judge
agrees, Wonder Lake's annexation of the gravel pit site would be
invalid, according to R. Glenn Gable, chief of the civil division
in the state's attorney's office.
Then Bull
Valley's claim to the site would be the first, said Bull Valley's
attorney, Dave McArdle.
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