Board discusses new officers, solar panels

The three recently elected Sun City Board members were introduced and new Board officers were elected at the January 5 Sun City Board meeting.

Russ Howard, Barry Newman and Art Ryden were elected to the Board by acclamation in 2021. Marilynn Berendt was elected the 2022 Board President and Dottie Harrison was elected Vice President. Bob Wainscott was elected Treasurer and Art Ryder was elected Secretary. The new officers will be installed at the Associations annual meeting on January 26.

Upcoming HAPL closure concludes construction

The Huntley Area Public Library (HAPL) announced that from Dec. 31 until Jan. 24 they will be closed to prepare for the final stages of their two-year building program.

“Parts of the collection are being relocated, new equipment is getting set up, staff are moving into their new spaces, and the countdown is on to explore your FRESH, new library,” said the HAPL.

New Rutland Township Supervisor sworn in

After several months of unrest and complaints, the dust has settled in the Rutland Township offices as Raúl Lemus was sworn in as the new Township Supervisor. His three-year term of office ends in 2025.

Ugaste hosts town hall

Illinois State District 65 Representative Daniel Ugaste (R) paid a visit to Sun City on Monday, November 1, for a Town Hall meeting in the Fountain View lodge. Approximately 35 Sun City residents attended.

Representative Ugaste was originally elected in 2018 and reelected in 2020. He commented that, “I may be mapped out of Huntley in the next election.” He explained that, “the new District 65 northern boundary might be Bowes Road in Elgin.”

Board discusses budget, elections, charter clubs

At the October Sun City Board meeting, Treasurer Bob McGouey reported that year to date third quarter revenue “was $5,887,583 which exceeded the budget by $95,211.” He added that, “expenses were $316,420 less than the budget which resulted in a $432,581 variance to the budget.”

McGouey added that “there have been 273 home sales in so far in 2021 which are 33 more than year-to-date in 2020.”

Hoeft, Johnson discuss village updates

The Birch Room in the Fountain View portion of the Prairie Lodge was filled to capacity for the Town Hall with Huntley Village President Timothy Hoeft and Village Manager Dave Johnson.

The duo spent more than 90 minutes with a presentation and fielding questions from the Sun City residents.

Refuge for women

Chicago area shelter provides a safe haven for women escaping trafficking, sexual exploitation

On Refuge for Women’s homepage, a graduate is quoted: ““Having a chance to be in a safe place to heal means somebody thought I was worth it, even though I dared not believe I was.”

Northwestern Medicine first in McHenry County to implant heart device preventing strokes caused by irregular heartbeat

Northwestern Medicine announced that physicians from the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital have successfully placed a WATCHMAN Left Atrial Appendage Closure (LAAC) device in the heart of a patient to help prevent a stroke and discontinue the long-term use of oral blood-thinning medication.

“The WATCHMAN device is for patients who have atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that is not related to problems with the heart’s valves. This is the first procedure using this device in a McHenry County hospital,” said an Oct. 20 statement from Northwestern Medicine.

MCLE hosts Marine Corps birthday bash

On November 10, 1775, just eight months shy of the Declaration of Independence, a new corps was formed following the introduction of the Continental Marine Act. Having taken part in nearly every U.S. conflict, the Marine Corps has defended our country since America’s inception.

On Sunday, November 7, the Marine Corps League of Elgin invites veterans from all branches of service and the general public to come to the 246th birthday bash.

Underwood speaks at Sun City

Representative Lauren Underwood of Illinois’ 14th Congressional District came to Sun City on October 18 for what was advertised as a “meet and greet” that would include time for resident questions and answers.

Underwood, who was introduced by Ken Kalscheur of the sponsoring Civics Committee, was met by a less than half-full ballroom. In his introduction Kalscheur announced Underwood’s appointments to the House of Representative’s Veteran Affairs and Appropriations Committees.

St. Mary’s and Village discuss new cemetery

St. Mary Church has approached the Village of Huntley with a proposal for a new parish cemetery on the church’s property between Kreutzer and Dundee Roads.

The proposed cemetery would use the vacant 2.45 acres that is adjacent to the south end of the church buildings. The cemetery would have 1,530 gravesites and 572 Columbarium Niches. Eighty-six infant graves would be included.

Village manager confirms new Huntley residences on way

Huntley Village Manager, David Johnson, said that “the Cider Grove subdivision will be adding 180 new single-family homes.”

The subdivision, which is located on Dundee Road, due north of St. Mary Church, was built by D. R. Horton construction. The next phase of Cider Grove will cover 43 acres.

No Regency application submitted, according to village manager

“No formal rezoning application or development plan has been submitted” to the Village for Regency Square, announced Huntley Village Manager David Johnson at the September 22 Sun City board meeting.

Johnson was a guest speaker at the Board meeting and he carefully talked through the many steps that are needed to be completed before a project could even break ground in Huntley.

Staffing shortages lead local business to temporarily close Mondays

Parkside Pub located at 11721 E. Main Street announced via its Facebook page that kitchen staff shortages have made it impossible for the sports bar to continue to run at regular business hours.

“With that said, in order to give our kitchen a break, we have decided to temporarily close on Mondays until further notice. Should we find the right fit, we will go back to serving you all on Mondays again,” an Oct. 2 Parkside Pub Facebook post said.

Rutland Township holds special meeting to fill open positions

The issues involving the Rutland Township Board of Trustees continued on Tuesday, September 24, with a special meeting called to appoint a new Township Supervisor and two new Trustees.

The fifteen residents in attendance were fewer than half of the attendees at the regular Board of Trustees meeting that was held on September 14. This special meeting had a 48-hour advance notification, which is all that was required by State laws.

Scams, forensic audits, resignations

The Rutland Township issue reached boiling point at the latest board meeting, but the debate began over the summer.

Incorrect emergency number sent to residents

A well-meaning Sun City resident of Neighborhood APN19 was given some wrong information regarding an alternative number for 9-11 emergency calls. That phone number was shared with Neighborhood Watch officials who, in turn, sent it out through the very efficient Neighborhood Watch communications network.

Village of Huntley proclaims September 2021 as National Suicide Prevention Awareness month

At the Aug. 26 Village of Huntley Board meeting, Tim Hoeft, Huntley’s village president, announced that the village is committed to showing its full support in raising awareness on a topic that is stigmatized and is even often considered taboo to talk about.

According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), “Suicide is the [second] leading cause of death among people aged 10-34 and the [tenth] leading cause of death overall in the U.S.”

Boosters are a go… sort of

February and March of 2021 saw the coming together of Walgreens and Osco in Sun City’s Prairie and Fountain View lodges. The lines made it look like they were giving away free food, but the reality was that the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 were, in fact, being giving away to all Sun City residents that wanted one or the other.

The news that the FDA and CDC were considering authorizing boosters to address the growing havoc of the Covid-19 Delta Variant has become a topic of discussion inside Sun City.

Regency Square rezoning creates controversy near Sun City

The 48-acre site known as Regency Square is owned by BO2 Investments, LLC, which has plans to sell the property to an unnamed contractor who has plans for a multi-family development in the space. The development would include single family homes, townhomes and rental apartments.

The implementation of this planned development is blocked by the current zoning of the property. Presently 30 acres are zoned “BP” for Business Park and the remaining acres are zoned “C2” commercial. BO2 is seeking a rezoning of the property to “MF2” multi-family so that BO2 will be able to sell the property to this unnamed contractor.

Lightning alert system’s disappearance sparks concern

After twenty years Sun City finds itself with one less safety feature. The lightening alert system that was located on the Whisper Creek golf course and served the adjacent neighborhoods is gone.

“It’s not ours,” said Dominic Flood, General Manager of Whisper Creek. “Ask the Association” was his response to the status of the lightening alert system.

Huntley-area thrift shop says goodbye after 11 years in business

The Sweet Repeats Thrift Shoppe located at 10514 West Route 47 in Huntley, announced on Aug. 4 that the store will be officially closing for business on Wednesday, Sep. 15.

A Sweet Repeats press release revealed that the reason for the closure is due to the store losing its lease.

A vocal opponent to Senate Bill 508, Andrea Raila, a long-time property tax appeals specialist, said in an interview, “If this bill is signed by the governor, it will be the worst property tax shift in decades.”