If deciding what kind of car to buy is a difficult decision for you, just imagine how hard it is for the 23 members of the Lake County Forest Preserve Board to agree on a make and model.
At Friday’s meeting, a routine vote to authorize the purchase of several fleet vehicles stalled when some board members noticed that all the cars, trucks and mini-vans were Chevrolets.
“I think this is wrong,” groused James Fields (R-Antioch). “I think we are eliminating some local Lake County dealers by limiting this to Chevrolet.”
Board President Colin McRae (R-Mundelein) responded that the vehicle make and model are usually requested by the department that wants it.
“They often specify certain makes of equipment,” McRae said. “If it’s wrong, then this county has been wrong a long, long time.”
Still, some board members shook their heads, wondering if the county was being taken for a ride.
“Why not a Ford?” Fields insisted.
“Standardizing the fleet is not an unusual thing to do,” offered James LaBelle (R-Zion). “If you had your own business, would you want six different trucks or one?”
And so it went until board Treasurer Mark Beaubien (R-Barrington Hills) asked, “What kind of cars does the tollway authority use?”
Cracked Robert Depke (R-Gurnee): “Cadillacs.”
The board bought the Chevys.
Wetlands preservation : Federal officials Monday presented the McHenry County Conservation District with 112 acres of high-quality wetlands.
The $267,000 gift was paid for out of a $450,000 fine paid this year by Antioch marina operator Robert F. Smith in a settlement with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Federal officials had charged that Smith violated several environmental laws during a construction project at the Sequoit Harbor Marina on Illinois Highway 176 near Antioch.
The settlement was placed in an escrow account, and more wetlands are slated to be purchased, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Debra Hill.
Reading the fine print : It pays to read everything. Just ask Bill Baltutis.
The executive director of the Transportation Management Association of Lake Cook noticed an ad in a trade publication in which state transportation officials sought a consultant to conduct an engineering study of Illinois Highway 22 from Quentin Road in Kildeer to U.S. Highway 14 in Fox River Grove.
Plans to widen other areas of the the crowded two-lane highway are in the works, but Baltutis says this would be the state’s first look at the western end of the highway.
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Baltutis is thrilled. His organization represents companies on Lake-Cook Road who say that traffic jams in the area are bad for business.
Granting wishes : D.M. “Cal” Doughty, Long Grove’s village administrator, is tired of critics trashing his bucolic oasis as a den of NIMBY (not in my back yard) types because the village is steadfastly opposed to the proposed Illinois Highway 53 toll road.
“We are one of the few communities in Lake County that is allowing a major expansion of a road through the center of town,” Doughty said, referring to the widening of Illinois Highway 83 to four lanes from two along a 2.5-mile corridor through Long Grove.
“Yet we don’t get credit for that,” he griped.
Not any more. Consider it done.
Speaking of labels : How many ways are there to say, “Not in my back yard”?
Here’s a sampling of offerings that have come in during the last few months:
BANANA-Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything.
BANANA REPUBLIC-Mettawa.
LULU-Locally Unaccepted Land Use.
NOPE: Not On Planet Earth.
NIMTO: Not In My Term Of Office.