New: Chemtool to move jobs to Boone County
By LIZ WOLGEMUTH - lwolgemuth@nwherald.com
BELVIDERE – Ridgefield-based Chemtool Inc. got the green light Wednesday night to move its world headquarters and 300 McHenry County jobs to Boone County.
“I feel good,” Chemtool owner Jim Athans said, confirming that the company would move to Boone County.
In front of a room so packed that the overflow was huddled in the hallway, the Boone County Board voted to approve the company’s controversial application to build a 650,000-square-foot headquarters on a Garden Prairie site, just west of Marengo.
Chemtool received 10 votes in its favor from the 12-member board.
While other board members touted the “quality” company’s economic contributions and clean record, board member Peggy Malone was the sole “no” vote. Malone said she could not violate her principles on environmental preservation by voting for the company, a maker of industrial lubricants.
Board member Bradley Rightnowar, a Rockford-based lawyer, recused himself from the vote because he said his firm had performed work that could be perceived as a conflict of interest.
In a move that could have kept the company in McHenry County, Athans also had bought land for a possible relocation in Marengo, but still was seeking to buy neighboring parcels.
Athans told the Boone board that he would start “almost immediately” with plant construction if his rezoning and special-use permit applications were approved.
The manufacturing company plans to consolidate the manufacturing, distribution, research and development operations currently divided among its headquarters, a 200,000-square-foot leased distribution space in Harvard, and a building in Elkhorn, Wis. Athans said that the facility ultimately would employ 500 workers.
A group of Garden Prairie residents have objected to the company relocating on the land, which sits on vulnerable watershed and across from an elementary school.
Several residents stood outside the meeting with signs scribbled with statements such as “Good company, bad location.”
Opponents’ often emotional testimony during the meeting criticized the lack of information provided to or researched by members of the three committees that previously approved the applications.
Garden Prairie resident Mike Hollander said the company had a “voluminous” inventory of dangerous chemicals on site. Hollander said he was “not talking about the integrity of [Athans] ... or this company” but listed what he said were environmental and building violations at the company’s Crystal Lake site.
Board Chairwoman Catherine Ward said most residents she spoke to were in favor of the company and said she believed that the greater good to the community would be served by Chemtool’s relocation.
Proponents of the company’s plans said the company would be a major asset to the region’s industrial base and lobbied against “a Chicken Little county.”
Garden Prairie resident Mark Suarez said he’d rather have the company in his backyard where it could be monitored than located a mile away.
Before public comment, a Chemtool representative reiterated the positive impact the industrial lubricants manufacturer would have on Garden Prairie, including the increased assessed value of the 160-acre property and the fire safety benefit of deep wells the company plans to construct.
A soft-spoken Athans thanked the staff and board members for the effort they had put into researching Chemtool’s application.
