Voters to see 3rd open space referendum
By KEVIN P. CRAVER - kcraver@nwherald.com
CRYSTAL LAKE – Nunda Township leaders are asking voters again whether they will let the township borrow $15 million to buy up open space for groundwater preservation.
The question on the April 7 ballot will be the third time in five years that the township has asked voters to open their wallets to preserve open space that allows precipitation to recharge the township’s aquifers. If approved, it would increase taxes up to $44 for the owner of a $250,000 home who takes the homestead exemption, $41 with the senior exemption.
Township Supervisor John Heisler said the township had “turned the corner” in which development removes water faster than nature can replenish it.
“Someday, people are not going to have water, or they’ll have to import it for ungodly amounts of money, and they’re going to say, ‘Why didn’t some politician do something about this when they first heard about it?’ ” Heisler said.
Opponents, such as voter Mel Ingram of Crystal Lake, said the township did not understand the meaning of “no” – voters rejected previous referendum attempts in 2004 and 2007. Ingram also said asking voters for more money in the midst of a deep recession was inappropriate, and that he already paid taxes to the McHenry County Conservation District, which buys land to preserve open space.
“It’s inane to have this kind of a referendum with the economy being where it is,” Ingram said. “It’s amazing to me that we have to say ‘no’ three, four, five, six times.”
The 2007 attempt lost by a handful of votes, which Heisler said was not a mandate not to try again. Although voters rejected the tax increase, they approved the township’s open space plan.
The township board voted unanimously in January to support the referendum, and the two Democratic challengers for township trustee Tuesday endorsed it, as well.
Nunda Neighbors for Open Space, the group that supports the referendum’s approval, anticipates being able to buy up to 700 acres with $15 million, Chairwoman Lori McConville said. The plan voters approved in 2007 selected properties larger than 50 acres with significant groundwater recharge capacity.
Both Heisler and McConville said that the cost to taxpayers would increase if the targeted properties develop instead, requiring added city and school services.
“This is a forward-thinking plan, getting [properties] now for water, and the added benefits are recreation and aesthetics,” McConville said.
