Property owner moves forward with asphalt-shingle recycling

LAKE IN THE HILLS – The owner of land recently disconnected from Cary is moving forward with plans to develop at least part of his property into an asphalt-shingle recycling facility.

"What else do you do with a vacant piece of property that is surrounded by gravel pits?," said Jim Krueger.

The Crystal Lake man manages what has become known as "the Krueger property" for his family. The land is located on Route 31 about half a mile south of Rakow Road. To the north of the property is Plote Construction, Inc.. A Hanson Material Services site, which specializes in sand and gravel wholesale and manufacturers crushed stone, lies to the north, south and east.

A division of Curran Contracting that specializes in earth excavation, sits off of near by Virginia Road and a Meyer Materials excavation site is located across Route 31. Both are within about a mile of Krueger's property.

"Everybody knows we need these facilities to function as a society," Krueger said of his goal to develop an asphalt-shingle recycling facility, something that would require industrial-type zoning. "We are in the perfect place for this."

In accordance with a 2001 boundary agreement, Krueger's land was disconnected two weeks ago from the Village of Cary and will be annexed in the future into the Village of Lake in the Hills. For now, it sits within unincorporated McHenry County.

Since the disconnection however, a measure Krueger said he sought after experiencing trouble with Cary, news of the development has caused consternation among some area residents.

“My concern is for Cary residents who are downwind from this facility,” said Cary Trustee Bruce Kaplan at a Village Board meeting earlier this month. Kaplan had heard concerns from residents about possible air and groundwater contamination, he said.

“These are dirty, nasty, smelly businesses, and nobody wants them,” Kaplan said.

Krueger said he feels there is a lack of education about what he wishes to do on the property.

"I did my research," he said, "because the last thing I want to do is to contaminate this property."

Krueger plans to work with a division of Bluff City Materials, Inc., a company he says is experienced in asphalt-shingle and other material recycling, and who work safely and within Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

Krueger added that he likes the idea of being involved with a company that keeps industrial materials out of landfills. His aim, he said, is to have old shingles from homes and other places brought to his site, processed to remove metal and other trappings and then to have the asphalt salvaged for reuse on roads, for example.

Formerly employed in the building materials industry, Krueger said another reason for developing his property at this time is to help support his aging mother.

Community concerns about the property, do not end with environmental issues, however.

McHenry County Planning Director Dennis Sandquist said he has been contacted during the past two weeks regarding suspicions of illegal construction going on at the Krueger property.

In response, Sandquist said his department conducted a site visit last week and concluded that Krueger was completing work without proper permissions and permits.

"We are in the process of notifying the property owner that the work that they appear to be doing requires permits from the county," Sandquist said.

"We observed that they have poured some new concrete, that it appears they have dug a trench to install electric, and also done a lot of site development work and spreading asphalt grindings," Sandquist said.

Krueger can expect penalty fees associated with any work done without permits, Sandquist said. There also might be zoning issues. The property upon disconnection was automatically zoned agricultural one, Sandquist said.

Krueger did not wish to comment on his contact with the county.

Although neither items related to the annexation of the Krueger property, nor the development of a Bluff City Materials site, were on any Lake in the Hills board agenda, as of last week, village officials have already been in talks with Krueger about the planned development.

But, previously, Lake in the Hills Village Administrator Gerald Sagona said it will be months before any official decisions on the development are made.

"They will need to submit a petition for annexation, applications for rezoning, etc,” Sagona said.

Multiple requests for comment from Bluff City Materials Inc. were not returned.