Roads, water supply top McHenry County's federal wish list

Road improvements, groundwater protection and public safety once again top a wish list for federal assistance approved nearly unanimously this week by the McHenry County Board.

The list, packaged as the county's Federal Legislative Program for Fiscal Year 2011, includes $3.55 million in requests, including $1 million each for projects to expand Randall Road through Algonquin, Lake in the Hills and Crystal Lake, and Miller Road, south of McHenry.

County Engineer Joe Korpalski said the request is just a small drop in the bucket compared to the projects' total costs - the Randall Road work alone is estimated at $80 million - but the county hopes to receive more whenever Congress passes its next highway bill.

"I think we've got a good opportunity to succeed on that one (Randall Road)," he said.

Among the other requests are $500,000 to study the quality of groundwater in the county. The testing will help determine whether recent county efforts to preserve and improve its water supply are working, said county Water Resource Manager Cassandra McKinney.

"We've done a lot of studies on what our quantities are, but we haven't done a lot to test the quality of the water," she said.

The county also is seeking $550,000 to complete watershed and flood mitigation plans for the Upper Fox River and Lower Nippersink Creek watersheds, and another $500,000 for technology upgrades in the McHenry County Sheriff's Office.

Now approved, the requests will be passed along to federal legislators serving McHenry County as well as the county's Washington, D.C., lobbying firm.

Last year, the county collected about $1.28 million through the requests, including $750,000 for the expansion of Rakow Road west of Route 31, $280,000 for groundwater studies and $250,000 for job training.