McHenry County College land acquisition proceedings delayed
While McHenry County College moves forward with plans to design an expanded campus, a piece of land deemed crucial to the plan is tied up in legal proceedings.
The 20-acre property at 9010 Northwest Highway adjacent to the Crystal Lake campus is listed as an asset in the ongoing bankruptcy case of William J. Gilger, a member of GHM Trust, which owns the land.
In April the college made a $750,000 offer to buy the property. When the counteroffer came in at $1.5 million, MCC decided to use eminent domain to try to acquire it. But before doing that, the stay on the property must be lifted, officials said.
At a hearing Wednesday in federal bankruptcy court in Rockford, Steven A. Hurckes, another member of GHM Trust, asked the judge to be given an opportunity to file his own response, MCC President Vicky Smith said.
Another hearing is set for Sept. 7, she said. “Our attorney shared this morning with the board that even (on Sept. 7) the judge may not make a determination that day,” she said.
Hurckes could not be reached for comment.
Smith said she is “eager and ready to see this move forward. We are smack-dab in the middle of the facilities planning process, we’d like to know that property is part of the college campus,” she said.
On Monday, the college signed an agreement to hire Darien-based Wight & Co. to design the college’s facilities master plan at a cost of $126,000, Smith said. “We are very pleased” because the college had anticipated spending $150,000, she added.
The firm will begin the work “almost immediately” by interviewing faculty and staff, and examining the current facilities, Smith said. The firm will present three preliminary concepts by the end of the year, and one of those is expected to be developed into a final campus master plan by March 1, she said.