Caretakers get to stay on forest preserve
Allan and Jean Ferbert can continue to live in a house on Kane County Forest Preserve property for another two years under a proposal recommended by the forest preserve commission's executive committee Friday. Allan, 64, and Jean, 65, have maintained an 140-year-old house on a large farmstead in Dundee Township for the past 27 years. They live there rent free and receive a $1,200 annual stipend from the forest preserve in exchange for taking care of the home and 160-acre estate, located off Sleepy Hollow Road between Route 72 and Huntley Road.
The property's former owner, Emily Schweitzer, hired the Ferberts as caretakers in 1980. They have remained there since, even after Schweitzer willed the estate to the forest preserve district upon her death in 2001. If not for the Ferberts, forest preserve officials would demolish the buildings on the property and open the land up to the public. The property now serves as a hidden gem, used by locals who bring their dogs to run off leash in a 5-acre fenced-in area on the site.
"I feel safe going there with my dogs. He watches out for us," said Brigitte Breitbucher, an Elgin resident who spoke on Allan Ferbert's behalf to the committee Friday.
A year ago, the commission voted to renew the Ferberts' employment contract for another year. The two-year extension recommended by the executive committee is non-renewable, forest commission president John Hoscheit said. So what happens to the Ferberts in 2009? Allan Ferbert said he and his wife, who is in poor health, have nowhere else to go. Forest preserve commissioners have to weigh that against their plans for the property, which will be developed in the meantime.
Photo contest: The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning wants photos of your neighborhood, local wildlife and city architecture for a photo contest. Winners' photos will appear in CMAP's upcoming regional comprehensive plan, a land-use and transportation plan for the seven-county Chicago region, and on the agency's Web site.
Two winners will be chosen in each of five categories and one overall winner also will be named. The categories are diversity (people, places, culture), community vitality (transportation, retail, neighborhood pride), natural environment, global appeal (business centers and commerce), and architecture/urban design. Entries are due Nov. 15. For more information, contact Amy Talbot at (312) 386-8646 or e-mail atalbot@cmap.illinois.gov.
GOP picnic: GOP State Rep. Ruth Munson of Elgin is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the Dundee Township Republicans' 14th annual picnic Sunday. Hosted by the Dundee Township Republican Central Committee Inc., the event goes from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Max Freeman Memorial Park in East Dundee. This year's theme is "Honoring Our Veterans and Those in Service to Our Nation." Tickets are $10 per person; children younger than 3 are free. The event includes lunch. Door prize drawings begin at 2 p.m.