MCC stadium plan strikes out

McHenry County College's controversial expansion plan early was put on indefinite hold early Wednesday by the Crystal Lake City Council.

The college's plan to build a $26 million 95,000-square-foot Health, Wellness and Athletic complex north and west of the Route 14 campus was tabled by the council after an eight-hour meeting.

Part of the college's plan includes a 6,500-seat baseball stadium that would host a minor-league team.

Although the city council voted 4-3 to approve the plan with some conditions, a supermajority of five votes was required because the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission previously had voted, 8-0, to recommend that the proposal be denied.

Council members David Goss, Ellen Brady Mueller, Cathy Ferguson, and Mayor Aaron Shepley voted to approve the plan, while Jeff Thorsen, Ralph Dawson and Brett Hopkins, voted against.

After the vote failed to win a supermajority, the council agreed to table the college's plan to an upcoming city council meeting.

"That does not mean we have to consider it at the next (meeting) -- it simply means we can revisit the issue again in the future," Shepley said.

Before the 1 a.m. vote, the council questioned college officials, listened to environmental and traffic presentations by Patrick Engineering Inc. consultants, and heard two hours of emotional pleas by members of the standing-room only audience.

More than 30 individuals, mostly Crystal Lake residents, voiced their concerns about the proposed expansion plan.

Because MCC expansion would encroach on land falling within the Crystal Lake watershed, many felt the city still needed to examine a comprehensive plan for the northwest area of the city and guidelines for developing in the watershed.

"We'd like the city council to slow down and bring all the players to the table -- the McHenry County Soil and Water Commission, the EPA, the McHenry County Board," said Nancy Gonsiorek, a Nunda Township resident who lives on the Crystal Lake border. "The lake, this beautiful, natural lake, is just too important."

The four council members who supported the plan said they were impressed by the college's thorough planning efforts.

But council member Ralph Dawson, who voted against the plan, said that in nine years as an elected official, he'd never before seen as much public outcry.

"I've only received two positive calls about this. I will stand by my constituents," he said.

Jeff Havel, vice president of Patrick Engineering, suggested that future plans submitted by the college to the council might no longer include a baseball stadium.

"I think (the stadium) muddied the water on the plan," he said.

MCC College President Walter Packard said "almost certainly" the college would not present its bid at the next city council meeting Nov. 2.

"We'll need more time than that to prepare," he said.