Old McHenry Co. animal control site for sale
Despite misgivings from some key members, the McHenry County Board decided Tuesday to declare its former animal-control facility as surplus property and put it on the market.
The board voted 18-4 in favor of a resolution saying the 4,000-square-foot kennel and the two acres in Woodstock it sits on is "desperately in need of repair and is of no current value to the county."
"It's time we sold this property and get it back on the tax rolls," board member Mary Lou Zierer said. "If we hold onto it, five or 10 years from now, with this land still sitting there vacant, that's money that we've lost."
The sale became possible earlier this year after the county's animal-control department moved into a $3.5 million facility located within a 16,500-square-foot former office building in Crystal Lake.
Opponents of the sale, including Finance Committee Chairman Marc Munaretto, said the county should not be eager to dispense of property it may need in the future.
"We're not making any more land, and the needs of government don't always reveal themselves (immediately)," he said. "While we may not know how to use this property today, five or 10 years from now conditions might be different."
But a majority of the board shared the sentiment of member Dan Shea, who noted that with new residential development surrounding the old facility, now is the time to sell.
"The property will never be worth more," he said.
County officials previously indicated they might sell the property at auction, but County Administrator Peter Austin said Tuesday that now is unlikely. Also off the table is a $180,000 offer for the property previously received but rejected because board members thought they could find a higher bidder.
One issue on which board members did not disagree Tuesday was the need to tear down the building as soon as possible, even if it means doing it before the land is sold.
"It is an attractive nuisance and we're best off demolishing the property and grading it out," Austin said.