McHenry Co. Mental Health Board OKs $4 mil addition

Despite complaints they were contributing to the growth of an already bloated bureaucracy, the McHenry County Board narrowly approved a measure Tuesday to help the county's Mental Health Board construct a $4 million addition to its Crystal Lake headquarters.

The board voted 13-8 in favor of a resolution that will allow the mental health board to borrow $4 million for the project and repay it with additional funding that will come available once it finishes paying off the debt on the existing building.

The vote came after members heard from several in the county's mental health services field who argued that the $4 million being spent on the project - more if one includes interest on the loan - should be spent funding services, especially at a time when many social service agencies are grappling with state cuts.

"If these funds are allocated for this purpose, they will then not be available for services desperately needed for many clients who are waiting in line throughout the county, right now as we speak and well into the future," said Mike Moushey, vice chairman of board for the Pioneer Center, an agency assisting children and adults with developmental disabilities, mental illnesses and brain injuries.

Other opponents noted that the mental health board has more than 50 employees, making it by far the largest operation of its kind in the state, and they fear that growth will continue with new office space to fill.

"This board can do whatever it wants to do, and frankly it does whatever it wants to do, because nobody is watching them," county resident Richard Draper said.

But board officials defended their size and the building addition, arguing that both are necessary to keep up with the county's growth and the increasing demand for mental health services. Without the building expansion, board president Don Larson said, the board will have to continue renting space 10 miles away from its headquarters.

"The best use of these funds is not to rent space, but to own it," he said.

Larson added that the board can borrow at low interest through the federal stimulus, making now an ideal time to do this project.

"We can build a lot cheaper this way than if we went out to see what (rates) the banks would loan us money," he said. "It will be a big savings to taxpayers."

Plans call for the two-story addition to the board's Dakota Street headquarters to create new office space, meeting rooms and a library. It should be complete in late 2011.