Island Lake annexes Kemper Valve property

Anticipating future company growth, Island Lake officials have agreed to annex 39 acres of farmland owned by the Kemper Valve & Fittings Corp.

The property is adjacent to the Kemper Valve factory at 3001 N. Darrell Road, north of Burnett Road. While the factory already had been in the village, the farmland had been in an unincorporated area of McHenry County.

Kemper Valve leases the land to a farmer who will continue growing crops there until the company decides to do something with the property, officials said.

Kemper Valve manufactures pressure pipe unions and fluid control products for the oil and gas industry. It has nine facilities across the U.S. and Canada.

The company was acquired by Caterpillar Oil & Gas last year.

Kemper Valve requested the farmland be annexed into Island Lake, and the village board obliged late last week. The board also rezoned the land to allow light manufacturing, another request from Kemper Valve.

"We are a growing company and the (zoning change) will enable that growth," said Sarah Pullen, a marketing consultant for Caterpillar.

The company doesn't have specific plans for the land yet, Pullen said. A second entrance to the factory could be created there, she said.

"For safety purposes it will be good to have two entrances to the facility," she said.