The Huntley Farmside

              Inside • Hoiiday gift guide Fire department receives plaque
35 cents
Thursday, November 26,1998
The HimtleY FaiMiside
I    ^^ .,«oo A Press Publications newspaper £ir servinq the Huntlev communitv
Volume 38 Issue 33
Police Chief envisions slight boost in crime
Steve Brosinski
Press Publications
Huntley Police Chief Randy Walters is used to the hectic pace of a suburban police force.
But he never expected when he took the job here three years ago that Huntley's police depart¬ ment would someday tum into one in his lifetime.
After 26 years in the Northbrook Police Department, Walter retired and was hired to run Huntley's force of 13 police officers, and three other staff members.
"I didn't anticipate this type of growth," said the 53-year-old former chief of criminal investi¬ gations in Northbrook. "I think five years from now we will see some impact from the business¬ es that will be moving into Huntley," Walters said.
With the construction of higher-end developments, such as Del Webb's Sun City and Cambridge Homes, Walters said he doesn't expect a rapid upturn in crime.
"I would hope that is the trend we see out here. I would like to see more brick-type homes and less density," he said.
Walters said the department is in the process of adding extended hours in the records division.
Future department needs may include the need to hire three-to- four people, such as a communi¬ ty relations person, a school liai¬ son officer at the Huntley Campus and another police investigator.
While there is not a gang problem in Huntley now, Walters said gangs may drift this way in the future.
"We probably have three-to- four gang members in this area. We have a lot of wanna-be situ¬ ations," he said.
The biggest concern con¬ fronting the Huntley Police Department will be traffic-relat¬ ed accidents, Walters said.
"We've had a lot of fender- benders, but not a lot of deaths," he said.
Commenting on a collision
on C^onley Road involving a school bus loaded with children, Walters said the accident was a wake-up call of sorts.
"We were really fortunate. That put a scare into everyone."
And with the construction of retail businesses on Route 47, there will be an increase in thefts and burglaries.
"We've had a number of bur¬ glary to autos at Weber- Stephens, where people come off of the highway."
When he came on board as chief, Walters planned to spend a good part of his day manning a patrol car, something he has lit¬ tle time to do lately.
"Right now we have a lot of people wearing a lot of different hats," he said.
Besides Walters, the depart¬ ment has three people above the position of officer: two sergeants and a full-time investi¬ gator.
"I made a pitch to the Village Board that we are going to have to look at another sergeant as an administrative sergeant or deputy chief." *
Photo by Steve Brosinski
With new housing and business developments being built, Huntley Police Chief Randy Walters expects to see a slight increase in the local crime rate.
Walters and his wife, Linda, live in Huntley and have two children, a daughter who is a
nursing student at Loyola University in Chicago and a son who works in construction.
Park District cautiously awaits $400,000 state grant
Steve Brosinski
Press Publications
Huntley Park District offi¬ cials were optimistic about learning that the state plans to award $400,000 to the district for the purchase of open land.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced that the Park District will receive the grant to buy new land for a new park in town. At Tuesday's board meeting, the board was expected to discuss the possibility of purchasing a parcel just west of Huntley.
Recreation Director Betsey Warrington said the grant may be used to buy the 42-acre Deicke Farm on Main Street, near Harmony Road.
"We don't have a deed or a title; we just have a dream," Warrington said.
Warrington said the district will consider buying the farm and tuming it into a working farmstead with a nature pre¬ serve, a trail, a shelter and sports fields. A small portion of the land is a wetland.
And there could be enough
"It's nice we have the grant, but a lot has to be done. It*s wonderful and we're hoping it works out."
Clark Borhart
, Park board commissioner   '
space for a future community center, she said.
"We had it appraised and we're hoping it will not cost more than that (the amount of the grant)," she said.
The grant cannot be used to pay for the cost of the buildings on the farm, which would have to be purchased separately, she said. The district may have to re¬ issue bonds to cover the costs of the buildings.
Park Board Commissioner Clark Borhart said the board is cautiously waiting for the funding.
"It's nice we have the grant, but a lot has to be done. It's wonderful and we're hoping it works out," Borhart said.
Pending the district receiving the grant and then buying the
Deicke farm, the Park District could almost double in size. Deicke Park (26,5 acres) is on Route 47 and Ol' Timers Park (16.5 acres) is on Church Street.
Two developers in the east side of town are dedicating parcels to the Park District: Cambridge Homes is turning over a 9.5-acre park and a 1-acre tot lot and Kirk Homes intends to create land for a park off of Dundee Road.
The Park District would have 18 ntKmths to use the grant cr the inoney would revert back to flie state.