The Huntley Farmside

              Athletic Boosters Photos — see inside Park Board Minutes — see inside
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Thursday, September 10,1998
The Himtley Famiside
..   A Press Publications newsoaDer mr servina tlie Huntley community
Volume 37 Issue 74
Village officials spell out town's growth to chamber
Steve Brosinski
Press Publications
Everyone knows that Huntley is growing in leaps and bounds, but many in the business com¬ munity are still not used to hear¬ ing about the phenomenal growth that is right around the comer.
At the Sept. 2 Huntley Chamber of Commerce meet¬ ing, Village President Jim Dhamer and Village
Administrator Carl Tomaso met with chamber members to spell out how commercial, retail and residential developments are reshaping the village.
Tomaso once again delivered the startling message that Huntley's population would grow ten fold in about 20 years.
"We are looking at a total build-out by  the year 2019.
What we are planning for is a population of residency between 39-42,000 people," Tomaso said.
These numbers exclude about 8,000 municipal employees who will be working in various agen¬ cies.
Even though she basically knew what village officials were going to say, Chamber President Bemice Bakley said she found it difficult to take it all in.
"Wow!," Bakley exclaimed at the end of the meeting. "When you see it on the map this puts it into perspective. We are looking forward to the growth and pleased the village is managing it."
With millions of dollars to be spent on road, sewer and water improvements, Dhamer said the good news is that the village will not be footing the bill.
Photo by Steve Brosinski
Village Administrator Carl Tomaso addresses members of the Huntley Chamber of Commerce during their monthly chamber meeting on Sept. 2. Village President JimDhamer was also on hand to report on the large num¬ ber of commercial and residential changes affecting the village.
"Right now, the village is debt free, and I want to keep it that way if I can," Dhamer said. "Like I said before, they have to pay to get into these sewage treatment plants," Dhamer said about Town and Country Homes'   plans  to   build   225
homes on land that was annexed in 1995.
Dhamer said he supports School District 158's referendum proposal to constmct one of two new elementary schools on Reed Road, bordering Huntley.
see Chamber—page 2
Meeting planned for tonight to discuss upcoming District 158 referendums
Steve Brosinski
Press Publications
With less than two months to go before the fall election, pro¬ ponents are busy developing a strategy that they hope will lead to the passage of School District 158's referendums to build two new elementary schools.
When voters go to the polls Nov. 3, they will decide the fate of two $9 million referendums that would be used to build schools in
Huntley and Lake in the Hills.
Organizers of Positive Referendum in District 158 Education, a group urging pas¬ sage of the referendums, will meet with volunteers at 7 p.m. tonight at the Huntley South Elemeiitary school cafeteria, 12015 Mill St. The meeting is open to the public.
Backers emphasized that if voters approve the referendums, the cost to a taxpayer with a
home valued at $150,000 would be about $40 a year.
Voters narrowly rejected two previous initiatives to build schools at the same locations - Reed Road in Lake in the Hills and the Harmony Road Campus in Huntley. In November 1997, the Harmony Road site failed by 22 votes, and then in March, the Reed Road referendum lost by 18 votes.
School officials project' that enrollment   will   continue   to
increase 20 percent annually. This year, more than 2,000 stu¬ dents are enrolled in district schools, compared to 1,700 in the 1997-98 school year.
The new schools would pro¬ vide space for between 800-900 students in each of the new schools. If voters approve the Reed Road referendum. District 158 is expected to receive title to the land from the village of Lake in the Hills.
Correction
An article on pro¬ posed School District 158 referendums that appeared in the Sept. 3 issue of the Huntley Farmside incorrectly reported what these ref¬ erendums would cost homeowners.
Each referendum pro¬ poses to spend $9 mil¬ lion on a new elemen¬ tary school, one in Huntley and a second in Lake in the Hills. If passed, these referen¬ dums would cost the owner of a home valued at $150,000 about $40 per year.
Press Publications regrets the error.