Boone County Watchdog

Monday, July 25, 2011

St. James’ New Church: Many Questions; Few Clear Answers UPDATED 8-9-2011

Since January 2011 parishioners have been ask to support the campaign for a new church. However since then there have been many changes some of which only a few parishioners are aware. Just to clear things up --here is what you should be aware.

The capacity of the new Church is now 850
It is being planned to be located at the old convent/parking lot on Church Street and Caswell Streets. The main entrance doors will be on Caswell. [NOT on the 22 acres West of Belvidere on Town Hall Road]
The new church will have steps at the front and at all side entrances. The church will be handicapped accessible only for the front. The handicapped ramp will be much less steep than the current ramp however it will be approximately twice as long. And it will require the walker to enter on the school side of the church. See drawings at: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-st-james-church-will-be-very-bigyou.html
A number of neighbors have signed formal protest requests regarding the parish’s zoning request. None of the adjacent neighbors have agreed to sell their property to the parish.
Type of roof on the new church: Despite what the application for zoning stated and what Father Geary stated earlier, the roof apparently now is standard shingles—not a metal roof. (Metal roofs have a much longer life)
The old church will be torn down to make a parking lot. The new church will be five stories tall. There will be four inches (basically zero) set back on the Church Street side of the building.
The Parish will pay all city expenses for rebuilding the 300 block of Church Street to make diagonal parking alone the new church building.

When will Father Geary or Bishop Doran communicate with St. James Parishioners? First communication in bulletin on 8-7-2011; To see this, click on following: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/08/insert-to-parish-bulletin-8-7-2011.html

Few of the changes (such as those listed above) have been published in the weekly bulletin or any other written source. Father Geary has orally stated many things which “the Bishop will not approve or Diocese demands” but such things have not been written nor has the pastor, the parish finance committee or the parish council disseminated the information in written form to the parish. Other than continuing to solicit funds, parish administration has little desire to communicate with the parish members concerning changes to the new church.

Is the Church still going to have a basement? NO, IT WILL NOT See 8-7-2011 Insert; click on following: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/08/insert-to-parish-bulletin-8-7-2011.html

Many heard that the project was running over the $5.5 limit [maybe this is $6,000,000, see insert] and no basement was being planned even though at public meetings an unfinished basement was stated. If there is no basement St. James Parish will have even less storage. The school and organizations are already complaining about storage. Where will the old stain glass and other sacred items be stored?

QUESTIONS that remain unanswered:

How much money does the campaign have in the Parish DIAL account?

There have been many expenses for the campaign management firm, architect, surveying and legal. The campaign needs $1,000,000 in the DIAL account. How close are we to that requirement?

What happens if the pledge goal of $3,000,000 is not reached?

Will any funds be returned to the donors?

Will the expenses for the campaign and pre-construction be shown in the parish’s June 30, 2011 annual statements to the parishioners?

If not, what type of public accounting will parishioners receive and when?

Will St. James be a good steward of the Earth in the building of the new church?

Will modern ecological/energy-savings devises and systems be employed to lessen heating, cooling and lighting bills? Can a church with 50 feet ceilings ever be consider energy efficient? Will the demolition, constructions and operations be earth friendly?

What is the projected cost of the total project now?

Rumor says the church building will cost $6.4million and if there is a basement $7.5 million. And now there is talk that the parish will be buying the houses of the landowners who have signed formal protests. Could that be another $1,000,000?

I have been told by Father Geary that he will answer questions when he deems the parish should be told.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Northwest Herald Letter to Editor: U.S. becoming oligarchy?

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To the Editor:

According to the U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 4: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government …”

According to the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 2: The Congress shall have the power “To borrow Money on the credit of the United States.”

Nowhere in the Constitution does it give the authority to Congress to pass a bill giving the Executive Branch (the president) the authority to raise the debt ceiling. This is being proposed by a handful of legislators in the Congress (an oligarchy) in the hope that it will be approved by the Congress. It is the duty of the Congress either to increase, keep the same or decrease the debt ceiling.

They should perform their constitutionally directed mandate and not drop this (unconstitutionally) on the Executive Branch (the president).

The political theater must stop and the Congress – Republicans, Democrats and Independents – must meet their responsibilities and not posture for future elections.

I believe that those who continue to play political theater won’t be on the list of actors in the next Congress.

Dr. Richard W. Gorski

The above was taken from: http://www.nwherald.com/2011/07/20/u-s-becoming-oligarchy/akggm89/

St. James: What do your neighbor’s think of the new church? Oh Yes—they are not selling.

For more details on the St. James expansion project go to: http://www.boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/

For more information on the St. James zoning issue go to: http://www.boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/

or click on any of the following listed stories:

Elgin’s Lords Park bison dies; just one remaining

extreme heat, large animals have been expiring at an accelerated rate this past week. Morrissey told staff he did not believe that staff could have done anything to prevent her death.

The only remaining bison is the female named Pokey, who was born in 1991

“Please know it is more important now than ever that we get the fencing repaired and (to) bring in donated young bison to continue the tradition began in 1905 by the Lords Family and Elgin citizens,” Gibson-Aiello stated via Facebook.

Click on the following for more details: http://couriernews.suntimes.com/6653900-417/lords-park-bison-dies-just-one-remaining.html

Boone Co Sheriff releases results of July 4th patrols

There were 19 seat belt citations, 3 suspended or revoked drivers arrested, 10 uninsured motorists were cited and 15 motorists cited for speeding.

Deputies also arrested four subjects for drug related offenses. Six people were arrested for DUI offenses.

Click on the following for more details: http://www.belvideredailyrepublican.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6798:sheriff-releases-results-of-july-4th-patrols&catid=108:boone-county&Itemid=510

McHenry County Sportsplex developer asking for more time

McHenry County Sportsplex LLC wants to put the 100-plus-acre sports facility southwest of the intersection of Routes 47 and 176.

Designs for the two-phase project include playing fields for soccer, baseball, lacrosse, basketball and volleyball. A 125,000- to 150,000-square-foot building would house a restaurant, retail space and indoor sports facilities. There also would be an outdoor arena able to accommodate local, national and international teams.

The SportsPlex gained notice in August 2010 when it was listed in a report of 100 stimulus-funded projects considered boondoggles by two U.S. senators.

Click on the following for more details: http://www.nwherald.com/2011/07/22/sportsplex-developer-asking-for-more-time/ai0ljdn/

Illinois AG gets help in robo-signing investigation

July 20, 2011

By Andrew Thomason Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — A group of 12 county recorders in Illinois are providing documents to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan for her investigation into an illicit practice relating to the national real estate and subsequent foreclosure crises, known as "robo-signing."

“Robo-signing is actually a variety of practices. It can be mortgages individuals signing a document that they have no idea of what’s contained within the document and without verifying the information,” said Champaign County Record Barb Frasca. “It can mean someone forging an executive signature on a document or using their own name on the document with a fake title.”

Madigan launched her investigation earlier this year into Lender Processing Services and Nationwide Title Clearing, two of the largest loan servicing companies in the country.

County recorders, one for each of the state’s 102 counties, are stewards of deeds and other documents relating to real estate ownership, and often receive paperwork from loan servicing and other mortgage processing companies. Josh Langfelder, Sangamon County recorder, said he and the 11 other recorders voluntarily are assembling documents for Madigan.

“They gave us a sample of documents that may be related to our investigation, and they are gathering more documents to provide,” attorney general spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler said. “We’re reviewing the information they provided.”

Ziegler would not identify the documents provided or comment on whether the initial sampling will help in Madigan’s investigation, because it is ongoing.

When the global recession hit and the real estate bubble burst, banks and other mortgage holders were flooded with foreclosures. To keep the surge of paperwork moving, some institutions disregarded safeguards that would protect homeowners, such as providing an affidavit verifying the identity of the mortgage owners.

These practices led to a temporary halt in foreclosures last fall, as sloppy paperwork turned into unnecessary foreclosures. Without proper documentation, confusion emerged over who owed what to whom.

“We want to be protective of the homeowners, people who have perchance been foreclosed on that perhaps the ownership (of the mortgage) was not clearly identified, or someone who has bought a foreclosed home,” said Rock Island County Recorder Pat Veronda.

Similar county officials in Minnesota and Massachusetts, for example, are working with their states’ attorneys general in robo-signing investigations. For example, the county recorder office for Essex County, Mass., claims to have nearly 1,200 documents with 22 different handwriting styles that all read “Linda Green,” according to the Associated Press.

"Linda Green" signatures have found their way to Illinois as well, said Glenda Johnson, chief deputy recorder for St. Clair County.

The Massachusetts example "made us look further into it. She is all over out there," Johnson said.

While companies have claimed to stop the practice of robo-signing, recent investigations by the AP and Reuters indicate this is not happening, which could prove troublesome as the rate of foreclosures refuses to drop to prerecession levels.

While foreclosure rates dropped by nearly 25 percent for June when compared with the same period this past year, they inched up by 4 percent from May, according to RealtyTrac, a company that monitors foreclosures nationwide.

Illinois had 11,014 foreclosures in June, or one in every 480 housing units, mainly in the counties surrounding Chicago. Only Michigan, Arizona, Florida and California had more foreclosures in June than Illinois