Residents in favor of dissolving Oakwood Hills now pushing for disconnection of Chalet Hills neighborhood

The group of residents originally seeking to dissolve the entirety of Oakwood Hills now are looking to only disconnect one part of it – the Chalet Hills Estates subdivision – from the rest of the village.

Illinois code states that any territory in a municipality can be disconnected if it contains 20 or more acres, if there will be no substantial disruption to existing service facilities in the municipality, and if the municipality will not be "unduly harmed" through loss of tax revenue in the future, among other provisions.

If this neighborhood is jettisoned from the village, Richard Studer, one of the organizers of that group initially wanting to dissolve Oakwood Hills, said they will withdraw their petition to dissolve the entire village. However, it may be too late for them to do that, according to election officials.

A group of Oakwood Hills residents, including Studer, originally petitioned successfully to put a referendum question to dissolve the village on the March 17 election ballot. Though the question of whether to dissolve the village would be voted on by village residents in the March 17 primary election, it would be the village's Board of Trustees who would have to approve the disconnection of Chalet Hills.

McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio said even if the request to disconnect from Oakwood Hills is approved by the Village Board, the referendum question on dissolving the municipality cannot be withdrawn now, as it is past the deadline. Short of a court order, the question will be on the March 17 ballot, Tirio said.

"The opportunity for them to do this has passed," he said.

Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections, said they generally consider the deadline for withdrawal in cases like this to be the date the ballot was certified by the county, which in this case was Jan. 9.

With early voting starting on Feb. 6, it’s probably too late for it to be removed from the ballot, he added.

Tirio said the state-issued calendar gives parties "ample opportunity" to assemble and submit petitions, and that it also allows election officials enough time to prepare the slated ballots and test the equipment so it operates properly. He added if there wasn't some sort of cutoff, officials would not be ready for the election.

The members of the Chalet Hills community recently began investigating if they could disconnect instead of dissolving the entire municipality because of "antagonism" coming from others in Oakwood Hills, on social media and during meetings, Studer said. He says individuals wanting to leave the municipality began gathering signatures for disconnection around Jan. 5, as an alternative to dissolution.

"We have been committed to being unincorporated from the beginning; if that is satisfied, we’re going to try to do everything to hopefully satisfy the rest of the Oakwood Hills community," Studer said. "This might be the best of both worlds. We want people to know that we’re not the bad guys. We're trying to do the best for our community."

Studer said they have reached out to trustees, and already have met with acting Village President Chad Rider, as well as the village attorney, to say they would be willing to withdraw the petition for dissolution if disconnection was approved.

"We definitely want to have our disconnection petition assessed by the board at their Feb. 13 meeting, if not before," Studer said.

Several messages were left for Rider, but he was not able to be reached for comment.

"We really are talking about double taxation in our viewpoint, and we don’t think it’s appropriate anymore," Studer said. "We’ve been concerned about it, attempted to get services wanted and needed through the village, (but have) not been satisfied in that regard."

Oakwood Hills Trustee Mark Wise said he is aware of the disconnection proposal, and has talked with residents both for and against it.

Though he said it is too early for him to form an opinion on it, Wise said it will be reviewed by the board and they will "make the best decision for the village."

"I don’t know all the impacts right now," Wise said. "Once we know all the impacts, we may be able to make a decision."

Wise said he does expect the issue to be at least discussed during the board's Feb. 13 meeting.If the Chalet Hills neighborhood were to be disconnected from Oakwood Hills, it would be a part of unincorporated Nunda Township, just like the village would be if it dissolved.

To Don Kalter, a member of a group trying to "Save Oakwood Hills" from dissolution, this new disconnection proposal sounds like a "strong-armed threat."

"They're trying to hold that above us to get what they want," Kalter said. "They’re telling us they would retract their petition for dissolution if they get their way and only if they get their way, and that’s not the way to do it."

In addition, Kalter said, he is concerned that disconnection would put an "undue burden" on the rest of the village, as tax resources would have to be absorbed by the remaining residents.

With the measure to dissolve the village on the March 17 ballot, Kalter said he and others with the "Save Oakwood Hills" group will continue a "get out the vote" campaign encouraging people to vote against the dissolution of the village.

With the disconnection, there's "really nothing" they can do, except communicate their displeasure with it, Kalter added.