In the coming years, the highest priority for Wonder Lake’s Village Board will be managing the large population growth expected over the next 25 years while keeping its small-town feel, candidates in the April election said.

That growth is coming from a long-delayed development called Stonewater that began construction in earnest in 2021.

Three candidates will appear on the April 4 ballot vying for the three open spots on Wonder Lake’s Village Board: Larry Reinhard, John Tollini and Joe Houston. Both Reinhard and Tollini are incumbents, while Houston is a first-time candidate.

Attempts to reach Reinhard and Village Clerk Jo-Ellen McIntosh, who also is running to retain her seat, were not successful.

Newcomer Houston is running to take the seat now held by board member Dan Dycus, who served on the Village Board for five years.

Dycus is instead running for village president, seeking the slot held by longtime President Tony Topf, who is not running for reelection.

Of the candidates interviewed, all three said growth is coming to the community, which began as lakeside homes more than a century ago.

Anyone who drives on Route 120 between McHenry and Woodstock may not realize that the new home construction on the north side of the road falls within Wonder Lake and not McHenry or Woodstock, Tollini said.

Known as the Stonewater subdivision, the property was first planned more than a decade ago. Construction there started in earnest in 2021.

As it is built out in phases over the next 25 years, Stonewater is set to bring between 3,400 to 3,700 houses with an expected headcount of 2.6 people per home, Dycus said. That means an additional 8,840 to 9,620 residents.

Wonder Lake currently has about 4,000 residents, Dycus said. As the village grows, the board must balance the wants and needs of those new residents with those who are already there.

“What we have heard from the community is they moved to Wonder Lake to get a different pace” from other larger towns, Dycus said.

It can maintain its roots as a small town while still growing, he said.

“I want to make sure what they experience doesn’t feel like a shock” as new residents arrive, Dycus said.

“We all want to maintain our small, lake-town feel,” Tollini said.

But with Stonewater and other planned developments will come opportunities to improve the village for existing residents, too, he said.

“You constantly hear people complain about water quality” in the village, Tollini said.

Currently, part of the village gets its water from the treatment plant build for Stonewater, but that water is supplied through old water mains.

The board is seeking grants to help improve water delivery by replacing those lines.

“Residents have to have patience, and it will be a slow process but, eventually, it will get done,” Tollini said.

Houston, the newcomer to the board, said it will be his goal to unite all sides of the village and its business district.

“The thing that motivates me the most is to see the community come together as one and continue to grow ... in a cohesive direction,” Houston said.

He would like to see areas that are not yet annexed to Wonder Lake come into the village, including sections that include businesses, “so businesses can prosper and we can have a downtown Wonder Lake for residents to frequent and come together” for events, Houston said.

Although demand for the Stonewater homes has been brisk, the area is being built in phases to help the village expand with the least disruption for all residents, Dycus said.

It will change Wonder Lake, he said. If Stonewater is fully built out and other areas are annexed and built, Wonder Lake could become the third-largest municipality in McHenry County.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the towns connecting Route 120. They are McHenry and Woodstock.