McHenry Market Pulse: CITY OF MCHENRY RECOGNIZES BUSINESS COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP IN SAFETY TOWN PROJECT

McHenry, IL August 2017 – The City of McHenry spearheaded a public-private partnership to construct a Safety Town on the Municipal Center Campus adjacent to the McHenry Zone Skate Park.

10,000 square-foot existing concrete slab adjacent to McHenry Zone Skate Park, surrounded by a fence and unused for several years; concrete needed to cleaned and prepped; measured and laid out so a miniature City could be constructed; work completed by Mayor Jett and multiple City Departments

This project would not have been possible without the assistance and collaboration of multiple City departments and the business community http://www.nwherald.com/2017/05/19/volunteers-build-safety-town-in-mchenry/aqzxrrw/.

Mayor Wayne Jett addresses volunteers on work day at Downtown Maintenance and Parks and Recreation Facility on Green Street; 25 managers from CVS Pharmacy from all over the State of Illinois traveled to assist in this work day to construct the actual Safety Town Buildings; Multiple volunteers from The Home Depot also participated in the work day coordinating the construction of the structures as well as donating materials and supplies to build numerous buildings (each costing about $1,000)

Mayor Wayne Jett, as well as multiple City Departments assisted throughout the work day, rotating employees so regular duties could be handled and the structures could be built and completed in a timely manner

Mayor Wayne Jett participated in every aspect of the project

On Monday August 21, 2017, at the McHenry City Council meeting, 333 S. Green Street at 7:00 p.m., Mayor Wayne Jett and the McHenry City Council will recognize volunteers and contributors from our business community for making this project become a reality.

This project would not have been made possible without the assistance of all the volunteers, including the business community and City Departments: Special thanks to Ross Polerecky, Community Development Director, who assisted in the design and construction and working closely with The Home Depot and Behr in prepping the site, designing the structures, coordinating the logistics of delivering the materials and enlisting his department to participate in the work day; Pat Gorniak, Superintendent of Parks and Downtown Maintenance who worked closely with Ross and the Parks and Recreation Department and his crews in getting the site prepped in a timely manner, working around the weather challenges; adjusting to a last minute change in work day venue due to rain and getting a lot of work done in a short time period including meeting his day to day obligations and management pertaining to his City responsibilities; Cindy Witt-Recreation Coordinator who coordinated the involvement of the businesses; organizing and planning the program and the educational aspect; Matt LaPorte-Recreation Center Manager who oversaw the management of the project and opened the doors of the Recreation Center to CVS on the work day so they could hold their managers' meeting following the completion of the work day; Mayor Wayne Jett, Derik Morefield-City Administrator and Bill Hobson-Deputy City Administrator and Director of Parks and Recreation who led by example and participating when they had time and entrusting their staff to complete a quality project the community would be proud of!

The following companies will be recognized for their participation: CVS Pharmacy; The Home Depot and Behr Paint, Jessup Manufacturing, Big R, Sherwin-Williams Paint Store, Jimmy Johns, Riverside Bake Shop, Dunkin Donuts, Sticker Dude and Traffic Control & Protection.

Mayor Wayne Jett working alongside Matt Zimmerman from the Parks and Recreation Department and Guy Smale and Ross Polerecky from the Department of Community and Economic Development

Ross Polerecky in foreground and Craig Lowery from The Home Depot in the background

Safety Town is a national program that focuses on teaching young children safe practices at home, school and within the community utilizing a miniature town. In conjunction with the physical representation of the Safety Town a curriculum consisting of a wide range of topics applicable to daily living such as: bicycle, pedestrian, school bus, fire, water, railroad, playground, pet and stranger-danger safety lessons is used to educate young people in a realistic setting.

A good time was had by all!

Craig Lowery and his colleague from The Home Depot

CVS managers completed the majority of the painting of the structures during the work day

The McHenry Parks & Recreation Department offered a one-week camp and several one-day clinics in June and July this past summer and is offering Saturday clinics in September and October 2017.

There was a lot of painting done but thanks to CVS it was completed very quickly

This is an ongoing effort with the ultimate goal to involve and engage as many members of our local residents, business community and service organizations as possible to prepare our children for the real-world challenges, which lie ahead!

Pond designed and installed by Jessup Manufacturing. Click on the following link to learn how Jessup utilized their manufacturing expertise to contribute to the City of Safety Town Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_UpiYSJvg0&index=6&list=PLjwept0Xwd_wT3BNxYQLBTB4EnAthw_IK