February 07, 2025
Shaw Local
NewsSportsBearseNewspaperNewsletterObituariesWeekend PlansEvent Calendar

McHenry Mayor Wayne Jett seeks input from residents, local teens on businesses, amenities they want to see

Parks and Recreation eyes separate survey, in addition to comprehensive plan query

By Janelle Walker
McHenry's Green Street, seen here on Jan. 2, 2024, has seen new businesses open or that are set to open in 2024. Mayor Wayne Jett launched a survey on Jan. 3, 2024, that seek resident input on what kinds of businesses they'd like to see in downtown and across the community.

McHenry's Green Street, seen here on Jan. 2, 2024, has seen new businesses open or that are set to open in 2024. Mayor Wayne Jett launched a survey on Jan. 3, 2024, that seeks resident input on what kinds of businesses they'd like to see downtown and across the community. (Janelle Walker)

When McHenry Mayor Wayne Jett asked via a Facebook post what amenities and businesses residents wanted to see, he got a wide variety of answers from those who responded.

Based on that conversation, Jett sought a more formal survey. Created with help from the McHenry economic development department, a survey put out in recent days asks a similar question: What would you like to see in the City of McHenry?

Jett’s survey will in coming days or weeks be joined by a survey from the Parks and Recreation Department seeking resident input on its master plan, department director Bill Hobson said.

McHenry has another survey now live at McHenry2050.com, for the city’s comprehensive plan and downtown plans.

Shoppers explore the new collection of tiny shops at the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the new McHenry Riverwalk Shoppes in downtown McHenry on Friday, July 21, 2023.

Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of the McHenry Riverwalk Shoppes One of the McHenry surveys will ask what residents want to see downtown, where recent additions include a retail incubator called McHenry Riverwalk Shoppes, shown at their debut last July. (Ryan Rayburn for Shaw Local/Ryan Rayburn for Shaw Local)

Jett’s survey “is totally separate from both the comprehensive plan and the parks and recreation survey,” he said. “Parks and rec ... are doing their own thing.”

The eight-question economic development survey covers topics like preferred recreational activities, barriers that exist to enjoying those recreational and leisure activities, the types of “food establishments” residents are interested in and “if money were no object, what types of facilities, services or amenities” they would like to see in McHenry.

Jett said he wants the data gleaned to provide “input (for) the new city administrator and staff guidance for a large push for new development.”

Jett’s online poll will be posted on McHenry social media accounts, via an e-blast from the city and, through a partnership with McHenry School District 15 and McHenry High School District 156, pushed to the schools, Jett said.

“We will get it to the parents, as well as data from actual teenagers,” Jett said. “Parents don’t know what their kids want to do. This is a gauge of what teenagers are looking for in the community.”

He’s received “heat” from residents about the lack of activities for teens, Jett added. In the survey “they can choose from places they would like to see” come to McHenry, Jett said.

In his original Facebook post, Jett indicated he was looking at purchasing a downtown property to develop it into businesses. He’s been involved with similar projects in the past, including the redevelopment of the former McHenry Downtown Theater – now The Vixen – and the Hub Market next door.

The property he was looking at, on Riverside Drive, was bought by another party, Jett said in recent days.

The Parks and Recreation department survey, set to launch “once everyone is back into a schedule after Christmas break” will seek community input as part of its Parks and Rec Master Plan, Hobson said.

His department’s current master plan was developed in 2007 and was set to last until 2012, Hobson said.

“Not a whole lot has changed in that time. It is still relevant,” he said. However, an updated plan does allow McHenry to seek grants.

The survey, commissioned via the department’s contract with Hitchcock Design Group, is also designed to be “statistically valid,” Hobson said.

The 20-question survey will ask what residents want for parks and recreation and about potential upgrades to the city’s recreation center.

On Dec. 19, the city council denied a request to place a $45 million referendum question, to expand that center, on the March 19 primary ballot. Jett said he would like to try again, and get the question on the November general election ballot.

“We are better served the more information we get,” Hobson said.

He also noted that several McHenry High School students recently asked several survey questions on community Facebook pages, seeking answers on community-related topics.

“I would be interested in seeing ... the answers they got,” to those questions, Hobson said.

In addition to guiding the new city administrator, Suzanne Ostrovsky, who is set to begin on Jan. 22, Jett wants the economic development survey in hand when city officials attend the International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas in May.

The survey, he said, may help attract to McHenry the international businesses who attendthe conference.

Have a Question about this article?