McHenry County’s only I-90 interchange is 5 years old. Here’s where Marengo’s plans to develop the area stand

McHenry County plans to loan Marengo $750,000 to help the city get utilities out to the Interstate 90/Route 23 interchange and, ultimately, help the city develop the area.

Marengo secured a $3 million regional site readiness grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, but the city needed a local match for the grant, which is coming from the county’s loan.

The interchange opened just over five years ago, but Marengo has been long working on getting development on what is now mostly farmland.

As to what might be built on the prime real estate, Marengo Interim City Administrator Derik Morefield said “the market will be the most likely driver of what types of uses occur at the interchange and along the entire corridor. Obviously, the City of Marengo is most interested in businesses that broaden the tax base, generate additional taxes for all taxing bodies, and provide employment opportunities for residents of Marengo and McHenry County.”

[ Marengo looks ahead to new I-90 interchange in 2015 ]

The 23/90 interchange is the only direct connection to the interstate highway system in McHenry County; some nearby interchanges, like Route 47 in Huntley, are located in Kane County.

Extending water and sewer utilities to the interchange is happening in phases. The lack of water and sewer at the interchange has hindered development, Morefield said.

Phase one consists of extending utilities to the vicinity of the Unilock business, Morefield said in an email. That portion came with a $8.4 million price tag and is currently underway; construction is estimated to run through the end of the year.

Phase two, which will run the utilities from Unilock to Anthony Road is expected to start next year; it carries a $3.75 million price tag. The final phase would extend the utilities to the interchange and is estimated to cost $4.1 million to 4.5 million, Morefield said.

“This important transportation link provides a significant economic development opportunity not just for the City of Marengo, but for all of McHenry County,” Morefield wrote.

Morefield added that development opportunities will bring in revenues like property, sales and video game taxes, as well as “employment opportunities that are vital to the future of the City of Marengo and McHenry County.”

The McHenry County Board on April 15 approved the loan; Marengo’s City Council signed off on the agreement in March but approved a revised one April 14. At a county finance meeting earlier in April, there was a lot of discussion about and some changes made to the agreement so Marengo had to take up the revisions, according to Marengo documents.

One tweak involved implementing a 20-year term with a five-year extension option; the first agreement Marengo adopted was open-ended, according to city documents.

The new time frame “seems reasonable for development to occur that will generate revenues for the repayment of the $750,000 loan,” Morefield wrote in a memo to the mayor and City Council included in April 14 Council meeting materials.

The county plans to take the funds from interest earned on American Rescue Plan Act monies awarded by the federal government as COVID-19 relief, according to county records.

Marengo previously received nearly $27 million in state funding in 2022 that was also earmarked to help build out the interchange.

The development of the interchange is a long-term action item in McHenry County’s strategic plan, which includes a goal to “support and assist the City of Marengo in pursuit of funding opportunities to construct water/wastewater utilities.” The interchange is also located in the county’s enterprise zone, which allows it access to special tax benefits and incentives.

Another benefit officials see in developing the interchange is reducing the property tax burden on residents. More industry and sales taxes help to “take care of and fund the community instead of just real estate taxes,” Marengo Mayor John Koziol said in a 2023 Northwest Herald story.

How the city could best take advantage of the golden opportunity to develop around a new interstate interchange was a hot topic in the 2021 mayoral race, which Koziol won. This year, he chose not to run again, and Fourth Ward Alderman Mike Proffitt ran unopposed for the seat.