More housing, Cafe Roma, splash pad and more on horizon for Huntley

Huntley leaders touted 2024 developments – including a gas station on the north side of town and new subdivisions coming to the south side of town – in their State of Huntley remarks Tuesday.

In 2025, incubator shops at the Hackett House are schedule to open, and Cafe Roma is expected to be up and running by the end of the year.

The Italian eatery will be inside Old Village Hall on the Huntley square; the building was formerly home to the Huntley Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Old Village Hall development agreement stipulates that the restaurant’s doors must be open by the end of the year, Village Manager Dave Johnson said.

Village President Tim Hoeft, who is running against Trustee John Piwko for another term, spoke about being a third-generation Grafton Township resident and watching the growth in Huntley, but he noted it can be a double-edged sword.

“You can’t stop growth, you can only control it and roll with it,” he said, adding that any growth has to have a community benefit. Hoeft said he thinks Huntley has done that the past four years.

He also introduced the other trustees in attendance, Ronda Goldman, who will be leaving the Village Board in May after she opted not to run again, and Piwko.

Huntley officials touted their investments in the downtown parking area, including that they’ve poured $5 million into it and have almost 650 spaces. People ask why Huntley doesn’t just build a parking garage, and Johnson said the cost per spot can run up to $50,000, compared with $9,000 to $10,000 with the surface parking.

More parking could be coming to downtown. The Village Board on Thursday will discuss whether to purchase about a quarter-acre lot across the street from D.C. Cobb’s.

Parking came up last year during discussions about the proposed Metra stop in Huntley, and Johnson didn’t have much of an update on that other than the village is working and engaging with the Illinois Department of Transportation.

McHenry County threw its support behind stops in Huntley and Marengo; the line out to Rockford passes through both downtowns. In its legislative agenda, the county also supported having state funding pay for the stations.

Kreutzer Road is set to be realigned and widened between Route 47 and Haligus Road. The project has an estimated price tag of $14.6 million, according to a slide deck presented to attendees Tuesday. Financially, it’s the largest public improvement project that Huntley has ever undertaken. Huntley also secured more than $10.5 million in grants for the project.

Johnson said that in two decades in working with the state and working on other transportation projects, there’s one lesson.

“[If] you think you’re to the finish line, think again,” Johnson said. “There’s always a hurdle, there’s always a curveball. That’s OK. We’ve been there. We will make our way through this just like we have the others.”

Huntley also was able to negotiate with Kane County officials to keep some land along the Route 47 corridor open for development when the forest preserve bought land southwest of the Interstate 90 interchange last year.

Johnson said the next “frontier” of development in Huntley is Route 47 south of Interstate 90 down to Big Timber Road.

Huntley voters approved an $18 million bond issue for the park district last fall. Park district Executive Director Scott Crowe said the district is larger than Crystal Lake’s and is now the largest in the county.

The growth in Huntley combined with the district outperforming on a recent bond rating means taxpayers will feel less of an effect.

By the end of bond payments, taxpayers' annual hit should be down to $45, Crowe said.

Some of the projects enabled by the program include a Topgolf-style entertainment center at Pinecrest golf course and a splash pad at Stingray Bay.

Huntley Area Public Library Director Frank Nowak said the library’s 2019 referendum cost the average homeowner $57 at first, but the amount is in the low $40-range now.

He confessed that with all the growth in Huntley, maybe the library should have gone for more in the referendum.

“We didn’t want to go too big,” Nowak said.

That referendum enabled the library to more than double its space and add in amenities such as more meeting rooms and a maker space.

Unlike the village president race, the library board didn’t have enough candidates file, and Nowak said the board will be looking for appointees for two two-year terms after the election.

But Hoeft is looking forward to the future in Huntley.

“It’s been an honor and a privilege for the last four [years],” Hoeft said, adding that he’s looking forward to another four.