GENEVA – All on the Kane County Board’s transportation committee agreed that the proposed project to upgrade the interchange at Interstate 88 and Route 47 should be supported by Kane County’s government.



But Thursday, some board members on opposing sides of an intra-Republican Party squabble continued sparring over whether campaign donations given by a developer who potentially could benefit from the interchange improvement project had “cast a shadow” over the project.



For years, Kane County’s government has voiced support for the proposal to make the now-partial interchange in southern Kane County into a full interchange.



And earlier this month, the Kane County Board made its support of the $20 million project more formal, and proceeding with a plan partner with the village of Sugar Grove, the Illinois Tollway and the Illinois Department of Transportation to fund the project.



However, at a county board meeting days before Tuesday’s primary election that would decide the contest for the Republican nomination for Kane County Board chairman between State Sen. Chris Lauzen, of Aurora, and Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns, the project became an issue in that race. It also became an issue in other local contests.



County board member Jim Mitchell, R-North Aurora, a prominent Lauzen supporter, alleged that Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay and Cathy Hurlbut, chairman of the Kane County Board’s transportation committee and a Republican candidate for Kane County circuit clerk, had engaged in unethical behavior.



He noted that McConnaughay and Hurlbut, who supported Burns, accepted campaign donations from a development company that owned much of the land surrounding the interchange and did not disclose the donations before voting.



While McConnaughay and Hurlbut both blasted Mitchell’s assertions that day, the matter again was raised Thursday, this time by Hurlbut at a transportation committee meeting, who used the meeting to criticize Mitchell and other board members, including Drew Frasz, R-Elburn, who supported Lauzen and publicly questioned the donations.



“Casting aspersions on board members hurts projects,” Hurlbut said.



To support her case, Hurlbut welcomed public comments from the village presidents of Sugar Grove and Elburn in support of the

project.



“This is an integral part of economic development in the southern portion of Kane County,” said Elburn Village President David Anderson.



Frasz agreed that the project is “extremely valuable” to the county. But he continued to question the donations.



“You have to wonder why someone would give money, without expecting anything in return,” Frasz said. “I look forward to the day when this cloud isn’t over this body.”



Hurlbut reacted angrily to Frasz’s comment.



“This isn’t a ‘gray-cloud project,’” she said. “To say there’s a dark cloud on this project is a joke. This project was brought into the top 5 because it’s a good project. You put a gray cloud on this project, not me.”