1 Front
Serving Bureau County Since 1847
Thursday, December 10, 2015
NEWSSTAND PRICE 75¢
BPART travels to LaSalle County Agreement to provide public transportation services By Goldie Rapp grapp@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — The Bureau County Board approved an intergovernmental agreement on Tuesday, Dec. 8, with the city of Ottawa and BPART (Bureau-Putnam Area Rural Transit) to continue providing public transportation services in LaSalle County. Mick Johnson, director of transportation for BPART, said they had been approached by LaSalle County to be the administrator for their public transportation because they are losing their administrative body at the end of December.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for us,” Johnson said. “We have been very limited in what we can do with the surrounding areas. This is a step in the right direction.” Johnson said the agreement will open up a lot of potential areas for BPART to expand and increase state funding when working with LaSalle County, which is the second largest county in the state. He said BPART will also be looking at doubling its ridership, which will also increase its fare box revenue. “Currently, we go to Ottawa on Mondays only. Now we will be able to expand to the west at any point in time, and it will allow us to expand services to the north
and possibly to the Streator area, which we don’t do now,” he said. LaSalle County has its’ own vehicles, vehicle maintenance, staffing and its own grant, according to Johnson. “All of this was set-up with the old administration, but now they are just needing someone to step-in and provide a leadership role,” he said. Johnson admitted the agreement was very vague because the plans were happening on short notice, but he confirmed LaSalle County will basically only be using Bureau County for a phone. “We will do their call-in take, and they will do their scheduling, and that’s it,” he said. “There is no additional load on us other than a few more phone calls a day.”
BPART Page 4
Princeton returns the ‘gift’
Swearing in Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino
City sees decrease in sales tax By Goldie Rapp grapp@bcrnews.com
Marini said. Marini also gave a shout out to the individual athletes and football teams recently inducted into the Hall High School Hall of Fame.
PRINCETON — The city of Princeton has decided to not accept News Tribune’s gift at this time. As previously reported, the News Tribune offered to give the city its building, which is located on the corner of South Main and East Peru streets. Mayor Joel Quiram previously discussed accepting the gift and using volunteers to deconstruct the building and turn the empty lot into a green space. On Monday, Dec. 7, Quiram said he had done further research and sat down with the city’s insurance company. He said the company would not be able to extend liability insurance to volunteers who may wish to take part in the deconstruction. He said the project cost then to demolish the building would run anywhere from $16,000 to $20,000. “At this point in time, we do not want to get into a situation where we are spending that kind of money to tear down that building. We have other priorities to address,” he said. “Had it worked out, I think it would have been very worthwhile to pursue.” City sales tax decreases by $53,000 The council reviewed the city’s sales tax report from May to November 2015. City manager Rachel Skaggs compared this year’s
City council Page 3
Sales tax Page 2
BCR photo/Terri Simon
Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino addresses the standing-room-only crowd Monday evening at the LaSalle County Courthouse in downtown Ottawa. The Honorable Judge Eugene Daugherity (in the background) presided over the swearing in ceremony, which was witnessed by area dignitaries, friends and members of Mautino’s family. See Page 3 for more photos.
Frankly speaking ... SV City Council thanks Frank Mautino for service By Eric Engel eengel@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY — The task of city maintenance and improvement is a seemingly endless endeavor for citizens and officials, and the Spring Valley City Year 169 No. 147 One Section - 20 Pages
© Bureau County Republican
Council congregated Monday, Dec. 7, to discuss multiple happenings in their community. Mayor Walt Marini began the engagement by commending the efforts of former Illinois Rep. Frank Mautino, who was sworn in as the new auditor general of
Illinois Monday evening. Marini said Mautino will be missed by all of his district. “I want to wish him well in his new endeavor and publicly thank Frank for his 24 years of dedicated service to Spring Valley and the entire 76th District,”