NEWS
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
GREENE PRAIRIE PRESS
A3
Carrollton, Illinois
Berdan Baptist Church celebrates 125th anniversary By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press The Berdan Baptist Church will be celebrating its 125th anniversary Sunday, Feb. 26. The church has served the community faithfully since its organization on Feb. 27, 1892. According to church records, “A number of Baptists met at the Union Church House in Berdan on Feb. 27, 1892 at 11 a.m. and called as Council Reverends W.P. Heart, B.W. Wiseman, H.L. Derr and J.P. Alexander and asked to be organized into a Baptist Church.� This first organization of the church consisted of 12 members. The Articles of Faith and Covenant were then adopted and upon a motion it was decided that the organization would be known as the Berdan Baptist Church. They applied for admission into the Carrollton Baptist Association on Aug. 27, 1892. In a letter dated 1892 to the Carrollton Baptist Association and signed by W.P. Heart, moderator and U.S. Pinkerton, clerk, it states that the above meeting, they adopted the Articles of Faith and Practice of the Upper Alton Baptist Church and a “council composed of delegates from Carrollton, Providence, Hickory Grove and Pleasant Point Baptist Church were recognized as a Baptist Church.� William P Heart was chosen as the first pastor of the church serving from February until September of 1892 where he was succeeded by B.F. Drake who served until September of 1894. He was then followed by J.T. Green who served until September of 1895 at which time William Green assumed the pastoral duties for the next two years until 1897. There would be a total of six different pastors during the first decade of the church, but the membership grew steadily. By 1903, the membership had grown from the original 12 to 70. During the year of 1902, the church had acquired 29 new members. By 1912, there was some dissemination in the church. In its annual letter to the Association, now referred to as the Greene-
Jersey Baptist Association, the following entry was made: “Our Pastor, Rev. John Alexander and a few members tried to divide the church and to have a new organization. The church was in such a condition that the church called for the pastor’s resignation. May 25 he agreed if we would pay him $40 he would resign and get off the field and let us alone. We paid him the money. Later on fie members called for their letters from and they with the pastor and wife organized a church at our Mission Point and tried to hold the property – they last week joined the Sandy Creek Association. The church never was in such a condition.â€? In the letter to the Association in 1914, it is mentioned that the church had a hard time keeping a pastor and was “weak financially but are trying with God’s help to do the best we can. We will still hold our property at New Providence for sale.â€? Twenty years later, that property would be deeded to someone else. According to the minutes of Oct. 3, 1934 meeting, “on July 24, 1934 the trustees‌deeded New Providence Baptist Church, known as Belltown, to Lynn Ridings, Mildred Billings and Nellie Lawson, trustees of New Providence Baptist Church. The transfer did not come without some stipulations. “It was stipulated that when and if the building ceased to be used for religious purposes of the Baptist Church, this property shall revert back to the Berdan Baptist Church. Under no conditions is the church building to be sold to any other denomination or used or sold for any other purpose whatsoever without the consent of the Berdan Baptist Church.â€? Revival meetings were the most popular way of getting converts to join the church and one was held almost every single year. In 1932, a three week revival was held from Nov. 20 through Dec. 11 with 28 conversions – 25 of these new to the church. These 25 new members were baptized in the baptistery of the Carrollton Baptist Church on the afternoon of Dec. 11. Minutes of the March 19, 1963 meeting state that many
goals were achieved the previous year. These included a new educational building, book shelves for the new building and new chairs for the kindergarten class. Plans for the future included to open a doorway to the new building, pour concrete for steps and walk and paint the church. A special meeting was called on June 11, 1970 to “acquaint the church with the proposal of changing our affiliation from the Mt. Gilead Church to the Carrollton Church. A letter was read from the Eldred Church stating that they “had voted to yoke with the Mt. Gilead Church and requesting that we consider realignment with another church.� After much discussion, the motion was made by Tom Cumby that two weeks notice be given the members, then a meeting held for the purpose of voting on the proposal. On July 22, 1973, a special meeting was held after church services to “determine the feeling of the congregation in regard to building or buying a parsonage since the current housing is inadequate. A vote taken showed a favorable trend toward buying in partnership with Mt. Gilead.� On Aug. 14 of that same year a meeting was called at Mg. Gilead and decision was made to buy a house in the Koster addition in Carrollton. Two weeks later on Aug. 26, 1973, a special meeting was held to discuss obtaining a $20,000 loan from the Carrollton Bank to acquire the property. According to the Dec. 3, 1974 minutes “since our share of the parsonage debt has been met with the amount of $10,594 paid it ws decided to re-establish the building fund except for any money coming in specifically marked for parsonage.� The church had agreed to rename the “building fund� the “parsonage fund� soon after the purchase of the parsonage. In 1976, the church annexed was sided at a cost of $1,500 by Deon Pinkerton and discussion was held about painting the rest of the church. Later that year, Pinkerton painted the south side of the church at no cost to the church. In 1981, the church finally
BERDAN BAPTISH CHURCH decided to sell the Belltown Church to a group known as the New Life Baptist. They had been holding church in the building and trying to buy the building since 1978. According to minutes from the April 15, 1981 meeting, the church wasn’t as restrictive as they were with the sale of the New Providence Church. The property was sold to New Life for the sum of $2,500 and was stated that in the deed that “if not used as a church could be converted to a residence or torn down.� The budget set for 1984 was $9,614 and according to the Dec. 5, 1984 meeting, “the expenses for the past 11 months had exceeded the income by $1,755.57.
In 2007, moderator Jack Stapes passed out a proposed plan to remodel the Sunday School area within the current frame without extending any walls. Certain specifications would have to be met so a plumber would have to be hired. Also to be purchased was a septic tank at a cost of between $2,000 to $3,000. Total cost for the remodel was to be $7,700 and a $5,000 donation had already been received specifically for the remodel. The church will recognizes their 125th anniversary with coffee and donuts served in the fellowship hall from 8 to 8:45 a.m. Pastor Don Staten and his wife, Nancy, invite all to come and help the church congregation celebrate this monumental occasion.
Security (Continued from A1) toward helping us get this grant,� FFA member Gage Giberson said. “If we do get this grant we want to make the greenhouse our priority because it needs to be fixed. We have our plant sale every year and we have to have our flowers in the shop because of the condition of the greenhouse.� Giberson said they have priced the repairs needed to the greenhouse and they are going to be around $5,000. “We didn’t want to come to you and ask for the $5,000 for the repairs without doing our part to pay for it,� Giberson said. “If we get this grant, it will provide $1,000 a year for 10 years, as long as it goes towards the greenhouse.� Coultas commended the FFA for all they do for the community. “I truly appreciate what you guys do trying to better the district and give more opportunities for others coming along,� Coultas said. “Thank you for all your efforts.� FFA Sponsor Josh Lawson also addressed the board. “We would like for you to take some of the sales tax money we get in and allow us to get the greenhouse project going knowing we would probably have some money coming in to replenish it,� Lawson said. “The greenhouse is an extension of the classroom and we use it every year and over the summer.� The board did not take action on the FFA’s funding request, as it was not an agenda item. Scott informed the board that the district has received a $300 donation from United Community Bank to go toward the district STEM Guitar Project and that the vocational program has a lot of great things happening. “They are going to be taking a field trip with seven students down to Nashville,� Scott said. “They have been invited to come down and a country music singer is going to use of the guitars they made to record a song.�
1* 6FKRRO %RDUG WDONV ODQG VDOH By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press Several individuals addressed the North Greene School Board last week in support of Windsor Development’s desire to purchase the old football field in Roodhouse for the construction of 26 new homes after the parcel of land was let for bids. Windsor Development built both Hawkland Estates and Walnut Estates in Carrollton. These homes are built using tax credits from investors and are geared toward low- to moderateincome families. Essentially, for the first 15 years, the homes are rented to families under the supervision of the Greene County Housing Authority. After 15 years, the homes will be sold and be fully on the tax rolls of the community and school district. Windsor Homes President Mike Niehaus addressed the board with concerns after seeing the advertisement for bids. “I met with Board President Jeff Haskell back in October or November and asked him if that piece of land was going to be for sale and he said they were going to be talking about it,� Niehaus said. “I said what I would like to do is get a letter of intent that we can talk about and then later on get an earnest money agreement to buy the ground, so we can submit an application for tax credits to build 19 single family homes and seven one-story townhome apartments for seniors on this ground.� Niehaus said they discussed what would be a good price for the land. “He told me he thought they had someone wanting to pay around $40,000 for it and I told him that seemed like a good number,� Niehaus said. “At the end of that discussion, he and I came to an agreement that we could do that.� Niehaus said he saw it as a winwin situation for the school district because the district, like all school districts, needs money and the company was willing to pay even more than the $40,000 they expected to get off the ground. This depended, however, on them being approved for the tax credits. The application due date for the tax credits to build the homes is June 23
and it would take 69 days after that to know if Windsor Development was approved. “So, I said let’s put earnest money on it and see if we can’t get the tax credits for it,� Niehaus said. “If we do get approved, we are willing to pay you $54,500 for the ground and I will pay for the moving of that ground all summer long so the school district doesn’t have to be out anything.� At this point, he thought they had worked it all out. “He (Haskell) said that would work out great so he talked to Mr. Coultas (Superintendent) and Mark (Scott – Acting Principal) and we put our heads together and got a letter of intention with a pre-application to the Illinois Housing Development Authority to say it is a good sight and we want to put in a real application.� Niehaus said he wanted to explain the benefits of allowing his company to purchase the ground and at the same time ask them to either withdraw the request for bids or exercise their right to reject all bids. “First of all, these new homes being built will bring $5 million in new construction to the town of Roodhouse,� Niehaus said. “Secondly, it is going to keep families in Roodhouse and these families are going to have children that are going to go to your school district and I know you get a per head deal from the state for these kids. You need to keep families in this school district and these new homes are going to do that.� Plus, the district will reap the benefits of this construction for years to come. “If you have a sealed bid and get the magic number of $40,000 for the property – what is the property going to get the district - $40,000 and that is it,� Niehaus said. “If these homes are built, taxes will be paid on each of these homes – 26 in total. There is a lot more benefits to this by doing a single family home and apartment constructions than just the $40,000 to the school district.� In other words, since the local source of funding for the school district comes from property tax, the district will realize more money by having the homes constructed on the land than just from the tax on the
land itself. Plus, since the homes are geared towards families, and families typically included school age children, the district will receive General State Aid (GSA) from the state for each of those children. The current funding level this year for GSA is more than $6,000 per student. “So, not only are you going to get paid more for the ground if you wait the nine months, but you will also have benefits for the next 30 years,� Niehaus said. And, if that wasn’t enough to convince the board to withdraw the ad, Niehaus pointed out that the sealed bid is incorrect in its description and he doesn’t believe it can even be used. “The ad contains two parcel numbers but only one legal description,� he said. “You can bid on two parcels but there is no legal description for the second parcel and this needs to be addressed.� Board Secretary Barb Neece said she posted the information in the ad from the deed for the land from 1931. Niehaus said he obtained his information from the Greene County Courthouse. “I don’t know why I received different information from the county but it needs to be researched so people know what they are getting if you keep this up for bid,� Niehaus said. Coultas agreed. “In light of what was brought to us this evening, we need to see where we are at on that and proceed form there,� he said. “Because of that we may have to put in a notice we are going to cancel the bids or delay them or whatever. But I do thing at this point we need to look into where the error is.� Roodhouse Mayor Tommy Martin addressed the board and discussed the benefits it would bring to Roodhouse. “If what Mr. Niehaus plans goes through, we will have 26 meter charges – we now have one,� Martin said. “It is going to bring a lot of short term jobs to Roodhouse while they are being built and then we are going to have the income from the taxes on the longterm.� Since Roodhouse provides all its own utilities (gas, electric and water),
it would be a significant increase in income for the city, which would translate into more income for the district. “I was also told when I talked to Jeff (Haskell) that he has a $40,000 standing offer – I can’t wait to see that but, again, that is just money,� Martin said. “If the ground has nothing on it there are no tax dollars coming in. I just wanted to reinforce that it is a good thing for Roodhouse if we can get it and also for the school district.� Mark Scott told Niehaus that Haskell was just one board member and he should have approached the full board and not just Haskell. Niehaus apologized for his error. “In conversation with the board president, I would have thought he would have talked with the rest of the board,� Niehaus said. “I apologize because I thought he had talked to you.� Board Member Eddie Ford said this was the first he had heard of Windsor Homes wanting the property. “We encourage everyone to come talk to the entire board,� Ford said. “I think if there is a problem with the ad we need to pull it and then decide if we need to repost it. But, if it is OK, I think since we paid for it we should let it ride and on March 15, we don’t have to accept any bids that night. Mr. Niehaus can be here that night and we can decide what path we want to go.� Jim Ballard, with Ballard Construction, also spoke up in favor of Windsor Homes. “I have worked with them for two different occasions and they are a quality company and put up a really nice, quality house,� Ballard said. “When I was working in economic development, this was the type of company you looked for to come into your community. I would encourage you to try to work with him (Niehaus). I really think that if you can work with him your chances of getting more money for this piece of property is way better than if you force a sale early. If you could just postpone this a little bit it would work out better for the community and everyone involved.� The school board will address the matter of the land sale at its next meeting, March 15.
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