GREENE PRAIRIE PRESS MARCH 12, 2014 – Vol. 145, No. 11 – Carrollton, Illinois 62016
INSIDE LOCALS
Hall debuts new CD. See page B9
SPECIAL
Getting in shape for spring. See page A5
SCHOOL
Celebrating 100 days of school. See page A9
SPORTS
Carrollton teen charged with Drug Induced Homicide By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press The overdose death of a 28-year-old Carrollton man in December of last year is now being treated as a homicide, and a 19-year-old Carrollton teen is being charged with Drug Induced Homicide. Carrollton Police Department arrested Justin L. Stiller on Monday, March 10, and he was taken to Greene County Jail and booked on a charge of Drug Induced Homicide in the death of Ryan Slow. According to Greene County State’s Attorney Caleb Briscoe, the investigation into Slow’s death began immediately. “This was an investigation that we began in December of last year,” Briscoe said.
$100K water system under-utilized in Carrollton By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press Several members of the Carrollton City Council are wondering why the city is not fully utilizing its SCADA system at the water plant and well sites, which the city paid more than $100,000 for two years ago. The subject came up at the Feb. 25 workshop when on the agenda the discussion of hiring another part-time employee for the water plant to prevent overtime was listed. There are currently three fulltime employees and two part-time employees. SCADA stands for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition and usually refers to centralized systems, which monitor and control entire sites, or several different sites spread out over a large area – anything from an industrial plant to a nation. Most control actions are performed automatically by RTUs (Remote Terminal Unit) or PLCs (Programmable Logic Controller.) A PLC is a digital computer used for automation of electromechanical processes such as the control of machinery and the RTU is the microprocessor-controlled electronic device which interfaces objects in the physical world to the SCADA system by transmitting telemetry data to a master system and by using messages from the master supervisory system to control connected objects. In essence, the SCADA system allows a system, such as the water plant, to be controlled remotely from a laptop computer or even a smart phone. Roodhouse also implements a SCADA system to operate its water plant remotely. Alderwoman Sharon Butler was under the assumption the purchase of the SCADA system would reduce the need for manpower at the water plant, thereby justifying the $100,000 price tag. Water Superintendent Rick Goans said when the system was put in it had nothing to do with manpower. “It was just upgrading the system we had because ours was obsolete,” Goans said. “It just operates our pumps and shows us our tank levels.” The system was installed when the city’s third well was drilled. The telemetry system used by the water plant at the time was obsolete and needed to be upgraded. However, engineers did not write this extra expense into the original grant used to help with the cost of the well, and the city had to take out
Spartans edged in sectional semifinal. See page B10
By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press
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a separate loan to cover installation of the SCADA system. Goans went on to say that the previous system operated remotely over phone lines and any moisture in the ground would render the system useless and a trip would have to be made out to the well to manually turn the pumps on and off. Alderman Wayne Cunningham agreed with Butler saying the salesman, when selling the council on the system, said operations could be controlled remotely, cutting down on the man hours needed to perform routine processes. Butler asked if the city had the capability to do this and Goans said, “Somewhat.” “Do you not want to use it?” Butler asked him. “I would prefer not to because I’m pretty sure the EPA will not let us cut back any more hours than we are now,” Goans said. “I’m not 100 percent, but I’m pretty certain it’s mainly because of our elevated storage here in town. They actually require at least one day’s elevated storage. We average 500,000 (gallons) a day and the water tower holds 100,000, so we are not close to that. “Secondly, even with the remote things, we have chemical feed pumps – two of them. They have chlorinators and filters that need backwashed and none of that is hooked into the SCADA system,” Goans said. “The pumps that are hooked in – the couplings go out on them and if someone is not there then it’s running all day, or however long no one is there while the coupling is busted on it.” One of the unique features of the SCADA system, according to research on the system from the Internet, is its ability to not only let an operator control operations remotely, but alarms are built into the system to alert the operator should any piece on the system fail – such as a busted coupling. “I just don’t understand why we bought this system if we are not going to use it properly,” Butler said. Goans was against the hiring of a third part-time worker to alleviate the need for overtime. “My opinion is I prefer not to,” he said. “My thinking is if you hire a third part-time employee in order to keep him with enough hours to keep him here, I am going to have to shorten the hours of my other two employees. My opinion is with the service they have done for the city, it wouldn’t be fair to them to shorten their hours to have someone else around.”
Columbia College awards Bishop full-ride scholarship
Carmen Ensinger/Greene Prairie Press
greenfield senior elizabeth Bishop along with her parents, russ and Lisa Bishop, was presented a check for $109,504 by the Columbia Cougar mascot during a special presentation Tuesday morning . Bishop received a full-ride scholarship to Columbia College which includes tuition, room and board .
By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press When Greenfield High School senior Elizabeth Bishop left for school Tuesday morning, for all she knew it was just going to be like any other day – classes, homework, etc. She had no idea of what was to come or how her life would change a mere three hours later. Bishop, the daughter of Russ and Lisa Bishop, sat in the Greenfield High School auditorium with the rest of the school after they were told there would be a special speaker during what they call Tiger Time. The special speaker was from Columbia College, in Columbia, Mo., and was there to present Bishop with a check for more than $109,000 after she was selected to receive one of the five coveted top scholarship packages from the college, which includes tuition, room and board. Jeff Barringer, Interim Assistant Director at Columbia, said Bishop was one of 140 applicants who participated in Scholarship Day at the college and she won one of the five top scholarship packages. “This is the biggest scholarship that we give out,” Barringer said. “To participate she had to do letters of recommendation, submit a resume, do two essays and participate in an interview process. We also took her GPA and SAT scores as criteria for our evaluation process.” School officials notified Bishop’s parents two weeks ago that their daughter had been chosen for the scholarship, but they were sworn to secrecy, as were Greenfield school officials. No one could know she won until the surprise presentation – this was the way Columbia wanted to do it. “We just like to surprise our scholarship recipients and see the look on their faces when they find out the presentation is all about them,” Barringer said. “It’s a unique way to present a scholarship, and for me it’s the highlight of my year to give away scholarships like these.” Lisa Bishop said it’s been almost impossible to keep the news to themselves for so long. “It’s been very hard to keep it a secret because she kept asking if we had heard
Carmen Ensinger/Greene Prairie Press
elizabeth Bishop reacts Tuesday morning to the news she has received a full scholarship to Columbia College . The value of the scholarship is more than $100,000 .
anything from them because they had told her she should hear something by the second week of March,” she said. “I even went so far as to delete their number from our caller ID, so if she checked to see if they called it wouldn’t show up. It was hard to do, but we managed to do it.” Russ Bishop kept the ruse up by encouraging his daughter to continue to fill out college applications. “I told her that she needed to keep writing these scholarships because you never knew what would happen,” he said. “The other night as she was filling out an application she began to get frustrated, saying she didn’t know how much she would be able to afford to pay. Sitting there knowing full well what was going on was hard.” Even the presentation was kept quiet until 11 a.m. that morning when it was announced the students were to gather in the auditorium. Like most teenagers, Elizabeth Bishop thought the worst. “When they called us to the auditorium I thought to myself, ‘Oh no, we’re in trouble,’” she said. “Then one of my friends said there were people behind the stage curtain and it looks like a mascot was up there. It wasn’t our mascot because it was like cat feet. Then (See, scholarship, A2)
Carrollton voting on franchise agreement
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Obituaries in this issue: albrecht, hOward, Kuhline, McwhOrter, PrOffer, rOllins
“Officers responded to the scene and talked to witnesses and started an investigation at that time, which ultimately led to the arrest of Mr. Stiller on Monday.” A charge of Drug Induced Homicide, a Class X felony, was formally charged against Stiller in Greene County Circuit Court on March 12. According to the charge, Stiller delivered morphine to Slow who then injected a portion of the controlled substance which led to his death. “Mr. Slow died of a morphine overdose and we believe that this was the controlled substance delivered to him earlier that day,” Briscoe said. Stiller remains in Greene County Jail with bond set at $100,000.
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Submitted photo
BRADY SCHNELTEN
TAKES HOME AWARD On February 22, Brady Schnelten of Carrollton, illinois was presented with an award from the illinois Beef Association, Junior Points Show Competition . Schnelten placed 2nd overall in the state and tied for first in the heifer division for total points earned during the 2013 year . The top 10 youth in each division (steer and heifer) were recognized for their efforts in this competition during the illinois Beef expo in Springfield . more than 500 youth compete each year .
The 50-year franchise agreement between the city of Carrollton and Ameren will expire in April and the city is trying to get the best deal possible on a future agreement with the utility company. Carrollton City Council members discussed the agreement at the Feb. 26 workshop and it is on the agenda to be voted on at the March 12 regular council meeting Basically, the franchise agreement gives Ameren an easement to use the city’s alleys when performing line work on the power lines. The original agreement, drawn up in 1964, compensated the city with a certain amount of free kilowatt hours or therms of gas to be used on the city buildings. The city was given a credit on it's bills. This was when Ameren produced it's own power, something they no longer do. According to Carrollton Treasurer Debbie Dunlap, since Ameren is no longer a producer of electricity, it is against the Illinois Commerce Commission’s rules to discount the power. Instead, Ameren will have to do a straight compensation based on the amount of utility customers. If a city’s customer base goes up by three percent, then Ameren will change the compensation by three percent. However, if it goes down by three percent, then the compensation would be reduced accordingly. Dunlap pointed out the customer base the city has will go up within the next year with the additional housing units at Hawkland Estates and Walnut Estates, which are under construc-
tion. Those homes would not be eligible for the compensation until the fifth year under the current terms of the agreement. “I have asked them to consider the addition to our customer base of the additional houses at
“i would like to see us take advantage of those new homes now instead of five or 10 years down the road . i’m basically wanting them to add people who don’t exist yet .”
Debbie Dunlap Carrollton Treasurer
Hawkland Estates and the 28 new homes being constructed at Walnut Estates because they will probably be done this year and we will have new customers,” Dunlap said. “I would like to see us take advantage of those new homes now instead of five or 10 years down the road. I’m basically wanting them to add people who don’t exist yet.” Ameren uses a standard formula in calculating compensation so that towns of similar size receive similar treatment. The council also heard a proposal for replacing the wooden flower barrels stationed around the square. The barrels were donated several years ago by resident Shirley Schacher, C
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but time and the elements have taken a toll on them and many of the more than 20 barrels are in need of replacement. Dunlap said she and Chamber of Commerce member Bernie Faul looked into purchasing flower barrels that would match the garbage cans purchased by the city several years ago. When the city purchased the garbage cans, local businesses could purchase advertisement on the sides of the cans, and in the end the city was only out around $1,000 for all the barrels placed around the square. Carrollton would like to do something similar with the flowerpots. “Bernie has sent out letters to all of the businesses in town asking them to make a donation towards the purchase of the barrels, or if they want a cut out like on the trash barrels, a donation of $250,” Dunlap said. “Based on the number of responses, we will determine how many barrels we will be able to purchase.” The flower barrels will cost approximately $500 each including shipping, and the city would like to purchase up to a dozen, depending on how many donations are collected. City Clerk Ryan Scott informed the council about a grant he would like to pursue from the state. The Tobacco Enforcement Program is a grant for a little more $1,000, but there is no stipulation on how the money must be used. “The only thing we have to do is to make sure there are no underage kids buying tobacco products in this area,” Scott said. “Operations could be conducted throughout the year to make sure it isn’t happening around here, and once we complete our paperwork we will receive the funding.”