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Wednesday, July 24, 2013
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Irongate vote a mixed message? Split on annexing housing development could prompt talks on city’s long-term vision By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – The DeKalb City Council members could be doing some soul-searching on the city’s future as early as September, Mayor John Rey said Tuesday. Rey’s comments came the day after the council members split their votes on an annexation agreement that would have added more than 1,200 houses to the city. The city’s
current comprehensive plan calls for a development like Irongate to be added to the area around DeKalb High School. However, both Rey, who supported the proposal, and David Patzelt, the president of Irongate developer ShoDeen Construction, felt the council needs to re-work its vision for the city. “I don’t sense the city or the City Council being anti-development, but we’ll have to do our homework and get the City Council to ... revisit its
Galesburg a frequent stop for president
strategic goals,” Rey said. Approving annexation agreements in DeKalb requires six “yes” votes. Monday night’s was the first time the new City Council – which included Rey, and Aldermen Bill Finucane and Bob Snow of the 2nd and 4th Wards, respectively – discussed the Irongate project. As a result, members of the DeKalb city staff gave an hourlong presentation covering many different aspects of the Irongate plan. But with the City Council voting
4-4 on the agreement, the project was axed and the city staff was directed to not work on it anymore. If they wanted, ShoDeen leaders could move ahead with building Irongate without an annexation agreement. But Patzelt said he will not pursue it – or any other project – without direction from the council. Rey said he was worried about the City Council sending mixed messages
See IRONGATE, page A3
DeKalb Mayor John Rey, who supported the Irongate housing development proposal, said he was worried the DeKalb City Council was sending mixed messages to developers. “... We’ll have to do our homework and get the City Council to ... revisit its strategic goals,” Rey said.
BEATING THE BORER Hundreds of afflicted ash trees have been removed from local towns
By DAVID MERCER The Associated Press Ever since his first campaign for U.S. Senate, President Barack Obama has been returning to Galesburg – a small town where household incomes still lag far behind the statewide average nearly a decade after a factory closure. He talked with union members when the Maytag plant closed in 2004. He urged new graduates at private Knox College not to forget about the place when they leave. And he showed up, unannounced, at the high school football field to surprise a coach and his players. Barack The town Obama is again on Obama’s schedule for today as he kicks off a campaign focused on improving the economy. While the White House doesn’t typically explain the selection of presidential visits, locals say layoffs and the town’s hard, uneven recovery make Galesburg a good backdrop for talking about what’s gone right and wrong in the country over the last decade. Galesburg and Knox College – both founded by anti-slavery advocates – also provide Obama with a reliably pro-Democrat venue in conservative rural Illinois, and the roughly 32,000 people who live in Galesburg could benefit, too. “It gives them hope, that the leader of the free world keeps coming back,” says Tim Dougherty, the football coach who looked up to see Obama walking toward him on the field at Galesburg High in 2011. Today’s speech at Knox College is expected to be the first in a series on the economy, with the president talking about trying to expand manufacturing and breathe life back into the housing industry, educational opportunities and health care. Most of those themes hit home in Galesburg, said Leo Dion, president of the Galesburg Regional Economic Development Association. “I think we represent kind of some of the things that have happened – more recently with manufacturing being [moved overseas] – and the impacts on the community,” he said.
Photos by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
Tammy Diehl of Sycamore examines an ash tree, one of two on her property, that shows signs of damage caused by the emerald ash borer. BELOW: Diehl shows bark that is beginning to peel away from the ash tree in her yard that has been damaged by emerald ash borers. Removing the tree would cost about $2,000, she said. By FELIX SARVER
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fsarver@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Tammy Diehl always envisioned her future granddaughters swinging on the ash tree in her backyard. The tree towers over Diehl’s Sycamore home. There’s a good thick limb that would be perfect for a swing, but it’s connected to a deteriorating trunk, and the branches are losing their leaves. The tree, one of the two ash trees on her property, is infested with the emerald ash borer. “The thought of just taking the tree down just kills me,” she said. The emerald ash borer is an invasive species of beetle from Asia. They were discovered in the U.S. in 2002 and were found spreading in the Midwest in 2006. The insect kills ash trees by disrupting essential water flow and nutrient absorption in the trees by boring into the bark and laying its eggs. When the eggs hatch, the larvae bore further into the bark, putting additional stress on the tree. Diehl is one of many residents
Have you had to remove any trees infested with emerald ash borer? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com.
in the Sycamore and DeKalb area whose once-beautiful shade trees are being hollowing out by the ash borer. Diehl said she notices the ash tree in her yard is struggling to regenerate itself despite the damage the borer has caused. About 600 ash trees still are alive and standing in Sycamore, said Fred Busse, director of Sycamore Public Works. The city has
been dealing with the emerald ash borer since 2009 and has since removed more than 300 ash trees. This year, close to 90 trees have been cut down and there are more to go, he said. The trees tend to be on parkways. The trees will be cut down and the holes they leave behind filled with dirt. Busse said the city has a tree
replacement program, which is offered in the fall. Residents are always encouraged to plant trees if they want, he said. Diehl doesn’t know when she will cut down the ash in her backyard. The tree has been with the home for all 25 years her family has lived there. Also, removing the tree would cost about $2,000, she said. Ash trees can be treated to combat the emerald ash borer with a chemical being applied to the soil around the tree and the insecticide is absorbed through the tree’s roots. Unlike DeKalb, Sycamore doesn’t chemically treat its trees to fight the spread of emerald ash borers.
See ASH BORER, page A2
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