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Saturday, June 8, 2013
No dumping in Manlius Village to enforce rule against dumping trash bags in village dumpster By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
MANLIUS – The village of Manlius is putting its foot down and has plans to crack down on those dumping personal trash in the village’s garbage bins. At Tuesday’s board meeting, the issue was brought up by village board members who have witnessed people misusing the garbage cans. Mayor Rob Hewitt explained residents are throwing full garbage bags, some which contain diapers and even junk mail with the person’s name on paper, in the village’s dumpster. Village board members discussed the possibility of building a fence around the dumpster, however questioned having to pay the extra fee that’s charged when the dumpster has to be unlocked in order to be dumped. Village attorney Mick Henneberry blamed the issue on having no police force on duty, however, Hewitt said he’s certain the dumping happens between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. Therefore, it would make it nearly impossible to catch the residents who are dumping. Hewitt said if anyone catches a resident leaving a bag near the dumpster, they could turn them in for littering. The village board all agreed they would be on the lookout for people misusing the garbage dumpster and agreed that if someone is caught, they will be ticketed by the mayor for violating an ordinance. In other business, the board: ▪ Agreed to change the time of when water is shut off for residents who don’t pay their bills on time. The time
Serving Bureau County Since 1847
Decision delayed Hall questions construction manager costs By Barb Kromphardt bkromphardt@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY – The proposals are in for the construction manager for Hall High School’s $32 million new facility. There’s only one problem. “There was a wide gap from the lowest to the highest,” Superintendent Mike Struna told his board at a special meeting Wednesday.
The gap in the proposals from the seven companies that would like to be the construction manager was a whopping $1.2 million, which led Struna to question whether all the proposals covered the same items. So instead of hiring one of the companies, the board members learned they would have to wait another week. Struna said the district sent a form to the seven companies, asking for an easily com-
parable breakdown of costs, including preconstruction and construction costs, insurance and the company’s fee. “We need to make sure everybody bid on the same stuff before we go any further,” he said. The board will meet again at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday to make a final decision. Although the board couldn’t vote on a construction manager, it could take action on other aspects of the project.
See Hall Page 4
Mosquito watching time begins Traps set in Bureau/Putnam counties By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
See Manlius Page 2 Year 167 No. 69 One Section - 24 Pages BCR photo/Donna Barker
Andy Swartz, environmental health sanitarian for the Bureau/Putnam County Health Department, sets a mosquito trap in a secluded area near Lake Rawson on the outskirts of Bureau. The mosquito trap is one of four traps set in the two-county area and will be monitored weekly for possible West Nile Virus activity by health department staff. 98213 00012 1 7 © Bureau County Republican
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PRINCETON — The West Nile Virus season has officially begun in Illinois with its first West Nile Virus positive mosquito batch reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health. On Monday Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck confirmed the first positive mosquito batch in the state, with the positive mosquito sample taken May 21 in Cook County. “Although we have been seeing a lot of what we call ‘nuisance’ mosquitoes due to the flooding, those mosquitoes typically do not carry West Nile Virus,” Hasbrouck said. “We are now starting to see Culex mosquitoes, which often do carry disease.” Locally, the Bureau/Putnam County Health Department staff has started its annual West Nile Virus (WNV) surveillance program, which is funded by a $25,000 IDPH grant. Kurt Kuchle, director of health protection for the Bureau/Putnam County Health Department, said the local department has already set out three of its four mosquito traps, two in each county. Each trap starts with a bag of alfalfa pellets mixed with water in a tray. The pellet/water mixture is allowed to ferment for a few days to create the stagnant, stinky water needed to attract mosquitoes. Placed vertically above the tray is a battery-operated suction pipe with a net attached at the top. The traps are checked at least once a week, according to Andy Swartz, environmental health sanitarian with the local health department. Collected mosquito batches are tested at the local health department. In addition to the mosquito testing, the local health department can also collect dead birds for testing, but no birds have been submitted for testing so far from
See West Nile Page 4
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