Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal
March 29, 2018 Volume 155, Number 49 - $1.00
Track & Field
Outlook
Dos for Dos Amigos
The Forreston-Polo coop competed at LandersLoomis Field. B1
Read about some of the changes in our communities. Special Section
A Byron restaurant expands to offer its south of the border cuisine in Oregon. B3
County board says yes to Forreston solar farm By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Forreston property owner Rod Wubbena was pleased last week when the Ogle County Board approved his request for a special use permit for a solar farm. “It’s obviously a benefit for our family, but I believe it has long term benefits for the community,” he said March 20 after the county board approved his request by an 18-3 vote. “I appreciate the frustration the board has gone through with
all their process. I feel there was a lot of homework needed that didn’t get done so there was unusual circumstances that created the need for an unusual exception.” The board approved the request despite recommendations to the contrary from the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Regional Planning Commission, and the Forreston Village Board. However, the Planning & Zoning Committee recommended approval. The special use permit will allow Elkhorn Solar LLC to
lease approximately 360 acres from Wubbena and his family at 6974 N. Ill. 26 south of Forreston. Prior to the vote county board member Dan Janes, of Stillman Valley, who is chairman of the Supervisor of Assessments, Planning and Zoning Committee, said he and other board members recently received more than 200 pages of information about the solar farm that did not go through the ZBA, Regional Planning Commission, and Planning & Zoning Committee as required for the zoning process.
“I believe it’s important to follow the process. It provides a free and fair opportunity for everyone,” he said. The public is allowed to address the three committees during their hearings. Board chairman Kim Gouker, of Byron, cautioned board members to disregard any information they received outside the legal process. Board member Skip Kenney, of Rochelle, said he would vote to approve the permit. “I have a difficult time trying to understand the negative impact this will have on the
Village of Forreston,” he said. The solar farm is outside the village limits, but the village board’s recommendation was required because it will be within a mile and a half of the village. Some neighbors who opposed the project voiced concerns that it may cause property values to decline. Board member Ron Colson, of Mt. Morris, said that solar farms are a permitted use under AG-1 (agricultural use) zoning, which is how Wubbena’s property is classified.
Board members Lyle Hopkins and Pat Saunders, both of Polo, said they believed the permit application met all the criteria in the zoning code. Gouker said he would find it difficult not to uphold the recommendations of the ZBA, Planning Commission, and the Forreston Village Board. Janes, Gouker, and Pat Nordman, of Oregon, cast the three no votes. Board members Dorothy Bowers, of Byron, Garrett Williams, of Rochelle, and John Finfrock, of Mt. Morris, did not attend the meeting.
Almost snowstorm impacts antique show attendance By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Although last Saturday’s predicted snowstorm never arrived, it took a toll on an iconic Oregon event. “The weather man was really not nice to us. Our attendance was down 25 percent overall,” said Ron Bry, manager of the 68th annual Oregon Woman’s Club Antique Show at the Blackhawk Center. He said that attendees coming from south and east of Oregon, where the storm did hit, apparently opted not to make the trip — at least not on Saturday. “Saturday’s attendance was down by a lot,” Bry said. “But Sunday made up for at least some of it.” He said 1,300 people came to the two-day event, compared to the usual 1,700 to 1,800. Otherwise the event went very well. People were lined up at the door when the show opened both mornings and came to do business. “It was a buying crowd. A lot of packages were carried out. Most of the vendors were satisfied,” Bry said.
Longtime vendors Bob and Marsha Hudson, of Lapel, Indiana, weren’t worried at the thinner than usual crowd Saturday morning. “When they get up and they see it’s not doing anything, they’ll be here,” Marsha said with a smile. John Shallcross, of Rockford, was looking over an array of antique rifles. He said he comes to the show every year. “You never know what you’re going to find,” he said. Robert Dillavou, of Forreston, also an annual visitor to the show said he was “hoping to find something in arcade toys and Lincoln items.” LouAnn Millard, of Byron, and her sister Laurie Bigelow, of Davis Junction, made their way through an array of old kitchen utensils. “This reminds us of our grandmother,” Bigelow said. “I wish we had kept more of her things.” Bry said the lunch stand served by the women of the Chana United Methodist Church made a hit with show attendees. “They did a great job, as always, and we really appreciate all the help from the Robert Dillavou, of Forreston, checks out old kitchen ladles Saturday at the Oregon Woman’s Club’s annual antique show Oregon Park District,” he said. at the Blackhawk Center in Oregon. Photo by Vinde Wells
County buys Oregon law office By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The Ogle County Board voted last week to proceed with the purchase of an attorney’s office in the same block as the new jail. Following a closed session March 20, the board voted to go forward with buying the Williams & McCarthy law office at 604 W. Washington St., Oregon, at a cost not to exceed $167,000. Board chairman Kim Gouker said the property was earmarked for purchase in the county’s 50year plan, approved several years ago. The plan calls for buying the property adjacent to the courthouse and judicial center when it goes on the market. “This property is in the
plan,” Gouker said. “The plan will allow us to expand county facilities if needed in the future. When land becomes available we will buy it.” The law office, once a residence, is on the southeast corner of West Washington and South Seventh Streets, and adjoins the property where the new jail will be located. Gouker said attorney Kim Krahenbuhl will maintain his office there until he retires. In a related matter, the board approved an agreement with Willett, Hofmann & Associates, of Dixon, for surveying and design services to relocate utilities (sewer and water mains) now under the 100 block of South Sixth Street, the new jail’s location, at a fee not to exceed $44,700.
In This Week’s Edition...
Surveying began last week. Gouker also recommended to the board to delay selling bonds to pay for the new jail because the county is currently in the process of contract negotiations with Orchard Hills Landfill, of Davis Junction, for host fees. The host fees, which are paid by garbage hauling firms to dump refuse in the landfill, will be used to pay off the bonds for the new jail. The landfill has purchased land south of its current facilities and wants to expand. Currently, Gouker said, “The negotiations aren’t going anywhere.” He said the county does not need to sell the bonds for the jail immediately, but should keep a close eye on interest rates, which are starting to move upward.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5 Marriage Licenses, A4
Ogle County officials are in the process of purchasing this house, located on the corner of South Seventh Street and Illinois 64. The house, which currently serves as a law office for WilliamsMcCarthy, is adjacent to the property where the new Ogle County Jail will be constructed. Photo by Earleen Hinton
He said the county will have ample money to pay for the jail under the terms of the current
Oregon Police, B5 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4 School Menus, A3 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4
contract with Orchard Hills. Preliminary plans call for the breaking ground for the new
180-bed jail, with an estimated price tag of $28 million, in the fall of this year.
Deaths, B5 Richard J. Ely, Joseph R. Humphrey, Mary B. Reciak, Harriett Thibault
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com