Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal January 2, 2014 Volume 151, Number 36 - $1.00
Alumni Game
A New Year
Altered Records
The Forreston High School’s annual Alumni Games will be played Jan. 11. B1
2013 has come and gone —have a Happy New Year!
Some Ogle County credit card statements were altered. A7
School district will increase taxes slightly $6.50 increase on $90,000 home By Vinde Wells Editor
Christmas Brunch Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church Pastor Scott Ralson greets guests during the Christmas Day brunch. Photo by Chris Johnson
County receives $150,000 grant Staff Report Ogle County has been awarded a $150,000 state grant for water and sewer work where systems are at risk of failure. A press release from Governor Pat Quinn Dec. 26 said the county will receive an emergency set-aside fund grant. The money is earmarked for the design of a sewage treatment plant in White Rock Township to address sewage flowing into a creek that feeds the Rock River. Quinn announced $299,000 in state investments in northern Illinois to support critical public works
improvements, part of nearly $2 million statewide to help rural communities improve their water and sewer systems. Carroll County will receive $149,000 for design sewer line and lift station improvements in Savanna. The press release said the grants are part of Quinn’s agenda to create jobs and bolster the state’s infrastructure while improving health and safety in Illinois. “These projects are vital to central Illinois and support basic community needs,� Quinn said in the press release. “Investing in infrastructure in Carroll and Ogle Counties is
creating jobs and providing a foundation for a healthier and safer Illinois.� The investments were made under the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO)’s Community Development Assistance Program, which targets areas with populations of less than 50,000 that are outside of urban counties. Larger towns and cities are eligible for similar funding by direct application to the federal government. Most of the money is for design work on water and sewer lines, with a portion dedicated to emergency needs. The funds originate
from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and are administered by the DCEO. “These investments are crucial to healthy water services in communities statewide,� DCEO Director Adam Pollet said. “Investing in sanitary public works projects will not only directly benefit health and quality of life, it will also help create job opportunities in these communities.� Statewide, investments totaling $1.996 million were made in 17 rural low-income communities, and with the required local matching funds the total expenditure will be $2.095 million.
County board will seek building bids By Vinde Wells Editor
-ONEY FOR THE PROJECT WILL COME FROM THE ,ONG 2ANGE 0LANNING &UND WHICH WAS ALSO USED TO a PAY FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE JUDICIAL CENTER IN an AND RENOVATIONS TO THE COURTHOUSE IN
After hearing presentation from architect Dec. 17, the Ogle County Board voted to proceed to the next step with a proposed $4.1 million sheriff’s department administration building. The board approved seeking bids next month on the project. Board chairman Kim Gouker, Byron, stressed to the board that the vote was not approval of the building’s construction, but was only to advertise the project for bids. Architect Guy Gehlhausen of Saavedra Gehlhausen Architects, Rockford, said the new onestory building will be on the property where the present administration building is located at 103 Jefferson St., Oregon. He said the estimated $4.1 million price tag does not include the cost of abating
asbestos or demolishing two buildings on the site. The county morgue and the current sheriff’s administration building will be razed. The cost of asbestos removal is estimated at $50,000 and demolition at $100,000. Money for the project will come from the Long Range Planning Fund, which was also used to pay for construction of the judicial center in 2005 and renovations to the courthouse in 2010. Fund revenues come from the host fees paid by garbage haulers to dump waste in landfills in the county. The fees bring $2 to $3 million annually into county coffers. Some of the costs associated with the 911 call facilities will be paid for
In This Week’s Edition...
from 911 funds. Gehlhausen told the board that the current administration building is approximately 100 years old and is inefficient and noncompliant with building codes, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). He said the building is not sufficiently secure, and the restrooms are too small. In addition, Gehlhausen said, the information and technical equipment is in the boiler room. “Your IT equipment is on a rack next to the boiler,� he said. “You usually don’t do that.� The morgue building, which is approximately 60 years old, lacks proper ventilation, and has problems with controlling temperature and humidity.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B8 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
School taxes will increase slightly next year for residents of the Forrestville Valley School District. Interim Superintendent Jane Eichman told the board Dec. 18 that declining property values means the district must levy taxes at a slightly higher rate. “It’s based on our needs,� she said. The board approved the levy, which had to be filed with the Ogle and Stephenson County Clerks by Dec. 23. The increase will mean the tax bill on a house valued at $90,000 will go up approximately $6.50, Eichman said. The district’s equalized assessed value (EAV) decreased $1.5 million in the last year from $95,021,582 in 2012 to $93,472,018 in 2013. Real estate taxes payable in 2014 are based on the 2013 assessments. In another matter, the board unanimously approved a two-year lease with Midwest Transit, Kankakee, for six 2014 school buses. The current lease with Midwest is expiring at the end of the school year, and Eichman said by ordering before the end of December, the district gets a $500 discount per bus. The lease includes five 71-passenger buses and one
wheelchair bus at a total cost of $141,740. Eichman said each bus is allowed 15,000 miles per year. An additional 35 cents per mile is charged for buses that exceed the limit. Board member Robert DeVries asked if purchasing buses would be a better option because then once the vehicles were paid off the district would own them. “Once we pay the $140,000 [rental fee], it’s gone,� he said. Eichman said several factors have made leasing buses more desirable that owning them. The state no longer reimburses districts for the cost of buses, she said, and transportation reimbursement has decreased 43 percent in recent years. The cost of a new, comparable bus is approximately $95,000. Also, the maintenance of the buses with their emissions-control devices has proven costly and timeconsuming. Those maintenance costs are covered under the lease. In other business, the board: s APPROVED THE AUDIT
s APPROVED THE RESIGNATION of Katherine Kalina as cook effective Dec. 20, s LEARNED THAT THE DISTRICT S website will likely be ready by the end of the school year, s HEARD A CURRICULUM report from counselor Susan Winters, s MET IN CLOSED SESSION TO discuss personnel matters.
Neither building is being used for the purpose it was intended, he said. “To remodel something like that would be throwing good money after bad,� Gehlhausen said. The new building will be located at the east side of the sheriff’s department property to the east of the current building. It will include space for the sheriff, the department’s patrol and detective divisions, the 911 call center, evidence storage, training and meeting rooms, as well as the coroner’s office and the morgue. Currently the coroner’s office is on the third floor of the courthouse, approximately three blocks from the morgue. Gehlhausen said the sheriff’s department and coroner will have separate, secure entrances for the public. He said several security Jerry VanRaden cooks up a fresh batch of sausage on features are planned, but he Christmas Day during the annual Christmas Brunch at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church. Photo by Chris Turn to A3
Public Voice, B2 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4
Breakfast Chef Johnson
Sports, B1 State’s Attorney, B4 Weather, A2
Deaths, B2 John D. Basler, Danny Beck, Helen M. Erdmier, Dorothy M. Hartje, John R. Heckman, Theodore R. Norris, Joan R. Strauss
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