Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal October 16, 2014 Volume 152, Number 25 - $1.00
Sectional Golfers
Crop Walk
Down Under
Four Forreston golfers competed in the IHSA Boys and Girls Sectional meet. B1
More than 100 walkers took to the streets to raise money Oct. 12. A10
A seventh grade student visited Australia to learn about the culture. A2
Tow fund audit report is ready By Matt Mencarini Sauk Valley Media
The New Life Community Center in downtown Forreston is celebrate its third anniversary. Members of the board are Allan Genandt, Rhowena Genandt, Peggy Schneiderman, and Tim Hotchkiss. Photo by Vinde Wells
Third anniversary for New Life By Vinde Wells Editor Three years ago this month a group of dedicated volunteers with a heart for their community stepped out in faith to open the doors to a community center and food pantry in downtown Forreston. The New Life Community Center started in October of 2011 as a outreach of North Grove Evangelical Church, 10384 W. Coffman Rd., and has grown to include seven more area churches while expanding its services to the community. “We’re doing fine — beyond expectations,” said center director Allan Genandt. Although the idea started with North Grove pastor Tim Hotchkiss more than
three years ago, other area churches became involved immediately with donations and elbow grease. Volunteers rolled up their sleeves to clean and paint, stock shelves, sort clothes, and build partitions in what used to be truck bays in the former Forreston Fire Station. The community center includes a food pantry, thrift store, meeting rooms, and an area for youth activities. Besides North Grove, Forreston Grove, Forreston Reformed, Faith Lutheran, First United Methodist, Baileyville Reformed, Prairie Dell Presbyterian, and St. James Lutheran all help with the center and its operations. “Every one of them really helps support us with food, donations, and volunteers,” Genandt said. Local individuals,
businesses, and organizations have also made significant contributions, he said. “Our mission is to provide for the tangible and spiritual needs of the Forreston community,” Genandt said. “We are a cooperative; we can’t do this without the help of the community.” “We really want to thank the area churches, businesses, organizations, individuals, and all the volunteers who pitch in and help with this,” said volunteer and board member Peggy Schneiderman. Hotchkiss pointed out that the center is completely supported by local funds. “We do not take government funds,” he said. “We are community and church supported only.” The food pantry offers a good supply of food and
household products. The food is purchased from the Northern Illinois Food Bank and sometimes an area grocery store. Donations are also important to keeping the shelves adequately stocked. “It seems like we’re always short of dish soap and laundry soap,” Schneiderman said. The inventory has expanded over the three years to meet the needs of the community. Board member Rhowena Genandt said the food pantry serves an increasing number of area individuals and families, mainly from the Forrestville Valley School District. “We average 80 families a month - that’s about 250 people,” she said. Turn to A3
Ogle County Chairman Kim Gouker got a draft report of the administrative tow fund’s forensic audit Tuesday. The final report likely will be presented during a special meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 20 either at 2 or 3 p.m., Gouker said, adding that the exact time will be set during the county’s Executive Committee meeting, which was this Tuesday. Gouker declined to discuss details of the draft report, but said it was comprehensive. Any changes to the report between now and the final one will be done to add context for residents and board members. Nothing will be removed from the draft, he said. Sikich, the Napervillebased company that did the forensic audit, will present it and the findings during the special meeting and then again during the county board’s regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. that night. The forensic audit started in July, after it was approved by the board in April. The initial agreement paid Sikich up to $7,500; the work was expected to take a few weeks, depending on what was found. In August, the auditors requested more time and money – up to an additional $7,500 – because the fund was
“disorganized,” Gouker said the auditors told him. Last month, during the county board meeting, Gouker told members he and vice chairman John Finfrock met with a representative from Sikich, who said the fund’s records were “very sloppy” and as a result there are “more questions than there are answers,” according to the meeting’s minutes. Gouker also said at the meeting that he put together a list of things Sikich needed to prepare its final report and passed it along to Sheriff Michael Harn. The fund was established by county ordinance in 2011 as a way to supplement the sheriff’s department’s diminishing budgets and help with vehicle repairs and purchases. At the time, the sheriff was given discretion to spend the funds, collected from a $350 tow fee, for any purpose. In the tow fund’s first three years, Harn used the fund to pay for a tent for the county fair, flowers for Secretary’s Day, and a $4,000 management fee for the department’s Facebook page, in addition to vehicle purchases and repairs. The county board later restricted what the fund could be used for, its sources of revenue, and transferred its control to the Ogle County Treasurer’s Office.
New county building is going up By Chris Johnson Reporter With the masonry work completed, the exterior of the Ogle County Sheriff and Coroner Administration Center has taken shape. While there is still exterior work to be completed including doors, windows, and lighting, it is the inside of the building that is seeing the most changes each day. “The whole team has been working together,” said project site superintendent Greg Suthers, Rockford Structures Oct. 10. “We are water tight and the masonry is 100 percent complete.” Suthers did a walkthrough of the construction site and pointed out features within the building. “There will be two separate public entrances,” Suthers said. “One for the coroner and another for the sheriff.” The sheriff’s department will use the north entrance and the coroner will use the south entrance. There is also a garage door in the south side of the building for the morgue. Every day something new is being completed with at the building. Suthers said electricity was hooked up last week and the gas line was being hooked up
Project site superintendent Greg Suthers, Rockford Structures, and Ogle County Board Member Don Griffin, Long Rang Planning Commission chairman, look over blueprints Aug. 17 at the new Ogle County Sheriff and Coroner Administration Center. Photo by Chris Johnson
within a day or two. “You are at the mercy of the utilities with their schedules for being hooked up,” said Suthers. “We got creative with the electricity and will be able to reduce the number of utility poles from three to one.” Organizing the different trades to ensure the project runs smooth has been a challenge, but Suthers said teamwork has helped keep the project on track. “We need all the time we can get to finish the building,” said Suthers. “I am pleased with how we are all working together with the same goals.
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We have a busy schedule and are making progress every day.” One contractor arrived a few days early and Suthers turned workers away to make sure no two trades were getting in each others way. “Each step needs to be completed in a certain order so everything will work without a hitch,” he said. “We are trying to schedule consistently throughout the project and avoid delays with the trades.” If one contractor installs a pipe or a wire in the wrong spot, it could have a ripple effect with all future trades
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B12 Delinquent Tax List, B7 Entertainment, A6
that come in throughout the project. Preliminary work has proved to be vital with parts of the project. “We ran a lot of the electrical conduit under the floors,” said Suthers. “When roughing in the walls they were where they needed to be.” Workers were framing the interior rooms of the building last week with metal stud walls. They had the majority of the walls on the north half of the building framed and were working to the south. In the south portion of the building another crew was installing hangers for the ceiling and getting prepared for the walls. Suthers said having crews following each other reduces delays. The exterior of the building was completed the same way, with the bricklayers following the fiber board insulation crew. The bricklayers finished a couple days after the last fiber board was installed. “I am like the head coach,” said Suthers. “I have good players around me. The county knew what they needed. They are interested in the project and are visiting Nathan Schneiderman plays the quads Oct. 16 before
Fines, B5 Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, A9 Property Transfers, B6
School Spirit
the varsity volleyball match against Polo. Photo by Chris
Turn to A3 Johnson
Sheriff’s Arrests, B6 Social News, A4 Sports, A11, B1, B2 Weather, A3
Deaths, B5 Thomas K. DeArvil, Josephine D. Harshbarger, James O. Nelson Sr., Corrine J. Pannkuk
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com