Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal February 8, 2018 Volume 155, Number 42 - $1.00
Wrestlers Advance
Statue History
Science Classes
Four Marco wrestlers have advanced to the Oregon Sectional this Friday, Saturday. B1
Read about the other man behind the Black Hawk statue. B5
The Oregon Park District teams up with NIU Lorado Taft Educators for classes. B3
School bd. holds special meeting on solar farm By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com
February Finds Jean and Jeff Burton, of Forreston, buy homemade maple dog treats Saturday at the Maple Lane Farm booth at the February Finds Antiques & Collectibles Market at the Mt. Morris Moose Lodge. Photo by Vinde Wells
Cooperation keeps state agency local By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Cooperation among government officials recently kept a state agency from leaving Oregon. Mayor Ken Williams said he received an anonymous call a few months ago informing him that the Illinois Department of Human Services was planning to close its office in downtown Oregon and move it to Rock Falls. “That would have meant that the office that serves Lee and Ogle Counties wouldn’t have been in either one,” he said. After doing some checking, Williams found out that the agency manager in Oregon had retired, and the manager in Rock Falls had taken over. “My feeling was that they were planning to consolidate,” he said.
According to the DHS website, the agency provides “streamlined access to integrated services” to residents “who are striving to move from welfare to work and economic independence, and others who face multiple challenges to self-sufficiency.” Concerned about local residents’ loss of convenient access to those services, as well as the loss of jobs, Williams contacted Ogle County Board Chairman Kim Gouker and State Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon). Demmer set up a conference call between the three of them and state DHS officials. “Together Ken, Kim, and I helped make the case that DHS should remain in Oregon,” Demmer said. “It’s important not just for the 17 employees who will keep their jobs in Oregon, but also for the hundreds of people who go to the office for services
and help. Thankfully our arguments worked.” During the conversation, Williams said they learned that DHS needed more space than the downtown location at 106 N. Second St. provided. They had advertised their need only on the state website, and no one responded. Williams and Gouker invited the officials to come to Oregon to take a look at what the community has to offer. They also went into action to personally find suitable locations. They found just the right spot at 1001 W. Pines Rd. in the former Dawson Subscriptions building. Al Millhouse, of Mt. Morris, had purchased the 45,000 square-foot building last September and was willing to rent DHS as much space as they wanted and remodel it to suit their needs. “Al has experience renting
space to state agencies, and he knew want they wanted,” Williams said. “I toured it and I’ve got to say it’s an absolutely beautiful facility. They [DHS officials] like it so well that they are thinking of bringing more offices here.” Millhouse said DHS is located in 7,300 square feet in the front of the building. He is developing plans for how the remainder will be used. Williams and Demmer expressed satisfaction at how the situation turned out. “The upshot is that we were looking at losing 17 jobs,” Williams said. “Now they’re actually looking to hire some more people. I’m very happy they’re staying in town, and I’m sure the people they serve are, too.”
The sun has not yet set on a solar farm proposed south of Forreston. A special board meeting was called for the Forrestville Valley School Board on Feb. 1 for a presentation from Elkhorn Solar about their plans to build a 20-megawatt solar energy farm on 200 acres of land south of Town Line Road, surrounding Ill. 26 and owned by Rod Wubbena. The presentation, in many ways similar to what was presented to the Forreston Village Board a few weeks ago, outlined details about the company, how the solar farm functions, and detailed potential benefits the community and the county would see, particularly in tax revenue for the school district. Cypress Creek Renewables, a California-based solar company in charge of the Elkhorn Solar project, projected the school district would see about $94,000 annually in real estate revenue. According to Superintendent Sheri Smith, the benefits for the school district could be
“It was good to have city, county, and state government working together,” Demmer said.
In This Week’s Edition...
Public Voice, B3 Property Transfers, B4 School Menus, A3 Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Social News, A4
Turn to A3
Board rules to keep plant’s worth the same Taxes Paid in 2017 for Byron Generating Station
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
The Ogle County Board of Review stood pat last week on the assessed value of Exelon’s Byron Generating Station. At a Jan. 30 hearing, BOR members agreed with Supervisor of Assessments Jim Harrison that the plant’s value should remain at $546 million, the same as last year. In an appeal filed last fall, Exelon Generation officials asked for the assessment to be “not greater than” $308.9 million. At the hearing, attorneys for the utility presented a new appraisal of the plant setting its value at $158 million. However, MR Valuations, the appraiser for the Byron School District, set the value at $647.8 million. Last year Exelon’s appraiser Duff & Phelps submitted an appraisal for $296.9 million. “I find it difficult to believe the value of this property dropped by half in one year,” Harrison said after the hearing. The Department of Human Services recently moved from downtown Oregon to a new, more spacious location at 1001 Exelon paid $37.6 million in Pines Rd. Photo by Vinde Wells real estate taxes in 2017 to 11
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B8 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
numerous. “There is additional revenue to be gained from this, and with that potential revenue we could possibly hire more staff, expand our curriculum, reduce class sizes, and perhaps be able to maintain or even reduce the local property tax rate,” said Smith. “The board definitely sees this as certainly an option for growth.” The school board may feel that way, but the village board didn’t see it the same way. On Nov. 20, the village board voted 4-2 against recommending the Ogle County Board grant a special use permit to Elkhorn Solar for building the farm. Because the solar farm is outside the village limits, no new tax revenues would be coming into village coffers from the project. Zoning regulations, however, call for a recommendation from the village board because the solar farm lies within a mile and a half of the village limits. CCR has not gone quietly into the night after the vote, having requested additional meetings with the village board and surrounding taxing bodies.
Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Zoning Permits, B4
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Byron Schools............ $21.1M Ogle County............... $4.29M Rock Valley College... $2.62M Byron Forest Preserve...................... $2.43M Oregon Park District....................... $2.39M Byron Fire......................$2.38 Byron Library..........$859,465 Oregon Schools........$756,098 Rockvale Roads.......$508,163 Rockvale Twnshp.....$170,189 Byron Museum..........$95,636 Kish College..............$91,183 TOTAL ..................... $37.6M taxing bodies, which include the Byron School District, Ogle County, Rockvale Township, Oregon School District, Oregon Park District, Byron Fire District, Rock Valley College, Byron Public Library District, Byron Museum District, Byron Forest Preserve District, and Kishwaukee Community College. More than $21 million of that went to the Byron School District. Turn to B5
Deaths, B5 Edgar J. Engelkens, Patricia A. Rosenbalm, Donald D. Spangler