Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal
May 10, 2018 Volume 156, Number 3 - $1.00
Track Team on a Roll
American Life
Fun in the Mud
The Forreston - Polo boys track team runs away with the Ogle County Meet. B1
Ronald Reagan is this week’s Bicentennial feature A7
Mud was flying at the Rock River Motorcycle Riders Club’s spring bog event. B3
Solar electricity on the horizon in Forreston Company from Colorado submits array proposal By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com Another solar farm company is knocking on Forreston’s door, and the village board decided to open up. During Monday evening’s Forreston Village Board meeting, the board voted 5-1 in favor of moving forward with a proposal from Microgrid Energy, a Denver, Coloradobased solar company, to build a pair of solar arrays in Forreston.
Brian Maillet, Director of Policy and Origination for Microgrid, presented the scope of the project to the board. The arrays would supply electricity to the water treatment plant and the community with 265 kilowatt and 650 kilowatt direct current solar arrays, built on four acres of land at 407 N. Locust St. and the former railroad right-of-way that runs along North Chestnut Avenue, respectively. The arrays would include 60-feet rows of two feet by four feet solar panels stacked four-long on a fixed tilt, unlike some arrays that will change tilt direction as the day goes on. All at-risk work, such as the construction and maintenance,
will be on Microgrid, providing no up front costs to the village. Finally, unless the village board decides to prematurely terminate the contract, Microgrid is responsible for all decommission planning and costs. The proposal details a contract length of 25 years, with which both the treatment plant and the community subscribers could see energy rates of 2.25 cents per kilowatt hour, a 48 percent reduction from the current rate of 4.29 cents per kWh. However, with the size of the arrays, Maillet said between 40 to 50 percent of Forreston could subscribe for the lower rates. “Is there any way you could
make it big enough to supply the whole town?” asked Trustee Jeff Freeze. “We’d need more land,” said Maillet. Maillet said Microgrid would need at least another 20 acres, which could raise complications if they need to extend onto a private landowner’s property. Metzger said that one condition for his support would be to see communication between Microgrid and the community of Forreston on details of the project. “The one thing we like to be is transparent, too, so if we move forward, the one thing I would like to do is try to get something where the community can come and ask questions,” said
Metzger. “Answer questions, or even give a small presentation just something to fill them in.” When it came time for a vote, Jeff Freeze was the sole “no” vote. ““If you’re going to have cheap electricity for one, you need to have it for all,” said
Freeze after the meeting. “I’m all for wind farms and solar farms, but it has to be done right.” The village board meets again on Monday, May 21 at 7 p.m. at Forreston Village Hall, 102 S. Walnut Ave. The meeting is open to the public.
Questions about permits? Trustee Ken Toms, who is in charge of building/ demolition, sign, fence, and pool permits, reminds the public that if they have any questions about building permits, to contact Forreston Village Hall at 815-938-2400, and someone there will contact him, Trustee Tim Drayton, or Trustee Gary Buss. He said he will stop over and talk about what can and cannot be done on a property before a Monday evening meeting happens.
FFA Plant Sale Left, Kathy Knutti, of Mt. Morris, waits with her plants Saturday while Forreston FFA member Aaron Wubbena figures up her bill at the plant sale at the FHS greenhouse. Waiting to help Knutti carry her purchases to her vehicle are FFA members Tia Boss and Riley Cornelius. Right, Terri Nelson, right, helps Kathy Pasch, of Forreston, pick just the right plants at the plant sale on Saturday. The plant sale began May 3 and runs through the end of May. Photos by Vinde Wells
Leaf River woman dies in head-on crash on Tuesday Other driver is critcally injured One person died and another was critically injured early Tuesday morning in a head-on crash approximately two miles southwest of Leaf River. Ogle County Sheriff ’s Police said Nancy Plemmons, 81, Leaf River, was pronounced dead at the scene in the 6200 block of North Mt. Morris Road. Richard Boyden, 45, Oregon, was extricated from his vehicle and flown to the Rockford Memorial Hospital by React helicopter for
critical injuries. Police said Plemmons was southbound when her vehicle crossed over the center line into the northbound lane and struck Boyden’s vehicle head on. The crash occurred shortly at 5:07 a.m. Mt. Morris road was blocked for several hours while the crash was investigated. The Mt. Morris Police Department, Leaf River Fire Department, Mt. Morris Fire Department, and Ogle County Coroner assisted at the scene. The crash remains under Mt. Morris and Leaf River firefighters extricate Richard Boyden, 45, Oregon, from his vehicle after a head-on crash in the 6200 block of North Mt. Morris Road early Tuesday morning. Photo courtesy of the Mt. Morris Fire Department investigation.
In This Week’s Edition...
Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B6-B8 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Library, A4 Oregon Police, B4 Public Voice, A8
Property Transfers, B5 Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Sports, B1-B3 State’s Attorney, B3
Deaths, B5 Ronald G. Bader, Darrel D. Daub, Robert A . Gillick, Charles W. Hitchcock, Blanche A. Schroeder
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com