FFA FUNDRAISER
Forreston Journal / oglecountynews.com • Friday, February 5, 2021
FORRESTON BEAT
2 oglecountynews.com ShawLocal.com OFFICE 113-115 Peoria Ave. Dixon, IL 61021 815-632-2592 Fax: (815) 284-2078 SUBSCRIPTIONS $39 in Ogle County, and $52 outside Ogle County. Single-copy price is $1 To subscribe, make a payment or discuss your delivery, call 815-732-2520 MondayFriday or send an e-mail to subscriptions@ oglecountynews.com. You also can subscribe online by going to oglecountynews.com and clicking on Subscribe. CLASSIFIED SALES 815-632-2554 ksauer@shawmedia.com
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Forreston Journal, Ogle County News and oglecountynews.com are a division of Shaw Media. Ogle County Newspapers also prints the Mt. Morris Times,
Oregon Republican Reporter, and Polo’s Tri-County Press.
The FORRESTON JOURNAL (USPS No. 205-520) is published weekly by B.F. Shaw Printing Co., Shaw Media. Periodical postage paid at Forreston, Illinois. POSTMASTER Send address changes to FORRESTON JOURNAL, P.O. Box 237, Forreston, IL 61030. Phone 815-732-2520. All rights reserved. Copyright 2021
Get your order in now for strawberries Forreston FFA is selling Florida strawberries again this year The Forreston FFA is selling flats of strawberries from the Florida Fruit Association. Due to COVID-19, things will run differently. Orders: All orders will be submitted online. The link for the order form can be found on the Forrestville Valley District Website at fvdistrict221.org. Payment will be collected at the time orders are picked up. Sales end on Fri-
SPECIAL EVENT
Free Lunch Friday is Feb. 5 Rock River Center’s Feb. 5 Free Lunch Friday will be curbside service only with pre-registration by Feb. 2. Special dietary meals are available when
day, Feb. 19. For the safety of all, students will not be selling door to door and will not be delivering orders. Orders must be picked up at the Forreston Junior/Senior High School. A drive-through pick up area will be set up
behind the school by the shop door and football field. “At pick up you will give your name and payment and the strawberries will be loaded for you into your vehicle,” said Kelley Parks, FFA adviser. “We are very happy to bring you this great tradition that is just so delicious!” Strawberries will be delivered the week of March 15. “Closer to the delivery time, the Florida Fruit Association will communicate a date for delivery. An email will be sent at that time so arrangements can be made for order pick up. Pick-up times will be scheduled after school with more details included in the email,” Parks said. For additional information, contact Parks at kparks@fvdistrict221.org
requested at the time of registration. Curbside pickup for lunch starts at 11:30 a.m. The menu is brat with a bun, sauerkraut and roasted potatoes, Snickerdoodle Poke cake and a drink. Rock River Center prepared and distributed
around 150 meals at Free Lunch Friday on Dec. 4 thanks to the generosity of The Etnyre Foundation and Heritage Woods of Rockford, Belvidere, Dekalb & Sterling. For additional information, call the center at 815-732-3252.
POLO CITY COUNCIL
Council approves purchase of building
City approves purchase of CedarStone building for $215,000 BY JEFF HELFRICH
jhelfrich@shawmedia.com The Polo City Council approved accepting the bank’s counteroffer of $215,000 on the CedarStone building at 610 S. Division Ave. by a vote of 4-2 at a special meeting on Jan. 28. The city plans to use the building as a new city hall. The city was under contract to purchase the property for $229,000 late last year before the deal expired due to the building being tied up in bankruptcy proceedings. At recent meetings the city made an offer of $175,000 which was countered by an offer of $225,000. The city then offered $185,000 which led to the $215,000 counteroffer, which the bank said was its last and final. Aldermen Keith Chesnut, Troy Boothe, Justin Grobe and Jim Busser voted in favor of the move while Randy Schoon and Donald Sanders Jr. voted no. Boothe’s vote of yes was due to the high cost of other options like building a new city hall or costly renovations to
another building in town. “Why are we fighting over $15,000 when a new one could cost $1.2 million?” Boothe said. “Do we have our feelings hurt or what? What would plan B even be? It’s whether we want the building or not. If we do, I don’t have a problem with $215,000. If not, we’ll look at other things. We’d be saving hundreds of thousands of dollars. And it’s $15,000 off our original offer. I think this is our last chance.” Busser agreed and said the $15,000 saved from the original offer could be put towards renovations that would include getting the building up to Americans with Disabilities Act codes. The ADA issues would include chang-
es to parking, lowering countertops and work on a walkway outside. Schoon was against paying $215,000 and said he was under the impression that the city’s $185,000 offer would be its last. He also said he was put off by the bank not being able to meet the original sale last year after title issues. “They’ve tried to undercut and undermine us,” Schoon said. “I’m not a $215,000 guy. And they don’t want to talk anymore. It was their mistake to not get $229,000. I say we go back at $200,000 and we’re done. It upsets me we’re back in here again. It was supposed to be $185,000 and we’re done.” City Attorney Tom Suits said it is possible the sale could go back to bankruptcy court and another 14-day appeal period like it did in the original sale contract. That’s why the closing date for the latest contract was moved out to May rather than in the next month or two. The bank’s attorney will contact the bankruptcy trustee and see if it has to go back to bankruptcy court, Suits said. “The bankruptcy court wants more to pay creditors,” Suits said. “They may have to go the court route and appeal again. The bank has a title, but not a clear title. We won’t proceed until it’s clear. They can’t give a clear title until bankruptcy court.”
