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OTTAWA PUSHES, BUT Rise and dine for WARRIORS PUSH HARDER a healthy start GIRLS BASKETBALL, B1
FOOD, A9-10
dailyGAZETTE Wednesday, February 3, 2016
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
ROCK FALLS | CITY COUNCIL
City adds utility player to team Administrator says new position should more than pay for itself in savings BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
ROCK FALLS – The city has created a new position to manage its utilities office operations. The Rock Falls City Council Tuesday approved the job description for a superintendent of the office, and gave City Administrator Robbin Blackert the OK to advertise for candidates. The starting annual salary for the job is
between $55,000 and $60,000. Blackert said benefits boost total compensation to about $85,000. The salary will come from the utility funds. Much of the impetus for the new position at City Hall came from the city’s auditors. In February 2015, the council, on the recommendation of the finance committee, approved a 3-year contract with the Rockford office of auditing firm Sikich. At the time, Mayor Bill Wescott had said the firm’s experience with municipal utilities had been an important factor in the
decision to hire Sikich. The firm, in its first audit, said there was a strong need for a utilities superintendent to improve the office’s efficiencies and financial transparency. “In the firm’s letter to management, the auditors strongly recommended that this position be created,” Blackert said. Blackert said the position requires someone with a strong background in management and accounting. She said the superintendent’s position should more than pay for itself. NEW POSITION CONTINUED ON A4
Next meeting
The Rock Falls City Council next meets at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16, at City Hall, 603 W. 10th St. The agendas will be posted at rockfalls61071. com and at City Hall. Call 815-622-1100 for more information. The City Council meeting also airs live on Channel 5.
WHITESIDE COUNTY
STERLING
The A, Bee, C’s at St. Mary’s Griffin Moran, a sixth-grader at St. Mary’s School in Sterling, looks to the judges Tuesday as he’s announced the winner of school’s religion bee.
Sales tax is one for the books Schools cross some items off to-do list, and add others as revenue streams in BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 @CHeimerman_SVM
Some lists of projects are long, others are to be determined, as Whiteside County schools put to use the money being brought in by the 1 percent sales tax increase that kicked in July 1. Schools receive disbursements 3 months after each month’s sales. The Sterling School District is projected to receive about $1.56 million annually, and its first disbursement – of $132,492 – received in November went into the $137,000 ticket booth that faces Miller Road. Para-
Inside
The Erie School District is holding on to its tax dollars for now, until it sees whether the idea of consolidation that’s being floated will sink or swim. Page A5 mount among the rest of the district’s projects are the dilapidated Roscoe Eades Stadium, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning at the high school. Remodel Roscoe Eades? Knock down what many consider an iconic public works project from the 1930s, and rebuild new? SALES TAX CONTINUED ON A5
MORRISON
Rate increase isn’t the first, and won’t be the last
Photos by Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
ABOVE: The three finalists in the St. Mary’s School spelling bee, from left, runner-up Ainsley Reed, winner Ben Sheets, and third-place finisher Lilliana Campbell, compete Tuesday afternoon in the final rounds in Sterling. The school also held its religion bee with sixth-grader Griffin Moran taking home the top spot. RIGHT: Ethan Howell, a fifth-grader at St. Mary’s, looks to the ceiling as he pronounces a word during the school’s spelling bee.
$1.00
TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 162 ISSUE 39
BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
MORRISON – City residents will see another increase in their water and sewer bills, effective May 1 – and it won’t be the last hike they see. The council approved the rate changes at its Jan. 25 meeting. The increases will be seen in the water and sewer service charges; the monthly use charges for both will remain the same. The service charge portion of the bill is used for capital improvements. The water service portion will increase from $16 to $18 monthly, while the sewer
INDEX
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ......... A12 COMICS ...............B6
CROSSWORD....B12 FOOD ..............A9-10 LIFESTYLE ........... A8
LOTTERY ............. A2 OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6
service charge will jump from $25.85 to $33 monthly. The monthly water use is still at $6.55 per 1,000 gallons, and sewer use remains at $8.45 per 1,000 gallons. City Administrator Barry Dykhuizen said the average water and sewer ratepayer in Morrison uses 4,000 gallons of water monthly. Based on that usage, monthly sewer bills would jump to an estimated $58.33, and monthly water bills would be about $37.65. The city has a multiyear plan for annual rate increases to pay for its new wastewater treatment plant and other sanitary sewer upgrades. INCREASES CONTINUED ON A5
Today’s weather High 37. Low 17. More on A3.
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