Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS May 15, 2014 Volume 47, Number 11 - $1.00
Lady Hawks Soar
Graduation
Spring Fly-In
The girls track team finished second at the Big Northern Conference Meet. B1
Photos of the graduating classes of 2014 are in a special section.
Vintage aircraft will land in Ogle County for the annual spring fly-in breakfast. A7
County board may vote on a forensic audit firm By Vinde Wells Editor The Ogle County Sheriff’s Tow Fund is one step closer to being completely scrutinized. The county’s Executive Committee voted Tuesday to approve hiring Sikich LLP, Naperville, to do a forensic audit of the controversial Tow Fund from 2012 up to the present. The full county board is expected to vote on the measure at its May 20 meeting. Board chairman Kim Gouker, Byron, said the fee for the initial investigation is $7,500. If fraud is uncovered during the audit, the costs will increase. The initial investigation will document procedures used in the Tow Fund since it was implemented in 2011 and identify any abuses. “As I understand this, they won’t be looking at anything in particular. They will be looking at everything,� Gouker said. “One of the things we get out of this study is a reorganization of this fund.� Ogle County Sheriff Michael Harn came under fire in the last several months
over expenditures from the Tow Fund, which included purchasing a new vehicle, flowers for Secretaries Day, a tent at the county fair, and $4,000 for the department’s Facebook page to be managed. In what seems to be a reversal of his previous stance, Gouker called for the forensic audit at last month’s county board meeting. Board member Richard Petrizzo, Davis Junction, made a motion for a forensic audit of the Tow Fund as well as the sheriff’s credit card expenditures at the board’s Jan. 21 meeting. However, Gouker said the matter could not be voted on then because it was not on the agenda. Petrizzo’s subsequent efforts to have the matter placed on the agenda were unsuccessful. In February, the board diminished the sheriff’s control over the Tow Fund by limiting how it could be spent and requiring the approval of expenditures by the county committee that oversees the sheriff’s budget. Harn was defeated in the March 18 primary election in his bid for the Republican
Party nomination for sheriff by Brian VanVickle, a Rochelle police officer. At its April 15 meeting, the county board approved a resolution establishing the Tow Fund. Gouker said that although the board approved implementing administrative tow fees in 2011, the ordinance governing that did not actually establish the Tow Fund. The new resolution mandated that Tow Fund deposits are limited to only administrative fees collected when a vehicle is towed, impounded, or seized during a criminal investigation. It further requires that the Tow Fee will be handled by the Ogle County Treasurer’s office, rather than the sheriff, as in the past. Treasurer John Coffman said the Tow Fund was turned over to his office April 15 when received a check for $51,932.07 from the sheriff’s department. Gouker said Tuesday that the forensic audit will verify that the amount of the check was correct. In a related issue, Gouker
Owl Visit
Oregon Elementary School students got a special treat Monday from some special friends of our feathered friends. Hoo Haven volunteers brought live birds to the school to kick off the Mt. Morris and Oregon libraries’ summer reading programs “ Paws to Read� - an exploration of the wonderful world of animals. Hoo Haven is a wildlife rehabilitation and education center in Durand. Here, Hoo Haven volunteer Karin Voy Turn to A3 brings out an Eastern Screech Owl . Photo by Chris Johnson
Tight budgets are key for new BHC agreement By Vinde Wells Editor Uncertain revenue streams will be an important factor in the discussions this year as Oregon school and park district officials hammer out a new agreement for the Blackhawk Center (BHC). The BHC, which was completed in 1997, is owned by the park district and was built to meet the school district’s needs. It is attached to Oregon High School by a corridor.
Under the present threeyear intergovernmental agency agreement, which expires Aug. 31, the park district manages and staffs the facility, and the school district pays rent as the primary user. Both school superintendent Tom Mahoney and park district executive director Erin Folk said Tuesday that negotiations are in the very early stages and probably won’t be finalized until sometime in August. “We’re going through the
process of negotiating a new contract,� Folk said. “It may change and it may not.� Shrinking revenues is the issue facing both sides. Although the school district pays $168,000 annually in rent, that covers only 70 percent of the total operating expenses of $235,000. At a committee meeting in late March, park district board members discussed their concern that revenues will decrease if the assessed value of Exelon’s Byron Generating Station is
reduced. Exelon officials have filed appeals of their 2012 and 2013 assessments with the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB). According to the committee meeting minutes, Folk told
the committee that the park district needs to find ways to reduce costs at the BHC and may want to consider turning over ownership to the school district because 90 percent of the facility’s use is for school functions.
Mahoney said he is sympathetic to the park district’s financial concerns because the school district has its own problems with dwindling state aid and other state education funding. Turn to A3
Hydrants will be flushed The Mt. Morris Water Department will flush hydrants during the week of May 19-23 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Residents may experience
low water pressure and rusty water while the hydrants are being flushed. For rusty water, let the faucet run until the water
clears up. For other problems call the water department at 815-7344820 or the village hall at 815734-6425.
Mt. Morris will celebrate 175th anniversary of seminary By Sally Gray The 175th anniversary of the founding of the Rock River Seminary in Mt. Morris will be celebrated this year. The first celebration is Sunday, May 18 at Disciples United Methodist Church, located on the corner of Hitt Street (Ill. 64) and Maple. The church service begins at 9:30 a.m. A typical 1840 Methodist Church service will be integrated with the present day order of worship. Favorite 19th century hymns will be sung and a special service will be included for children. The community is invited to attend the integrated church service. A luncheon, historical exhibits, and docent tours of the church and grounds follow the
service from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Artifacts and memorabilia of Disciples United Methodist Church, Rock River Seminary, the Village of Mt. Morris, and the old Rock River Conference will be on display. Docent tours of the church and grounds are also available. Special visitors from the 19th century will attend the church service to share their stories about the early church, seminary, conference and community. Guests include Congressman Robert Roberts Hitt, son of the Rev. Thomas Hitt, who helped found the local Methodist Church, Rock River Seminary, and the old Rock River Conference. Children from the early Mt. Morris area “Maryland Colony� settlement will participate in the service.
In This Week’s Edition...
Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, young students from the nearby Rockford Female Seminary, will describe their early lives in northwestern Illinois and their ties to the Seminary and Mt. Morris area. Both went on later to establish Hull House in Chicago. Bishop John Heyl Vincent will also speak at the worship service. Vincent was once pastor at the Mt. Morris Methodist Church, attended Rock River Seminary, and became a Methodist Sunday School advocate and reformer. He later founded the Chautauqua movement, a religious, educational, and entertainment “summer vacation� for families that Turn to A2 “Old Sandstone� appears in an early photo of the Mt. Morris College campus.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B5 Public Voice, A9 Property Transfers, B6
Sheriff’s Arrests, B5 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B3 Zoning, B3
Deaths, B4
Rosalie K. Anderson, Mary J. Galloway, Brett D. Holaday, Shirley L. Powell, Duane H. Rubendall, Howard L. Stouffer
0UBLISHED EVERY 4HURSDAY BY /GLE #OUNTY .EWSPAPERS A DIVISION OF 3HAW -EDIA s WWW OGLECOUNTYNEWS COM