Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS January 19, 2017 Volume 50, Number 14 - $1.00
Close Game
Hero Honored
Retirement
The Lady Hawks had a strong effort but fell short against Dixon Saturday. B1
A Byron man is honored after saving a teen from a burning car. A7
The owners of a popular Oregon bait and gun shop are planning to retire. B3
Village will reimburse 2 for sewage back-up cost By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The village board agreed Jan. 10 to reimburse two residents a total of more than $3,600 for part of the cost of clean-up when sewage backed up into their basements. After a lengthy discussion, the board voted unanimously to pay $2,041 to Rick and Barb Blackburn, 401 W. Lincoln St., and $1,585 to Dennis Grandt, 308 S. Wesley Ave., and also authorized village attorney Rob LeSage to draw up settlement agreements. The board approved paying the settlement amounts from village coffers because its insurance carrier, Illinois Municipal League Risk Management Association, denied the claims. Village president Dan
Elsasser said he filed two appeals of the denials for both claims to no avail, exhausting the appeal process. “The appeal is done with the insurance company,” he said. Trustee Jeff Pennington, who is the chairman of the Water and Sewer Committee, said the insurance company is saying that the homeowners didn’t give village officials sufficient notice so that the back-up could have been avoided. “They [the homeowners] didn’t know until the backup happened,” he said. LeSage said state tort laws give municipalities immunity from liability in some cases even when the problem is in their lines. Elsasser agreed with Pennington that the two homeowners could not have known anything was
wrong before sewage started coming into their basements. “I feel the village was a little negligent,” he said. He explained that inspections and cleaning of the sewer mains haven’t been done as often as they should be. Pennington, who is also a veteran employee of the Oregon Water & Sewer Department, said the inspections and cleaning weren’t done annually because of the cost. He said he hopes to budget for some of the needed equipment to diagnose problems in the mains. Pennington recommended paying all of what remained of the Blackburns’ bill after their homeowners insurance paid its share and half of Grandt’s, which is what the board agreed to. He said the back-up at Turn to A2
Nuclear and printing plants appeal to BOR By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Two perennial tax appeals will be among those heard next week by the Ogle County Board of Review (BOR). Assessment appeals of Exelon’s Byron Generating Station and the shuttered Quad Graphics printing plant, Mt. Morris, are on the BOR’s docket for Jan. 26 and Jan. 24 respectively. The owners of both facilities have filed appeals for multiple years, and have appealed the BOR’s rulings to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB). The appeals are for 2016 assessments, which affect taxes payable in 2017. Exelon Generation officials believe the assessment of $546 million, set by Ogle County Supervisor of Assessments Jim Harrison last fall, is too high. Their appeal sets the value at $295 million.
Property taxes paid in 2016 for Quad Graphics plant Oregon Schools.............................................. $50,075 Village of Mt. Morris..................................... $15,321 Mt. Morris Fire................................................ $7,337 Ogle County.................................................... $7,209 Highland College............................................. $5,110 Mt. Morris Township Roads............................ $3,328 Mt. Morris Township....................................... $2,637 Mt. Morris Library.......................................... $1,994 TOTAL........................................................... $93,011 The Byron School District has filed as an intervenor in the appeal. In previous years, school officials have also appealed the assessment, claiming it was too low. Harrison said he set the plant’s value $64 million higher than last year’s assessment of $482.4 million because Exelon officials were successful in late 2015 in getting the licenses renewed for the two reactors for an additional 20 years. “I didn’t have any new appraisals this year so I took elements from both appraisals last year and split it down the middle,” he said. Last year, Exelon set the value at $238. 3 million,
while the school district set it at $609 million. The school district’s appraisal included the license renewals, Harrison said. The plant’s original 40year operating license was set to expire in 2024 for Unit 1 and 2026 for Unit 2. The license renewal allows the plant to operate until 2044 for Unit 1 and 2046 for Unit 2. Both Exelon and the school district filed appeals in 2012, 2103, 2014, and 2015 and then appealed the BOR’s rulings to PTAB. Harrison said PTAB held a six-week long hearing on the Turn to B4
Jordan DeWilde offers advice to third grader Gabbi Schelling, 9, on her personal “I and the Village” piece. The class relies on DeWilde to be a helpful, engaging teacher who always helps them bring out their best. Photo by Zach Arbogast
Passion and creativity run DeWilde at OES By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com An Oregon art teacher who strives to help his students discover their creative passions by introducing them to different cultures, art styles, social perspectives, has been recognized and awarded for his efforts. Jordan DeWilde, age 29, grew up in Taylorville in central Illinois. The son of two passionate educators, DeWilde was exposed to the draw of teaching at an early age. Couple that with always having art supplies and creative projects due to having an art teacher for a mother, and it’s easy to see where DeWilde began his journey. It also helped that DeWilde’s parents openly supported the arts, taking trips to museums and exhibits. “I’m not certain I believe in an innate artistic ability - at the very least, not that I had one,” said DeWilde. “I practiced it constantly, and as I practiced, I got better; as I got better, my interested increased. It’s a lot like sports - or anything,
“I wanted to continue employing all the different things I learned; painting, ceramics, printmaking - all of it.” — Jordan DeWilde really - in that regard.” According to DeWilde, while it was nice to have such engaging teachers as parents, he wasn’t certain he wanted to be a teacher himself - not that his parents discouraged it, they just wanted him to realistically find his own path. DeWilde attended Western Illinois University,
Macomb, in 2005, pursuing an interest in broadcasting. However, the art bug would bite him again, and in 2009 he ended up with a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting with a double major in art. Some people grow to love painting. Others may Turn to A4
Third graders Kloie Pretzsch, 9, shows pride for her friend August Schwartz, 8. DeWilde fosters a supportive atmosphere, where the kids are supportive of one another’s work. Photo by Zach Arbogast
Information on a proposed jail will be in the mail By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Ogle County residents will soon be getting more information about the proposed jail. Board member Don Griffin, Oregon, who heads up the Long Range Planning Committee, told the board Tuesday evening that he and others are putting together a flyer that will be mailed to all county residents.
The flyer will contain information about the new jail and the schedule for six public meetings on the topic. “We want to inform the public the best we can,” Griffin said. The board approved spending up to $10,000 for printing and mailing the flyers. Griffin said the meetings will be held in late February and early March in various communities around the county. “The meeting will be
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similar to the ones we held before the judicial center was built,” he said. Board member Rich Gronewold, Forreston, raised several questions about the new jail. He especially asked about one of the preliminary drawings that shows a third story. “What’s on the third floor?” he asked. Griffin said the design is only a concept at this point and it has not yet been determined
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B8 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B3
if there will actually be a third floor. The committee is trying to plan for not only the current needs of the county but also anticipate future needs, he said. The third floor could be used for information and technology equipment, administrative offices, or records storage, Griffin said. “I appreciate that you’re trying to plan ahead but I’m concerned about the costs,” Gronewold said, pointing out
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B4 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B3
that a bigger jail means more staff and related expenses. Currently, he said, the county is trying to cut staff and reduce expenditures. Sheriff Brian VanVickle said that with the modern design of the proposed jail, even if it was running at its full capacity of 180 to 200 inmates, only one more correction officer would be needed than is required now in the current facility. The preliminary design concept approved by the
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4
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county board in November calls for the jail to be built in the 100 block of South Sixth Street in Oregon. The board has filed a formal request with the City of Oregon asking them to close that block to traffic to allow the jail to be connected to the judicial center by a large sally port. The city council has not yet considered the request, awaiting the outcome of a traffic study and an engineering study.
Deaths, B4 Emma L. Taylor