Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS October 5, 2017 Volume 50, Number 51 - $1.00
Golfer Advances
Face Lift
First Fridays
Junior Adam Merrill was the lone Hawk to advance from the Byron Regional. B1
Lorado Taft’s “Fish Boys” fountain was restored by a loving family. A6
The popular free music event will be in Mt. Morris at Pinecrest Friday night. A7
Village board mulls who pays for repairs By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Oregon Elementary School students sing the National Anthem prior to the start of the varsity football game on Sept. 29. OHS alumni and members of the public were also asked to sing along as part of Homecoming events. Photo by Earleen
Students sing for Homecoming Current Oregon choir students, along with alumni of Oregon/Mt. Morris schools, sang the National Anthem in a mass student-alumni choir just before the OHS Homecoming football game at Landers-Loomis field on Sept. 29. Members of the Oregon, Mt. Morris, and Chana communities were also welcome to sing with the homecoming choir.
Additionally, any adult family members of current choir members were also invited to sing. “The inspiration for this group is that students always have a choir to come home to,” said Oregon High School choir director Katie Sheridan. “We want graduates who have moved away or gone off to college to know that they always have a place in this school and they are always welcome back.”
After a lengthy discussion Sept. 26, the Mt. Morris Village Board referred a question of who should pay for water line repairs to its attorney. The board agreed to seek an opinion from attorney Rob LeSage, who did not attend the meeting, about getting reimbursement for the work. Water & Sewer Committee Chairman Jeff Pennington weighed in, saying he believes the bill should be split between the two property owners at 3 N. Ogle Ave. and 7 N. Ogle Ave. “That line is owned by those two property owners,” he said. The village is paying the $4,426 bill but will seek reimbursement for the work, which was done to private water lines not village mains. Pennington explained that because no water main runs in that area of Ogle Avenue, the two homes share a common water line that runs to the nearest village main. Two leaks occurred — one in the terrace and one under the street, both in the common water line, he said. Village president Dan Elsasser said that according to village ordinances, a
homeowner is responsible for the line from house to the village main, and must address the problem within 24 hours of its discovery. “This is unique because they have three times of [normal] amount of individual service,” he said. After the most affected homeowner did not take action, village employees fixed both leaks. Pennington said since one of the repairs benefited both homeowners but the other benefitted only one, he believes the most affected property owner should pay a larger portion of the bill. “It’s really up to the homeowners how the bill should be split,” he said. In another matter, Elsasser said a dispute with Richard Haan over an outstanding water bill would not be discussed at the meeting, although it was on the agenda. The matter will instead be handled by attorneys for both sides, he said. In other business, the board approved a request from trustee Jerry Stauffer to transfer funds earmarked for refurbishing the men’s restroom at the village hall to projects in the downtown. Stauffer asked for $9,000 of the $12,000 set aside Turn to A2
Oregon gas main leak prompts evacuations By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A natural gas leak in the basement of a building in the 400 block of West Washington Street in Oregon prompted emergency personnel to evacuate one full city block on Tuesday as workers from Nicor Gas tried to cap the leak. A contractor working in the basement of the building at 408 W. Washington St., accidentally cut the gas line. By late afternoon, the leak had been repaired and residents and businesses were getting back to normal. “The gas leak has been stooped and they’re venting the building,” Oregon Police Chief Darin DeHaan said at 5:30 p.m. “The good thing is we had a strong wind today so the gas quickly dissipated.” As the building filled with gas, firefighters asked police to clear the one-block area as a precaution. Businesses in the 100 block of North Fourth Street (Ill. 2) and 400 block of West Washington (Ill. 64) were also evacuated around 11:28 a.m. Motorists were detoured around the one-block area and sidewalks were also closed to pedestrians.
Jonathan Champion was upstairs in his apartment with his two dogs at 408 1/2 W. Washington St. when a business operator alerted him to the leak. “The lady from the antique store came up and told us we needed to be evacuated. I was running around chasing the dogs to get them,” Champion said. “I smelled a little of the gas after she told me there was a gas leak.” Champion moved his two dogs, Lola and Graham, outside and into his car in the North Fifth Street parking lot as Oregon firefighters waited for workers from Nicor Gas to come and stop the leak. The first worker for Nicor to arrive tried to find the shut off for the leaking pipe, but could not prompting additional Nicor workers to respond and eventually use a Ditch Witch to find the gas main that services that building. The Oregon School District was notified by Oregon police of a gas leak in the downtown area. The district notified all school buildings and the transportation department to plan alternatives routes for transporting students at the end of the day. “City police are aware of potential student walkers
In This Week’s Edition...
Oregon firefighters Matt Schnorr and Assistant Chief Randy Travis, far right, watch as workers for Nicor Gas dig up the driveway just south of the N. Fifth Street parking lot to find the gas main that supplies 408 W. Washington Street. A gas leak filled the building after a supply line was accidentally cut by a contractor working in the building. Photo by Earleen Hinton
and have the area heavily blocked off to re-route students home,” a press release issued by the school district said. A Nicor Gas spokesperson said the line was cut by a third party contractor during
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B8 Entertainment, A6 Library News, A3
construction work. She said Nicor received the report at 11:48 a.m. Oregon Assistant Fire Chief Randy Travis said firefighters were preparing to leave the scene around 5:45 p.m.
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4
However, the Nicor crew would remain there for another 4 to 5 hours, he said, digging to find the line where it enters the building to put a shut-off valve in it. They had already put in one shut-off valve, stopping
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4
the leak. Travis said the severed gas line was apparently abandoned, but still had gas running through it due to the lack of shut-offs. (Earleen Hinton contributed to this story)
Deaths, B5 B. Charles Ames, Travis L. Gates, Diane S. Heeren, Lois Elaine Mount
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com