MT. MORRIS TIMES Mobile Food Pantry T. MORRIS TIMES
Mt. Morris Times / oglecountynews.com • Friday, February 5, 2021
MT. MORRIS BEAT
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Earleen Hinton Shaw Media
Volunteers from Mt. Morris and Leaf River helped distribute food at the mobile food pantry at the Mt. Morris Family Center on Jan. 29. The event was held by the Loaves and Fish Food Pantry in Mt. Morris in conjunction with the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Volunteers gave out 126 meals.
MT MORRIS SENIOR CENTER Cards Are Back! Weekly card games are set again at the Mt. Morris Senior Center. The Senior Center in Mt. Morris has been basically shut down for months, but they are happy to welcome seniors back in the building again. They will be opening like a sunrise starting with cards in February and bringing back a few meals in March and even more as we get further into spring. Come down to the center right in downtown Mt. Morris to play Hand and Foot on Mondays at 12:30 p.m. and Bridge on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. The address is 9 E. Front Street and the players are happy
to teach if you’ve never played the game before. Also, if you have a group or would like to create one to play cards, dominoes, dice, or any other game the Senior Center is excited to provide you with a safe place to play. Masks and as much distance as possible will be required for every game, and the center is disinfected often. Simply show up for an existing game or contact the director Melissa Nicholson at 815-734-6335 or mmsrcenter@gmail.com to start something new. Exercise Class
There are other things on the horizon too! The new Highland Community College sponsored exercise class starts on Wednesday, Feb. 10 and is open to everyone. The class costs just $40 for 30 sessions and meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 9 a.m. In March, the center will bring back its delicious biscuits and gravy on Wednesday mornings from 8 to 10 a.m., its popular birthday lunch featuring free bingo, and the wonderful Jam Sessions with local musicians. Keep watch in the paper or check out the Mt. Morris Senior Center website at mmseniorcenter.com for more information.
POLO CITY COUNCIL
City approves purchase of CedarStone building 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.
