Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
May 19, 2016 Volume 166, Number 23 - $1.00
Hawks Bow Out
One to State
Annual Yard Sale
The Hawks baseball team ends it season with a 7-2 loss at the regional. B2
Mackenzie Skoumal is OHS’ lone qualifer for the state track meet. B1
The 14th annual Breast Yard Sale in Town offers all kinds of great stuff May 28-June 19. A4
Man to sue Ogle board over zoning decision By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com The attorney for a Forreston man told the Ogle County Board Tuesday evening that his client will appeal a zoning decision made a few minutes earlier. “We will appeal the decision to the circuit court,” said Freeport attorney Dan Fishburn. He said he will file a lawsuit in the near future on behalf of Walter Paul, who owns a farm just across
Ill. 72 from the property that has been the subject of the controversial zoning request for the last several weeks. After tabling the issue April 19, the board voted 15-8 with one abstention Tuesday to approve a request from Mike Stukenberg, Forreston, and Steve and Kevin Moring, also of Forreston, for a special use permit to allow a Class 2 Motor Carrier Facility on property zoned for agricultural use. The Zoning Board of Appeals
(ZBA) recommended approval of the request March 28. The property, at 11123 W. Ill. 72 just east of Forreston, is owned by Stukenberg and being purchased by STKE LLC, a company owned by the Morings. STKE LLC plans to store and wash semis and dumpsters on the property, which is less than a mile east of Forreston. Paul and other nearby property owners have objected because of environmental issues.
Most were concerned about contamination from the garbage trucks and dumpsters stored on the property. The groundwater is just below the surface in that area and a creek is nearby. The creek feeds into the Leaf River, a tributary of the Rock River. Paul and several other neighbors voiced concern that wells and aquifers, as well as the streams, could be contaminated by garbage as well as motor oil.
County board member Pat Saunders, Polo, said she would vote no because of the dumpsters being stored on the property. She said she is concerned that rainwater will wash contamination from the dumpsters into the nearby stream. “If they took the dumpsters off the property I would vote yes,” she said. Board member Lee Meyers, Turn to A8
Maybe next year for Black Hawk statue? IDNR official says agency hoping for 2017 By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Spring Calf A new bison calf stands next to her mother at the Nachusa Grasslands last week. A story appears on page A6. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Food to be allowed in Coliseum By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com Food and drinks will be allowed on the first floor of the Oregon Coliseum over the objections of commissioner Jim Barnes, who is in charge of public buildings. The Economic Development Committee recommended to the city council last week that food and drinks should be allowed. “Who is going to make
a recommendation that it is allowed?” said Barnes. “You? Me? The mayor?” “That would be policy,” said Commissioner Terry Schuster. “We have not written the policy.” “I cannot see this happening,” said Barnes. “I do not think it should be (allowed). Who will say ‘yes you can, no you can not?” The council approved the policy to allow food on the first floor of the Coliseum 4-1. Barnes was the lone no
vote. “I will be difficult to come up with requirements,” said mayor Ken Williams. “As written, this policy is all or nothing.” The policy would require a $250 deposit when food is part of an event on the first floor of the coliseum. The renter would also need to contract for cleaning the building after the event. Before the vote was held two people talked about the need for using the Coliseum.
Mike Noble said he attended the Oregon Together meetings and the Coliseum was discussed. “The opportunity is here to expand,” he said. “Maybe a movie night in the Coliseum. I would like more events.” Randy Holland also attended the Oregon Together meetings. “I saw other towns that have activities on Friday and Saturday nights,” Holland said. “The coliseum is there. We think it can be used.”
Mediation session is cancelled By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A fourth session with a federal mediator was cancelled last week in ongoing contract negotiations between the Oregon School Board and the Oregon Education Support Personnel Association (OESPA). Superintendent Tom
Mahoney said the May 11 session was postponed. “No future date has been set,” he said in an email. The first mediation session was held on Jan. 28 with others held on March 3 and April 4. The OESPA’s three-year contract with the school district expired last June 30, and contract negotiations began almost a year ago on
In This Week’s Edition...
May 27. Members of the OESPA did informational picketing Dec. 10 and Dec. 14 in front of the district office and at the intersection of Washington and 10th Streets in Oregon, holding signs, some of which read “fair wages & insurance.” The OESPA has more than 100 members and represents technical department support
Church Bells, A5 College News, A4 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4
staff, cooks and the assistant head cook, instructional aides and other aides, bus drivers and aides, nurses and aides, custodians and maintenance, and secretaries. Mahoney said in December that the two sides have agreed not to comment publicly about the issues and negotiations except in joint statements.
Library News, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, A7 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4
A state official said late last week that work to repair the world-renowned Black Hawk statue may be completed in 2017. “Once the services of the new conservator are secured, the IDNR expects the restoration work on the Eternal Indian statue to proceed in hopes of completing the project next year,” Tim Schweizer, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), said in an email sent May 13. According to some reports, sculptor Lorado Taft called his 50-foot concrete statue The Eternal Indian. However, it is better known as Black Hawk after the Sauk medicine man whose people hunted and fished throughout the Rock River Valley before the arrival of settlers from the East Coast. Created by Taft in 1910 as a tribute to all Native Americans, the statue stands on a 125-foot bluff overlooking the Rock River at Lowden State Park near Oregon and draws thousands of visitors each year. It was unveiled and dedicated in 1911. The IDNR did not renew its contract this year with project conservator Dr. Andrzej Dajnowski from Conservation of Sculpture & Objects Studio, Forest Park. Dajnowski said last week he did not sign the new contract because he did not agree with the methods it stipulated for restoring the statue’s crumbling exterior. He said the new contract also gave him no compensation for the scaffolding which surrounds and protects the statue. Most of the scaffolding, which completely surrounds Black Hawk, belongs to Dajnowski, but he rents some portions of it. Green plastic mesh is
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Zoning, B5
wrapped around it to protect the statue from the elements, particularly winter weather, and prevent further damage. The scaffolding has been in place since December of 2014 when Dajnowski and his crew built it around the 105-yearold statue, put a roof over it, and then enclosed it in the mesh. Dajnowski said he charges $75 per day for the scaffolding, and that cost has been paid so far by the Dillon Foundation, Sterling. Schweizer declined to specify in his email the reasons the contract was not renewed, saying only, “The IDNR opted to seek the services of a new conservator.” Schweizer said the state’s budget impasse has affected funding for the project. “The funds from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity are still earmarked for the project; however, due to the budget impasse, there is no spending authority at this time,” he said. The IDNR secured a $350,000 grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the project. The budget impasse means Dajnowski has not been paid for his services since last June. “Payments for services billed prior to June 30, 2015 would have been paid, but the budget impasse means the IDNR has not had spending authority for the current state fiscal year. The scaffolding is still in place and is being paid for with private foundation funds,” Schweizer said in his email. The state’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. A not-for-profit organization, the Friends of the Black Hawk Statue, raised most of the estimated $900,000 needed for the statue’s repair through fundraisers and securing donations over the last seven years. However, Frank Rausa, Sterling, who heads the organization, said last week that much of the money has been spent while waiting for the state to release funds for the repairs.
Deaths, B3 Raymond G. Appler, Charles W. Hayes, Dorothy A. Henry, Russell E. Scholl
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