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The Putnam County
Volume 146 No. 25
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Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Repairing the courthouse? Rimmele: ‘Historic perspective or maintenance’ By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
HENNEPIN — The first reports on the tests done on the Putnam County Courthouse are in, and the results are not promising. Preliminary results were given to the county board on Feb. 10. “You want to see the mortar on your building to be sacrificial. It should have a lower compression
strength than the brick itself,” Kurt Rimmele of Basalay, Cary and Alstadt Architects of Ottawa said. “We found the mortar is almost three times stronger than it should be, so that’s some of the issue where you have the face of the brick popping off.” Years of tuckpointing work has also changed the shape of some of the brick on the facade, removing a uniform look
to the building. Rimmele said options had to be discussed with the board to determine how much of the brick would need to be replaced. Many of the bricks are fragile due to their age, compounding the problem of reworking the walls. “You’re going to have to see if you want to handle it from an historic perspective or if you want to try to do some things that
will reduce maintenance over time,” Rimmele said. “It’s going to take a little more in-depth discussion to have a better idea for me to estimate which path to take.” In other action, the board: • Heard from Putnam County State’s Attorney James Mack on the current status of taxes collected by the state in the Hartney Oil Co. While the court case was resolved in favor of Mark and Putnam
County’s claim to the tax monies, the Illinois Department of Revenue has returned the money directly to Hartney Oil instead of the local governments involved. Mack told the board the terms of the agreement between Mark, Putnam County and Hartney Oil should see the funds eventually turned over. Mack expects to know more within the next month. Putnam County
Treasurer Kevin Kunkel said approximately $208,000 would be coming into general funds. Mack added another $111,000 in tax monies paid in protest by Hartney should also find its way into Putnam County’s coffers by June. • Reviewed the audit for Fiscal 2013 with Kim Baum from Hopkins and Associates. Baum told the board the financials
See Courthouse Page 3
January 2014: Not a record ...
Officer Roxie reporting for duty
... but not for lack of trying By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
HENNEPIN — There’s a new officer at the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, and she’s pretty cute. Friendly and lovable yet dedicated to her work, Roxie’s likely to greet most people with a kiss. She’s also covered in fur. Roxie is the new police dog at the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department. Brought on board on Jan. 10, Roxie’s already responsible for seven arrests on drugs charges in just more than a month. That’s not bad for a 17-month-old German Shepherd. Roxie and her partner Officer Jacob Frund attended an intensive 160-hour training course to become statecertified as a dual-purpose service dog. The training took place at Northern Iowa K-9, a training facility for police dogs which has recently been certified by the state of Illinois. Roxie can be used both Putnam County Record photo/Ken Schroeder as a drug detection K-9 New Putnam County police officer Roxie is pictured with her handler Officer and as a tracker. Jacob Frund (left) and Putnam County Sheriff Kevin Doyle. Roxie was purchased and supported using only donations from local businesses and residents. See Roxie Page 3
GRANVILLE — How cold was January, really? The month as a whole may not set any records, but January 2014 will go into the history books as one of the coldest in Illinois history. According to Illinois climatologist Jim Angel, January 2014 was the eighth coldest January in Illinois history, with an average statewide temperature of 18.2 degrees. The normal temperature for the month is 26.3 degrees based on a 30-year average. Still, it was a sauna compared to January 1977, where the average daily temperature in Illinois was 10.3 degrees. Locally, this year was actually a little below the state average. By contrast, temperatures in Putnam County dipped to zero or below 12 days this month, with Jan. 6 spending the entire day in the negatives. The number of days temperatures were above freezing all day in Granville was zero. Figures from Accuweather reveal the average high temperature was 27
degrees and an average low temp of only 7. The average Putnam County temperature was a frigid 17 degrees. It’s also been a snowy year, with above-average snowfall in much of the state. Although the southern portion of Illinois received only 1 to 6 inches in January, much of the rest of the state received snowfalls in the 10- to 20-inch range. Chicago’s infamous lake-effect snow dumped a total of 33.5 inches on the Windy City, making it Chicago’s third snowiest January on record. Most of the local area received 10 to 15 inches, with some locations receiving more. So far, February is following the same frosty footprints. As of Feb. 11, temperatures had yet to rise above freezing, and seven days dipped below zero. Forecasts are calling for warmer weather with highs above freezing predicted for this week, with a possibility of a low temperature at or above freezing before Thursday. That hasn’t happened since Dec. 28. It might be time to break out the suntan lotion.
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