Single Copy Cost 50¢ Volume 147 No. 29
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Wednesday, March 18, 2015
IVCC lawsuit drags into its 48th month By Ken Schroeder
kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
HENNEPIN — The lawsuit involving Putnam County, Marquis Energy and Illinois Valley Community College continues. Despite a three and one-half hour meeting on Friday, March 6, the lawsuit remains unsettled. IVCC filed the suit in
April 2011. It stemmed from a tax abatement dispute it had with Putnam County and the Marquis Energy ethanol plant, which is located in the Bureau-Putnam Enterprise Zone. IVCC signed on to the enterprise zone in 2006 with restrictions. The college agreed to abate taxes on properties with improvements that resulted in an increase of square footage after July
1, 2007. Marquis Energy started its construction in 2005. According to the suit, the county abated taxes for Marquis against the wording of the resolution. In a story from the Bureau County Republican’s edition on Sept. 12, 2011, then-Putnam County State’s Attorney James Mack said County Treasurer Dan Kuhn had
IVCC Page 4
Marquis: ‘There’s not going to be a settlement ...’ By Ken Schroeder
kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
HENNEPIN — Marquis Energy LLC is one of the parties involved in the Illinois Valley Community College lawsuit over the Bureau-Putnam Enterprise Zone. CEO Mark Marquis is ready for the case to come to a conclusion.
“IVCC just needs to drop the lawsuit,” Marquis said. “There’s not going to be a settlement because there’s no case.” According to Marquis, IVCC has spent more than $680,000 in legal fees to Peru attorney Walter Zukowski. IVCC Director of Community Relations Fran Brolley confirmed that
figure was “a reasonable amount.” “In business, if you’re going to spend more than $100,000 in legal fees, you want a second opinion. We hired two separate appraisal services for this suit that specialize in business appraisal. We didn’t spend as much as IVCC,”
Marquis Page 4
Heading to nationals PCHS Ag Issues team is the best in Illinois By Ken Schroeder
kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
GRANVILLE — Five National FFA Organization members from Putnam County High School are going to get their chance to prove their mettle at the national level. The high school’s Ag Issues team took top honors at the state tournament at Western Illinois University in Macomb recently. “They did an outstanding job,” ag instructor John Heiser said. “They only missed six points out of 150, so that’s a pretty big deal. They beat some of the best schools at it. Their topic this year was hydraulic fracturing. They made a total of seven presentations before they went to state. They’ll get to represent Illinois at the national convention on Oct. 28 in Louisville, Ky.” There has only been an
Ag Issues team at PCHS for four years. As the team of Nick Bruch, Alex Campbell, Matt Conerton, Michael Glenn and Brian Schrowang will tell you, it’s definitely not easy. “You have to have research, all the citations for the research you’ve done and all resources you put into your PowerPoint,” Glenn said. “You have to learn all of the material. Anything they might ask you about fracking, you need to know. You can’t just know what you’re presenting on because they can question you on any of it.” Ag Issues teams consist of a pro and con format, where one team presents the benefits of the topic and the other talks about the detrimental effects. In the case of the PCHS team, Glenn and Schrowang presented the argu-
Ag Issues Page 2
PCR photo/Dixie Schroeder
PCEF hosts drive-in fundraiser Reminiscent of days gone by with old-fashioned drive-in root beer stands, Putnam County High School math teacher Tyler Ellena (left) delivers dinner to Lori Mudge during the recent Putnam County Educational Foundation fundraiser. The event was held in conjunction with Stone Jug Barb-B-Q. Patrons purchased tickets and drove up to Putnam County High School to pick up their meals, which were delivered directly to their cars by Ellena and Putnam County School District Superintendent Jay McCracken.
Granville may be affected by state cuts By Ken Schroeder
kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
PCR file photo
In this Dec. 23 photo, the Putnam County FFA Ag Issues team of Matt Conerton (from left), Nick Bruch, Alex Campbell, Brian Schrowang and Michael Glenn present their Ag Issues topic on fracking at the Putnam County School Board meeting. Vol. 147 No. 29 One Section - 16 Pages
GRANVILLE — The Granville Village Board quickly but emphatically sent a message to Gov. Bruce Rauner at its Tuesday, March 10, meeting. The board members unanimously passed a resolution urging Rauner and the Illinois General Assembly to protect full funding of local government distributive fund revenues. On Feb. 18, Rauner delivered a budget address. In his speech, Rauner said
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local governments were receiving a combined $6 billion a year and collectively had $15 billion in surplus. Rauner proposed halving the amount of state funding city governments would receive from tax revenues in his 2016 budget. According to the Fiscal Policy Center of Voices for Illinois Children, Granville received $136,038 in state funding in 2014. If there is no change in the current budget, Granville’s share of the 2016 tax revenues would be $141,031. If Rauner’s budget cuts do take effect, the village
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stands to lose $70,515 in 2016 alone. In other action, the board: • Accepted bids for the sale of the village’s former patrol car and a work truck. A bid was accepted for $2,828.28 for the Crown Victoria patrol car from Greg Schrowang, and Tri-County Auto in Standard submitted the winning bid for the work truck of $575. • Authorized testing and possible replacement of a water pump for a total not to exceed $2,500. • Approved the rental of
a mower for the summer season for $2,200. • Set waste management clean-up day for the village for May 14. • Donated $2,000 to the village baseball/softball program to be divided evenly between the girls’ and boys’ programs. • Responded to a resident’s complaint about the pothole in the railroad tracks on Illinois Route 71. Board member Randy Borio reiterated the railroad crossings were the property and responsibility of the rail company, and the village has no input.