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Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Asphalt or concrete? McCoy Street project likely on hold until 2015 By Ken Schroeder
kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
GRANVILLE — Granville Village President Doug Gimbal will likely get his concrete for the resurfacing of South McCoy Street between Al Cioni Ford and Route 71. However, that work will probably not happen until 2015. Mike Richetta of Chamlin and Associates delivered the news to the village board
at the July 1 meeting. The board has been debating whether to resurface the section of street with asphalt or concrete. Asphalt resurfacing would be half the price according to Richetta but has half the life expectancy of concrete. Gimbal has said he will not sign off on an asphalt street and insists on concrete construction. Board member Lou Verda said the asphalt surface in that section of
McCoy Street was laid 31 years ago. Richetta noted that was a remarkably long life for asphalt. In June, the board had voted to repave the street with asphalt during a meeting where Gimbal was absent. At the following meeting, Gimbal said that decision was “unacceptable.” The decision to go with concrete would change the status of the McCoy Street project from maintenance to a new surface, which would cause more red tape from the Illinois Department of Transportation.
“I won’t argue against concrete because it’s a better product in the end; longer life but it costs more upfront,” Richetta said. “Since this is not general maintenance, this is now construction, and that means IDOT will have to have full review of plans and specs and all that entails. You’ll have to decide if you’re going to keep McCoy open during construction or close it down. Asphalt is a day operation, and you can open it at night. Concrete is not. You can do one lane, and then you’ll have to close it for 14 days.”
Richetta told the board no matter which surface the board chooses, the project would most likely not happen until next year. While IDOT will be involved in new construction, Richetta said asphalt resurfacing would have to be a cooperative project with the railroad. “I personally would be more in favor of concrete if we did it next year,” Verda said. “Hearing what we just heard, that we may not get it done this year anyway; the only reason I was in favor of asphalt was the cost and getting it done
Hennepin 4th a record-breaker
Mark discusses new Granville business By PCR Staff
news@putnamcountyrecord.com
MARK — Business as usual was the word during the bi-monthly meeting of the Mark Village Board. Mayor Frank Niewinski informed board members of contact he received from Shale Energy Services, a business wanting to build a manufacturing facility outside of Granville. “I believe we touched on it at the last meeting about rezoning outside of Granville there. The county’s responsibility,” Niewinski said. “We had gotten invited to the meeting, but I couldn’t go. When the county zoning officer talked to me, I said that I had no problem with it.” At that meeting of the Putnam County Zoning Board, it was rejected, but the issue of rezoning for the potential manufacturing site is going before the Putnam County Board at its July 14 meeting. Shale Energy Services, according to Niewinski, is reaching out to the area villages asking for letters of support for the project. Niewinski was told that if approved, the company would create at least 35 constructionoriented jobs in the creation of the business. There would then be Vol. 146 No. 45 One Section - 12 Pages
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25 direct and 80 indirect jobs once Shale is up and running. Shale would have an annual gross trade payroll of $1-2 million and $3.55 million in annual operations, according to a handout Niewinski received from Shale. The possible location of the new plant would be south of Granville off County Road 1300 East. Concerns about how the roads would handle multiple semi trucks and sealed trucks which load railcars were raised. Niewinski was told the company was offered to repave the road with concrete which is a more durable and long lasting material for road construction. Niewinski said, “They would bring good paying jobs to the area. What Shale would like from us is a letter of recommendation that can be sent to the Putnam County Board.” The village board members voted to send a letter to the county board endorsing Shale’s intentions. Under the streets and alleys portion of the meeting, the bids for the upcoming streets and sewer work were taken. Gensini Excavating submitted the bid of $516,318.50 for the St. Paul Street Phase 1. Maintenance paving will be let out for bids during the July 15 meeting.
this year,” board member Randy Borio said. “If it’s looking like it’s going to bump up until next year anyway; let’s do concrete.” Richetta said the village could roll this year’s Motor Fuel Tax into next year to help fund the 2015 project. Although the board is in favor of concrete, the board did not make a definitive decision. That will wait until Richetta is able to survey the street and then submit the plans to the board. Richetta said the board should be able to pass the resolution for the street project in September.
A bags tournament was just one of the many activities during Hennepin’s Fourth of July celebration. Hennepin Mayor Kevin Coleman said an estimated 1,000 people attended the day’s festivities, including cruise-in, concerts by the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra and a reenactment of a Woodford County trial with Abraham Lincoln as defending attorney to celebrate the courthouse’s 175th birthday. The evening fireworks drew spectators from all over the Illinois Valley after most other displays were cancelled. Cars were parked a mile’s walk or more away from the Hennepin pyrotechnics display. PCR photo/Ken Schroeder
Folksongs coming to Standard By Ken Schroeder
kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
MAGNOLIA — The Putnam County Library System continues its 75th anniversary commemoration with “This Land is your Land: Woody Guthrie and the Great American Folksong,” the next program in the “Traces & Byways Discovered” series. Recording artist Woody Halker will present the program at 12:30 p.m. July 16 at the Standard Branch Library. Halker describes himself as “folksinger, writer, rocker, scholar, labor songster
and alt-country twanger.” He was drawn to folk music when he was 16. As a fan of music and with a love of history, folk music had a great appeal to him. “I was fortunate I grew up in an era where listening to several genres of music was considered cool,” Halker said. “There was a group of musicians where I grew up in Ashland, Wis. They got me started with Woody Guthrie, and I soon got into blues and folk artists like Lead Belly and Roosevelt Sykes.” While in his late teens and early 20s, Halker was approached by people who
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had seen his folk music concerts and asked him if he could put together a Woody Guthrie tribute. He has been performing the program, with several changes, for more than 35 years. The program draws from Guthrie’s writings and the history of the time, as Halker’s love of history led him to a Ph.D. in history and a 10 year stint as a college history teacher. “The program is a mix of music and commentary,” Halker said. “I play as many songs as I can, plus I also try to put them into perspective with stories of the Depression and the Dust Bowl.”
Woody Halker In addition to recording music by himself and with various other musicians, Halker produces albums. He has recently released the fifth album in a series called “Folksongs of Illinois.” The set of music features songs written in and about Illinois, featuring the original artists including Alison Krauss, Studs Terkel and others.
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