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The Putnam County
Volume 146 No. 11
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Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Mark amends incentive ordinance Schweikert: ‘We’re netting $85,000 to $90,000’ By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
MARK — The Mark Village Board voted to amend the Economic Incentive Amendment Ordinance at the regular meeting on Nov. 6. The ordinance includes details of an agreement with Mansfield Oil Co.; the company recently
purchased Hartney Oil and its assets. “What we’re doing is getting our ordinance in line with other villages in the area and keeping a level playing field,” Mayor Frank Niewinski said. “We want to keep the businesses in our town.” Village attorney Doug Schweikert told the
board Mansfield has experienced an increase in competition since the purchase of Hartney and requested a change of the incentives for the company. That change will actually benefit the village. “It works out to be better for us on sales up to $10 million,” Schweikert said. “It’s been
a good deal for (Mark). We’re netting, even after the rebate to Mansfield, $85,000 to $90,000 a month.” In other action, the board: • Instructed village engineer Jack Kusek to begin surveying St. Paul, Division and Milwaukee streets for the planning of road repairs and upgrades. The surveying will cost the village
$8,000 and pave the way for the roadwork. • Passed the meeting date ordinance for 2014. All meetings of the Mark board will be on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. • Agreed to an arrangement with the village of Hennepin to have the tornado sirens checked by Reagan Communications at the same time as other local villages. The
agreement will spread the trip charge for the inspection throughout the villages that enter into the agreement, with potential savings of more than $100. • Discussed the current key situation regarding village sheds and offices. The issue stemmed from the Halloween celebration where a key could not be found to open a locked box.
Granville looks at insurance By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
GRANVILLE — New insurance was the main topic of the evening at the Granville village board meeting on Nov. 5. The village’s current policy will expire shortly, and the board would like to take advantage of current rates before announced price increases begin on Jan. 1. Matt Hostetter of Country Companies, Mike Gonet and Dave Mizer of Gonet Insurance and Sally Arnet and Bart Wills of Diamond Brothers Insurance presented several options before the board. A special meeting was held to decide on the policies on Nov. 12 to give the members time to examine the policies. In other action, the board: • Passed village ordinance No. 644, refinancing $810,000 in previouslyissued water and sewer bonds. The move locks in a lower interest rate and will save the village thousands of dollars over time. • Learned a street sweeper is scheduled from Waste Management to come to Granville on Nov. 18, assuming favorable weather. The sweeping will take approximately three days. • Learned of a grant opportunity from the North Central Illinois Council of Governments to build or replace sidewalks within 1.5 miles of a school.
See Granville Page 4
Putnam County Record photo/Ken Schroeder
Veterans Day parade held Granville hosted the annual Veterans Day parade on Nov. 9. Veterans, local law enforcement, Girl Scouts, floats, local fire departments and area politicians marched in the parade.
Crime rates hold steady in Putnam County HENNEPIN — The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics show violent crime and property crime rates have risen for the second consecutive year. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) study released last month, the violent crime rate in the United States in 2012 jumped more than 15 percent, from 22.6 victimizations per 1,000 persons in 2011 to 26.1 victimizations in 2012. The figures include estimates for rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault. In addition, the BJS study shows the property crime rate increased by more than 12 percent in 2012. In 2011, there were 138.7 property crimes per
1,000 households, compared to 155.8 property crimes in 2012. Property crime figures include estimates for burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft. Unfortunately, not all crimes are reported to authorities, the BJS states. In 2012, about 44 percent of violent victimizations and 54 percent of serious violent victimizations were reported to police, with about 34 percent of property victimizations reported. Locally, Putnam County Sheriff Kevin Doyle said while crime is about the same locally, the percentages aren’t. “Burglaries are down, but thefts are up,” Doyle said “Crime is about the same over-
all. We logged 25 thefts and three burglaries.” Instead, Doyle has seen an increase in people running scams. “Again, I want to pass on that scams are and continue to be a big problem mostly by phone, some email and some door to door. I want to remind residents: Don’t give out personal information to anyone,” Doyle said. “Call us if you have any suspicions of the person asking or inquiring. We interrupted three scams this year by residents calling before they gave out info. Some of these scam artists are pretending to be police or FBI; just call us to confirm before you tell them
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anything.” Doyle isn’t sure transience has had an effect on local crime, but notes that it has brought on several changes to the area. “We are seeing more people from the city in our area, and with the lack of jobs, many children from local families don’t come back to the area to live. They are forced to go where the work is,” Doyle said. “We are much busier than we were 15 years ago, and roads are much busier. People are able to be more transient, and technology makes people able to commit crimes from home easier.” Putnam County Staff Writer Ken Schroeder contributed to this report.