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The Polo wrestlers were on the road and earned a narrow 38-37 win over Oregon Jan. 28. B1
Tri-County Press February 4, 2016 Volume 158, Number 20 - $1.00
Dabbling Kids
First Fridays will be at Pinecrest Grove Feb. 5 with live music. A6
The annual Day of Dabbling will be held in Oregon at the Church of God Feb. 27. A7
BOR sets value of Exelon plant By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Duck Collection Kale Grobe, age 8, helps pick up foam ducks at center court following a halftime activity by the booster club during the boys basketball game against Stockton on Monday night. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Council asked to waive UTV fee By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A Dixon man asked the Polo City Council Monday to waive its permit fees for utility task vehicles (UTVs) as part of a pilot program to develop a trail system throughout northern Illinois. Mark Imfeld said the Dixon Park District Board recently approved a pilot program for golf carts and similar vehicles on the portion of the Joe Stengel Trail from Woosung to Judson Road just south of Polo. The cost of the park district permit to ride the trail will be $100 when the program gets underway in May, he said. He asked the council to waive its permit requirement
and $25 fee for persons who ride into town on the Joe Stengel Trail. Imfeld said the riders will come to town to fill up with gas and visit restaurants. “We’re bringing economic value to town,” he said. Imfeld also asked for permission to ride the UTV’s on city streets to get from the trail to the businesses. The pilot program will run from May through September and the trail will be open for UTVs from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Alderman Dave Ackeberg asked if Polo waives its fee for Lee County residents, would the park district waive its fee for Polo residents who want to ride UTVs on the trail. “If you’re going to ride the Joe Stengel Trail you have to pay the park district fee,”
Imfeld said. He said the fee was established to cover expenses such as signs and gates on the trail. Currently the Joe Stengel Trial is open only to walkers, bicyclists, horseback riders, and snowmobilers. Imfeld said the goal of the program is to connect the trail with neighboring villages and cities and to eventually link to multi-use trails in Wisconsin. Ackeberg suggested that Polo waive its fee for the period of the pilot program to help it get started. He said he likes the idea of a trail system throughout the area. He and alderman Troy Boothe told Imfeld that UTV riders who come into Polo will be expected to adhere to the city’s rules even if the permit
fee is waived. An ordinance passed last June requires not only the permit, but also that operators must be at least 21, have a valid drivers license, and that their UTVs must have turn signals and horns. Imfeld said he could not enforce that and asked if the rules could be changed. “You don’t have to enforce it. Our police will do that,” Ackeberg said. As the trail system develops, Ackeberg said, he expects communities and counties will develop a uniform set of rules. “We can tweak our ordinances down the road,” he said. “Let’s not do it now.” The council told Imfeld they will consider waiving the permit and fee and let him know their decision.
Murder suspect was on probation By Angel Sierra Sauk Valley Media The Freeport man accused of shooting and killing his wife Dec. 5 in Lanark was about halfway through a twoyear drug-related probation term in Stephenson County, stemming from a 2014 drug case in Tennessee. Carroll County State’s Attorney Scott Brinkmeier this week furnished records about Morgan D. Hake’s criminal past in Tennessee’s Coffee County, which is about an hour drive southeast of Nashville. Hake, 49, pleaded guilty Oct. 29, 2014, to a “criminal attempt” to possess a controlled substance (Psilocyn) with intent to sell/ deliver, and to possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) with intent to sell/deliver, both felonies in Tennessee. He was fined $2,000, and given two years supervised probation, which appears to be below the recommended
minimums in Tennessee. Court records show Hake was charged June 12, 2014, and planned to distribute Psilocyn, a Schedule 1 hallucinogenic drug with compounds typically found in psychedelic mushrooms. Drugs in this top-tier class include heroin and cocaine, among others. Hake also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than 14.175 grams of marijuana, which exists in a lowered Schedule 6 drug category in Tennessee; it is a Schedule 1 drug in the eyes of the federal government. The supervised probation case was transferred to Stephenson County in November 2014, about a month after Hake was sentenced, presumably because he was living there at the time of his arrest. Brinkmeier said he does not know where Hake was living Morgan Hake enters a Carroll County courtroom at the time. Wednesday morning. Hake is accused of killing his wife. Turn to A2 Photo by Alex Paschal
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4 Marriage Licenses, A4
Oregon Police, A7 Polo Police, A3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Weather, A3
The Ogle County Board of Review (BOR) disappointed both sides of a tax appeal last week and struck the middle ground when it set the value of Exelon’s Byron Generating Station. After a hearing arguments from attorneys for Exelon and the Byron School District Jan. 28, the BOR set the nuclear plant’s value at $482.4 million — the same as a year ago. Exelon’s attorney Terry Moritz argued that the assessed value of the plant should be $238 million, while Josh Whitt, representing the Byron School District, presented information setting the value at $609 million. “I’m disappointed. I thought our attorneys made the case that the plant’s value is $609 million,” said Byron School Superintendent James Hammack. “However, I respect the work of the Board of Review — that’s a tough decision.” Byron Station Communications Manager Paul Dempsey said Exelon is willing to pull its weight but wants fair treatment. “Exelon Generation is always committed to paying its fair share of property taxes. Like every taxpayer, Exelon Generation expects fair treatment in the collection of taxes to support the needs of the county,” he said. “We are open to entering an agreement to resolve the property tax issues for Byron Generating Station.” Ogle County Supervisor of Assessment Jim Harrison set the plant’s value at $482.4 million last fall after the BOR chose that amount at a tax appeal hearing in January of 2015.
The assessment set in 2015 affects taxes paid in 2016. “Not a whole lot has changed since last year,” Harrison said. He said the plant’s 20-year operating license extension came in November, a month after the assessment was set. BOR Chairman Joe Yockey said the three-member board based its decision on the assessed value of the Exelon’s Braidwood generating station, which is considered a “twin” of Byron and is of similar age. A seven-year agreement between Exelon and the taxing bodies affected by the Braidwood plant set the value at $455 million for 2014, $445 million for 2015 and 2016, $455 million for 2017, $460 million for 2018, $465 million of 2019, and $470 million for 2020. Officials on both sides declined to comment on whether or not Exelon and the taxing bodies are currently negotiating a multiyear agreement for the Byron plant’s value. Exelon and the Byron School District, which draws the largest share of taxes from the plant, have appealed the BOR decision for 2012, 2013, and 2014 to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB). PTAB recently set an April date to hear the the 2012 appeal, and Yockey said that decision, once it comes, will be helpful in the future. “With the upcoming hearing at PTAB, we can use that number to get an agreement on the value,” he said. Exelon paid more than $32 million in real estate taxes in 2015 to 11 taxing bodies, which besides the Byron School District, includes Ogle County, Rockvale Township, Oregon School
Gas station was robbed Jan. 28 By Angel Sierra Sauk Valley Media
Police say a Polo man used a BB gun to rob a gas station Jan. 28, then soon returned the money because he knew the cashier had already called police. Polo Police arrested Damian J. Wilson, 21, without incident at his home. He is charged with aggravated robbery, punishable by 2 to 5 years in prison. Bond was set at $50,000 Friday. Police Chief Dennis Christen said Friday morning that Wilson robbed the Shell gas station, 202 Divison St. (Ill. 26), using a BB gun replica of a black semiautomatic .45-caliber handgun. The gun did not have the orange markings typically used to identify toy weapons,
and there was no orange tip. “You have to treat them as if they were real,” Christen said. Police in a news release said Wilson paid for a drink with a $20 bill, and when the register opened, told the cashier, whom he knew, to give him all the money inside. He pulled out the gun, police said, and set it on the counter. According to the release, the cashier gave him an undisclosed amount of money, but Wilson returned “a short time later” to give the money back, saying he knew the cashier had called police. Wilson fled north on Division Avenue in a black car. Police responded to the call at 9:43 p.m. Wilson was scheduled to appear in court Feb. 3.
Deaths, B5 David E. Reinke, Brian D. Tremble
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com