Serving the Polo Area Since 1857
POLO
Tri-County Press July 23, 2015 Volume 157, Number 44 - $1.00
Alumni Games
It’s Fair Time!
Recycling Events
Polo played in an alumni football game and Oregon is preparing for theirs. B1
The Ogle County Fair and 4-H Fair is right around the corner. Insert
Ogle County is hosting a pair of recycling events. One for electronics, one for used oil. A6, A7
Police chief presented with a watch Monday Council also may increase the sewer rates By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
A long-time Polo policeman was honored Monday night for his years of service to the city. Polo Mayor Doug Knapp presented Police Chief Dennis Christen with a watch for 25 years of service at Monday night’s city council meeting. Christen started working for the Polo Police
Department on July 16, 1990, and became chief of police in 1998. In another matter, the city council also learned that a sewer rate increase will be needed to help pay for $1.8 million of upgrades to the sewer system. Engineer Matt Hanson from Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Dixon, said the city may not be eligible for grants to help with the cost of five sewer system projects. The city does have preliminary approval, however, for a loan from USDA Rural Development to cover most of the cost. A $3 per month rate
increase would be necessary to repay the loan, which would run for 39 years and carry a fixed interest rate of 2.875 percent, Hanson said. Projects on the to-do list includes replacing sewer mains on Division Avenue, lining some sewer mains, rehabilitating sludge drying beds, rehabbing the lift station on South Congress Avenue, and replacing sewer mains on Maple Avenue and Oregon Street. Hanson offered seven Polo Mayor Doug Knapp, right, presents police chief Dennis Christen with a wrapped options with varying costs watch for his 25 years of service to the city. Photo by Vinde Wells and various projects omitted. However, he recommended Turn to A2
County board debates use of the Long Range Fund By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The Ogle County Board debated Tuesday how funds in the Long Range Planning Fund should be used before okaying projects totaling $861,691. Board member Don Griffin, Oregon, who is chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee, asked the board to approve the list of projects to be paid from the Long Range Planning Fund.
However, board member Ron Colson, Mt. Morris, protested because, he said, a resolution approved by the board on Nov. 16, 1999 earmarked the money in the fund to be used only for large capital improvements. In the past, the fund has been used to pay for the $15 million judicial center in 2005, the $7.5 million courthouse renovations in 2010, and the $4 million public safety complex this year. Colson made a motion to postpone the vote on the
projects until the board’s August meeting. He said he objected because the Griffin’s list includes maintenance projects. The list includes a new roof on the Pines Road Annex and repaving its parking lot; demolition of the old sheriff’s building, converting that area into a parking lot, and installing exterior LED lighting; redoing the parking lots at Focus House, the jail, courthouse, judicial center, Turn to A8
Two ROEs merge July 1 By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Regional school officials and staff members have spent the last several months merging two Regional Offices of Education (ROE) into one. Robert Sondgeroth, superintendent of the newly formed Whiteside, Lee, and Ogle ROE, said last week that the merger is going smoothly. “It became official July 1, but we’ve been working together over the last two years,” he said July 14. “Now we’re all moved into the Sterling building.” The merger of the Whiteside ROE and the Lee-Ogle ROE stems from action taken four years ago to reduce the state budget. Gov. Pat Quinn questioned the amount budgeted for ROEs in 2011, and as a result, the number of them was reduced 44 to 35 as of this month. The county boards in Whiteside, Lee, and Ogle Counties all approved the merger in 2013. Sondgeroth, who was formerly the regional superintendent in Whiteside County, was elected superintendent of the merged
Robert Sondgeroth
ROE last November and officially assumed the new post July 1. Former Lee-Ogle regional superintendent Paul McMahon is the assistant superintendent of the new ROE. Sondgeroth said the decision was made to use the Whiteside ROE building at 1001 W. 23rd St., Sterling, as the headquarters of the new ROE because the Lee-Ogle building in Grand Detour would not be available. That building was owned by the Dixon School District, whose officials wanted to sell it. (Turn to page B3 for a story about the sale of the building.) The building in Sterling is rented from Newman Central Catholic High School.
In This Week’s Edition...
Town meeting is Thursday Polo Mayor Doug Knapp encouraged residents to make their voices heard at a town hall meeting on Thursday, July 23 at 7 p.m. at the Polo Fire Station.
“This is your opportunity to get your opinion heard,” Knapp said at Monday’s city council meeting. The city council scheduled the meeting to
gain public input on two topics — a grocery store opening in the former Polo Super Valu building and on hiring a fifth full-time police officer.
County removes six tanks from property in Oregon By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com Nothing unexpected was discovered after county workers removed six underground tanks last week at a former gas station in Oregon. The Ogle County Highway Department dug up the underground tanks July 16 at 501 W. Washington St. These tanks stored fuel and other gas station chemicals. “We knew there were six tanks and that is what we found,” said Ogle County Engineer Curtis Cook. “Two of the tanks were partially filled with sand and the smaller tanks had a little product but not a lot. We found what we expected.” The highway department did exploratory digging to verify what was under the property before the final excavation began. Several soil samples were taken throughout the process. “I am waiting on the test results to see if there was any other contamination to
the soil,” said Cook. “We have two piles of potentially contaminated material.” When the level of contamination is verified, Cook will then know how to properly dispose of the material. The soil underneath the tanks was also tested to make sure there was no additional contamination. “We want to make sure there are no issues with the property,” said Cook. “You want to do what you can to make sure the site is clean.” The Ogle County Board approved a multiple phase project to demolish the former gas station and turn the property into a parking lot. The first phase of the project was to remove the former Jackass BBQ building from 501 W. Washington St. and add parking spaces. This included the removal of underground tanks, left from the gas station, that were discovered on the property. The board approved a resolution in June to accept a proposal for $15,283 from
Stiles Inc., Loves Park, to remove five underground storage tanks from the property. Phase two will include the demolition of the house next door, once the lease expires with that renter. A date has yet to be set for that action. The county purchased this house at 102 S. Fifth St. from Scott and Barb Spoor for $99,500 in December of 2013. At that time the board entered into a three-year lease with attorney Robert Lowe, who has his office there. The final phase will be completing the entire parking lot, which will have 39 spaces. Costs for the project were estimated at $203,500 for the first phase. The final two phases have an estimated cost of $161,950 to complete. The county board approved a bid on Tuesday from O’Brien Civil Works, Inc., Polo, for $144,386 to blacktop the area, which is
Sondgeroth praised the staff from both former ROEs for making the merger work. “The personnel is fantastic. Everyone is getting along well,” he said. “I don’t know what I would do without them. Now I have depth in positions.” Still, he and his staff will have their work cut out for them. They will now oversee 26 public school districts and several private schools, with a total of 86 buildings, 1,800 teachers, and more than 20,000 students. Some training meetings with school district personnel Turn to A8 have been held at Sauk Valley Community College, Dixon, because it is centrally located, Sondgeroth said. Other meetings will be scheduled in each county for the convenience of the teachers and school personnel there. “It’s easier of us to go to Rochelle to talk to 100 teachers than to have 100 teachers come here,” Sondgeroth said. Guidelines set in 2011 dictated that an ROE must have a minimum population of 61,000. Whiteside, although the Excavators worked July 16 to dig up underground storage tanks at the corner of largest of the ROEs on the Washington and Fifth Streets, Oregon, the former site of and old gas station and more
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5
recently Jackass BBQ and Scoop’s sub shop. The county board decided to put a
Turn to A3 parking lot there. Photo by Vinde Wells
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B5 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Weather, A3
Deaths, B6 Vicky C. Fisher, Melody Martinez, Harlan E. Rothermel
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com