Volume 141 No. 25
Friday, August 15, 2014
The Tonica News
Single Copy Cost 50¢
No need for Noah in Tonica
By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
TONICA — Tonica residents don’t have to start building arks yet. According to village President Kevin Sluder, inspectors from the Army Corps of Engineers said the town should have no problem staying above water. “The Army Corps of Engineers came in; we
looked at the maps, and they said, ‘Let’s go look at these spots.’ When they got to those spots, they looked and said, ‘There’s nothing wrong,’” Sluder said. “We’re working on one area near the bridge that we needed to get done. We got it done a week ago; they came in and said, ‘It looks great.’” Sluder said the inspectors looked at another section where the village is plan-
ning on working and had some suggestions, but otherwise they were pleased with what they saw. “I asked one of the guys and said, ‘What do you think?’ He said, ‘It’s doing what it’s supposed to do. There’s nothing more you can do. It depends how much money you want to spend. Is the benefit going to outweigh the cost?’” Sluder said. “I don’t want to make 340 homes pay for
half a dozen. It’s not fair.” There were some areas the corpsmen saw on the maps that were concerns until they were visited. “They looked on the map at the train trestle and said, ‘Well, that’s going to be trouble.’ But when they got to the trestle they said, ‘Whoa, that’s in pretty good shape,’” Sluder said. “Everything we’re doing is good, is helping or has helped. And there’s not
much more we can do, or we’re spending money on something that isn’t worth it.” Sluder said the only places that raise any concern are where trees have fallen on private property, which is something the village has no control over. “I got the answer from the engineers — from the guys that know what they’re doing — that I wanted to hear,” Sluder
said. “And that is, we’re doing everything right. It was a validation of what we had in place. They were more impressed with the flood zones we had that when the creek does rise, it actually goes where it’s supposed to go. It goes into these lands where there’s no homes and these fields where there are no sheds. He said, ‘This is really nice.’ What we’ve got works, and it’s doing the job.”
Drilling and driving lead Lostant agenda By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
Tonica News photo/Dixie Schroeder
Home destroyed by Tuesday morning blaze Fire consumed the Roy “Junior” Alleman home during the morning of Aug. 12. Tonica, Lostant, Oglesby and Cedar Point Fire Departments responded to the blaze. No one was believed to be in the house when the fire started, and no injuries were reported. The house is a total loss. The Illinois State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
Illini State Bank sponsors Tonica blood drives By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
TONICA — The Tonica community blood drive was held at the Tonica United Methodist Church on Aug. 4. A total of 33 units were collected. Each unit collected helps three people. As a result of this effort, 99 people will benefit. “These are great numbers for a small community drive,” said Al Stremlau, CEO of Illini State Bank in Tonica. “As a community bank, sponsoring the blood drive is a Vol. 141 No. 25 One Section - 8 Pages
© The Tonica News
great way for ISB to give back to the community.” For several years, the blood drive in Tonica was sponsored by the Methodist Church, but the previous organizer, Mary Kay Kreutzer, was no longer able to keep the duty and could not find a replacement. Now, the blood drive is being sponsored by the Illini State Bank. Employees from the three facilities —Tonica, Lostant and Oglesby — will be volunteering their time at the drives. “Several of the girls that work here — and mainly Joyce Obermiller —
brought up the idea, ‘Why don’t we try to sponsor this, organize and work it?’” Stremlau said. “We, as a bank, decided to step up and work it. It takes four workers to help run it, and we felt, between our three locations, we should be able to do this.” Stremlau said the task is much easier to do with Kreutzer’s groundwork. “She had the mailing lists and the email lists. The Red Cross got us some posters to get up and help getting the word out,” Stremlau said. “We just needed to staff it and make it work, but we’ve been supplied
with everything that’s been used in the past.” The blood drives will continue to be held in the Methodist Church building due to the familiarity the Red Cross personnel have with the site as well as its space and comfort. The dates for future drives are Oct. 6 and Dec. 1. They will continue to be held at the Tonica United Methodist Church from 2:30 to 6 p.m. For any questions or to make an appointment, call the Illini State Bank at 815-4428211 or Joyce Obermiller at 815-856-3430. Walk-ins are always welcome.
KETTMAN
LOSTANT — A proposed ordinance and a new ordinance were the chief topics of discussion at the Lostant Village Board meeting Aug. 11. The village is looking into a golf cart ordinance, but feelings on the matter are mixed. Some residents have inquired about one and Streets and Alleys Chairman Chris Dose has drawn up a tentative ordinance. However, board member Jack Immel questioned the need for an ordinance. “Do we really need it?” Immel said. “Why do we have a problem? I don’t see a need for it. If we had a problem with a bunch of 17 year olds driving around hopped-up on the sidewalks in front of the tavern or something like that, then I’d see the problem.” Village attorney Kyle Stevens pointed out if the village does not pass a golf cart ordinance, then using them within the village limits is illegal, according to Illinois law. “We have a half-dozen or so that ride their golf carts,” village President Fred Hartenbower said. “If you have a person who blows a .08 — over the legal limit — and he hits a golf cart, then the driver of the golf cart can be sued. That’s the way the law reads.” Any ordinance passed by the village has to meet state standards for golf cart legislation. The ordinance was tabled. Dose and Stevens will research the ordinance and work out a valid ordinance.
After some discussion on wording, the board passed a well ordinance that becomes effective immediately. The ordinance bans the digging of any wells within the village limits. In addition, existing wells may not be expanded to include buildings that are not currently serviced by the well, nor can those households connect to the village sewer system. In other action, the board: • Approved repairs to the Lostant Library Building. • Decided to sell a piece of property by sealed bid, that was previously gifted to the village. • Discussed the construction of the salt storage shed. The construction was approved for $2,000 earlier this year but has been on hold due to lack of funds. The board decided to get a new estimate and to go ahead with the construction if the price has not changed. • Set the date and time for the rabies and dog tag registration for Sept. 25 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Discussion was also held regarding residents who are trying to bypass paying kennel fees for possessing three or more dogs in the village limits. The board will be looking at ways of circumventing those attempts before the rabies clinic. • Donated $100 to the Lostant Fall Festival Committee. • Learned the spray patching on village streets will be done by the end of August. • Heard a report from Lostant Police Chief Darin Crask that two pool owners who were cited for not maintaining their pool had started clean-up efforts.
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