Friday, December 29, 2017
Volume 144 No. 4
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TONICA SCHOOL BOARD
Work to be done on boiler, pipes, water main BY ZACHARY J. PRATT news@tonicanews.com TONICA — Tonica Elementary School is gearing up for work in its boiler room. The district is preparing for repairs to the boiler, the pipes and the water main, according to Principal-Superintendent Chuck Schneider. A large part of the project,
Schneider said, is “to take off about 10 feet of asbestos.” The different items were added to the project to save costs in the long run. “The biggest expense is the setup,” Schneider said, explaining how adding the different projects together is more cost-effective than doing them separately. Asbestos abatement is not the
only problem at hand. “There is also an issue of mold from the condensate system, which has to be taken care of as well,” Schneider said. Timing is, as always, an important factor in planning the project. “In theory, we could actually do something over spring break. We just don’t want to do anything when people are in the building,”
Schneider said. “That’s more perception, since nobody will be at risk, just because of the way they build those containment structures,” board President Brian Marcinkus said. However, there are factors outside of the district’s control. At the current time, the district cannot use health-life safety funds
The sound of music in Lostant
for this project, as it must first be accepted as an amendment. This amendment is being sent to the state, but there is no guarantee when a response might be returned. “The hope is that the state will approve this amendment pretty quickly, but it’s possible they will take a long time,” Marcinkus said.
TONICA
School’s tax levy gets board’s OK BY ZACHARY J. PRATT news@tonicanews.com
Tonica News photo/Dave Cook
Lostant Grade School students sing during the school’s recent Winter Program. Kindergarteners through eighth-graders took turns singing holiday songs, some classes performed skits written by themselves, and the cheerleaders performed a dance for the audience. Shauna Breckenridge was director and manager of the program, and Corbin Shaver was stage manager.
TONICA — Tonica School Board members approved a tax levy request for the coming year. “The EAV rose about 6 percent last year,” James Whitmore, district financial consultant, said at last week’s meeting. “That’s the second year in a row you’ve seen that kind of growth.” The district is able to specify how much it asks for in three areas: IMRF, Social Security and tort. To build its tort fund, the district elected to reduce the amounts asked for in the other two. The levy increase does not exceed 5 percent, and therefore did not trigger a
Truth in Taxation hearing. Whitmore said he thinks this “is, in a way, a thank you to your taxpayers. “If we’re very, very fortunate, the tax rate might not increase much at all, and that would be a blessing,” he said. In other news, the district opted to continue its relationship with Illinois Central Schoolbus. Illinois Central Schoolbus had provided a threeyear bid, but the district had started off by accepting one year. Part of the reasoning was so it could look at the possibility of joining a local consortium; however, the district has realized it would receive no cost savings from doing so.
TONICA
The year in review: A look back at the stories of ’17 COMPILED BY DAVE COOK news@tonicanews.com TONICA — Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a two-part review of the events featured in The Tonica News area during 2017.
Jan. 6
The Starved Rock Country Community Foundation announced the creation of the Carol and Dick Janko Scholarship. Initially established with a $50,000 gift, the scholarship is for promising young entrepreneurs from LaSalle, Bureau, Putnam and Livingston counties who have graduated from high Vol. 144 No. 4
One Section - 8 Pages
© The Tonica News
school and/or college and wish to further their education.
grooming business “Pretty Paws Boutique.”
Former Tonica resident, farmer and author Darrell Alleman publishes “Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue: Stories of Everyday People at War,” a collection of the war stories told to him by dozens of local veterans.
The Tonica School Board decides to keep Chuck Schneider as Tonica Grade School’s permanent principal.
Jan. 13
Jan. 20
The Lostant Village Board maintains the ordinance against the popular trend of allowing residents to keep backyard chickens.
Jan. 27
Tonica resident Aaryn Brooker opens the village’s first dog
Stay Local. Save Local.
Feb. 3
Feb. 10
The office of Illinois State Sen. Sue Rezin donates two new flags for Tonica’s Civil War monument.
Feb. 17
The Lostant Village Board discusses how the plan to set aside and use the money collected through the new cellular tax.
Feb. 24
The Tonica Parent Teacher Council sponsors a visit from
Jim Nesci’s Cold Blooded Creatures. The wide array of reptiles, including a large python and Bubba the Alligator, thrill both students and staff.
March 3
The two candidates for the Tonica Village President election, Kevin Sluder and Arthur Foltynewicz, share their candidacy information and goals for the village.
March 10
Three Illinois Valley farmers, Tonica’s Matt Bangert, Putnam County’s Kevin Knapp and Bureau County’s Tony Bonucci, share their agricultural predictions for 2017.
March 17
Lostant’s Fred Hartenbower attends his last official village board meeting as mayor.
March 24
The Tonica School District discusses the potential purchase of either general working cash bonds or health-life safety bonds as the state considers a property tax freeze.
March 31
The Tonica Grade School Scholastic Bowl team lets students academically compete for their school in a non-athletic extra-curricular activity.
See REVIEW, Page 2
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