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POLO
Tri-County Press July 20, 2018 Volume 160, Number 12 - $1.00
Pork Dinner
Butterfly Fest!
Black Hat Medic
Faith United Methodist’s pulled pork dinner will be on Saturday, July 28. A3
The Elkhorn Creek Butterfly Festival is Saturday, July 28. A6
A Polo High School graduate is a Black Hat Army Medic. A2
Board approves jail design despite cost concerns By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com Despite concerns over the cost, the Ogle County Board approved the schematic design Tuesday evening for the new jail with an estimated price tag of $26.7 million. The board approved the plan presented by Thomas Leonard, of Gilbane Building Company, by a vote of 21-1 with Lee Meyers, of Byron, casting the only no vote. Board members Nic Bolin, of Holcomb, and Garrett Williams, of Rochelle, did not attend the meeting.
The board hired Gilbane in February for the design and construction of the facility. The firm is based in Providence, Rhode Island, and has offices in numerous locations around the world, including Chicago, They are working with Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, Inc., Chicago, the firm hired last year to do the architectural and engineering design. Gilbane and HOK have collaborated on several projects, including the DeKalb County Jail expansion, which is now completed. Leonard showed a drawing of the
exterior of the jail, which has been scaled back from the preliminary plan presented last year. To save money, he said, the jail plan has been downsized from three stories to one and a half stories, from 70,000 square feet to 50,796 square feet, and from 180 to 200 beds to 152 beds with the capacity to go to 176. The total cost was estimated initially at $25 to 28 million. On Tuesday, Leonard said the first numbers he was given for the larger facility put the cost at $28 to 30 million, which makes the current estimate, $26.7 million, reasonable.
Board member Skip Kenney, of Rochelle, had questions. “At first, the jail was larger and looked different, but now it’s more expensive,” he said. Kenney also objected to the flat roof. “In my experience, flat roofs in northern Illinois are problematic,” he said. Leonard said the roof will have a taper to promote drainage. Sheriff Brian VanVickle said the flat roof is necessary to allow for numerous skylights that are required by federal jail standards. Board member Marty Typer, of
Stillman Valley, asked if the cost can be further reduced. HOK project manager Larry Hlavacek said the costs have been already been reduced as much as is possible while still maximizing security and efficiency in the jail. He said all costs have been steadily increasing since the first jail estimates were made two years ago, and steel prices are uncertain because of the recent tariffs imposed by the federal government. The exterior of the jail will be brick and designed to mimic the judicial center.
Polo City Council rehashes Oregon Street work again By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The Polo City Council again hashed over how to correct the work done on West Oregon Street last summer. Alderman Randy Schoon told the council Monday evening that he was recently contacted twice by an official from Civil Engineering, of Freeport, who told him the solution proposed two weeks ago by engineer Matt Hansen, of Willett Hofmann & Associates, of Dixon, will not satisfactorily solve the problems. The council recently held two public meeting with Hansen to discuss the street and the work aldermen consider to be unacceptable. Since the project was completed last fall, aldermen said they have been receiving complaints from residents who live and drive on the street. Hansen explained at the July 2 meeting that the problem is that the eastbound lane is incorrectly sloped. He said the street should be gradually sloped from the centerline to the gutters to allow for drainage, and the slope should be constant throughout. However, the lane slopes too steeply from the center to the parking lane, and then slopes
Summer Fun Carnivals and pools go hand-in-hand when it comes to summer for area youths. Above, teens Maddi Hedberg, of Byron, and Ethan Phillips, of Polo, smile as they ride one of the more adventurous carnival rides at ByronFest on Sunday. At right, Cali Zies, 9, and Layney Mumford, 11, of Polo, decided that the Polo Community Swimming Pool was the best place to beat the heat on Monday. The pool is open Monday through Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday hours are 1 to 5 p.m. For additional information, call 815-946-3406. Photos by Earleen Hinton
more gradually than it should toward the gutters. In addition, Hansen said the manholes on the street are lower than the pavement rather than flush with it, as they should be. Fischer Excavating, Freeport, was the contractor on a $933,000 project to replace sewer and water mains on Maple Avenue and Oregon Street, install new water services on Oregon Street, and rehabilitate the lift station on South Congress Avenue. Civil Engineering was hired to pave the eastbound lane of West Oregon Street which was torn up to do the work. Schoon said the official who called him also told him Civil employees on the job site didn’t want to pave the street last fall because the ground was frozen. “In my eyes that leaves two people responsible,” Schoon said. “Somebody’s got to take responsibility for this and it’s not us and it’s not Civil.” The council discussed how to go about getting the street sloped and paved correctly. “We want it done right,” said alderman Phil Peterson. Schoon said he favors digging up the street and completely redoing it. Mayor Doug Knapp said he has already talked to Hansen and Wayne Fischer and will contact Hansen again.
Straw sculptures
vandalized in Polo A Polo man has been charged for vandalizing straw sculptures that were on loan to Polo. Kaleb D. Sheffield, 20, was charged with criminal damage to property, a misdemeanor, in connection with the incident which took place in the early morning hours of June 23. The Polo Police Department investigated the vandalism to two straw sculptures, which were on loan from ENCORE!
In This Week’s Edition...
Chamber Chatter, A3 Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B5-B8 Entertainment, A6
Marriage Licenses, A4 Polo Police, B8 Polo Library, A8 Public Voice, A7
Property Transfers, B3 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 State’s Attorney, B2
Published every Friday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Mt. Morris and displayed during Polo’s Town and County Days’ festival. They were part of the U.S. National Straw Sculpting Competition to be held in Mt. Morris Aug. 10-26. Sheffield was taken into custody by the Dixon Police Department on July 15 on the Polo Police Department’s outstanding warrant. He was released after posting $3,000 bond.
Deaths, B4 Irvin H. Bolthouse, Dorothy M. Modler, Donald L. Smith