Thursday November 20, 2014 Vol. 2, No. 39
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Ameren requests OKs two transmission line routes By BILL KNIGHT
Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois prefers a route along Interstate 74 for its proposed 345,000-volt Spoon River Transmission Line, according to filings with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), but it finds an alternate route farther north acceptable, too. Residents in the area or otherwise affected have less than a month to write their testimony about route proposals and effects on landowners. Scheduled to go online in 2018, the Spoon River Transmission Line is proposed to run about 40 miles from Kickapoo Township west of Peoria to Galesburg, improving reliability, reducing energy congestion, and accessing low-cost power, Ameren claims. The line could accommodate 1,100 megawatts of wind-power transfer capability, Ameren has said. For The Weekly Post
About a dozen individuals and groups are registered as intervenors in the case, for which Administrative Law Judges
Peoria Co. board faces budget woes
John Albers and Janis Von Qualen were assigned. One of them, Kellie Tomlinson of
Brimfield, is concerned about health issues, property values, wildlife and damage to a scenic area, she told The Weekly Post. “I am disheartened that as law-abiding, tax-paying citizens, the burden of proof to prevent this destructive transmission line from being put on private property and near residential homes is on the innocent people it affects,” said Tomlinson, who’s associated with the group Citizens Against I-74 Power Lines. “People are hiring lawyers or fighting themselves in order to keep what is already theirs, all with the threat of Ameren proceeding with eminent domain procedures in the back of their minds.” William Shay of the Peoria law firm Shay Phillips, Ltd. is representing several individuals, a Colona couple and
THANK YOU VETERANS
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Farmington board OKs new wards
By BILL KNIGHT
By MICHELLE SHERMAN
PEORIA – When the Peoria County Board meets at 6 tonight (Nov. 20), it’s expected to consider a few ways to address a $3.5 million deficit in its 2015 budget, including reducing staff, increasing fees and borrowing. In October, the Board approved a plan to offer cash incentives to workers to voluntarily retire by the end of next year. Flat or declining property values and sales taxes, plus rising prices have resulted in County revenues rising about 2 percent but spending going up 3 percent annually, according to County Board member Mike Phelan (D-Dist. 9). Phelan chairs the Management Services Committee, which recommended the Voluntary Retirement Incentives to cut 40 full-time employees,
FARMINGTON – The Farmington City Council on Monday (Nov. 17) passed an ordinance to redraw the three ward boundaries to account for newly annexed properties as part of the Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district. The ordinance passed with one no-vote from Ward Three Alderman June Whitmer and the abstention of Ward Three Alderman Kent Kowal. “How much is this costing the taxpayers?” Whitmer asked city attorney William Connor. “It’s going to be costly when it comes to precincts.” Connor said he will get Whitmer a dollar amount, but that redrawing the ward maps is not optional. When new property is annexed and when population
For The Weekly Post
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For The Weekly Post
Despite chilly temperatures, a group of Farmington veterans gathered on Nov. 11 to commemorate Veteran’s Day with a seven-gun salute. Photo by Dave Giagnoni.
Brimfield-Jubilee road bridge reopens By JEFF LAMPE
BRIMFIELD – Nobody shot off fireworks to celebrate, but residents in Brimfield and the surrounding area had reason to celebrate Monday when contractors reopened the Weekly Post Staff Writer
bridge on Brimfield-Jubilee road. After more than a year of detouring around the bridge – which was officially closed in March of 2013 – residents living more than a few miles east of Brimfield saw their drive
time sliced dramatically when County Contractors, Inc. of Quincy completed the $1,128,998 project. A total replacement was necessary because the west bridge abutment had been settling for more than a decade.
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