Commissioner Has Issues With Cost of IVCC Campus In Ottawa

Even though the Ottawa City Council placed on a file a 5-year lease agreement for IVCC to move into a Centrue Bank building last night, it wasn’t without hesitation.

Commissioner Dan Aussem says the cost of turning the bank into classrooms keeps going up.  He says the city’s costs are up over a million and a half dollars when they wanted it to be a million dollars at most.  Aussem also pointed out that annual costs built into the lease will lessen the return on the city’s investment.  The college is expected to pay around 650 thousand dollars rent to the city over the 5-year agreement.

The council decided to try and schedule a working meeting with the IVCC board next week before officially approving the lease.  IVCC President Jerry Corcoran was at the council meeting and thanked the city for their partnership during the public comment part of the meeting.

Power outage affects about 40 homes and businesses

About 40 homes and businesses around Utica and La Salle were without power for an hour or so Tuesday afternoon. 

Neil Johnson with Ameren says a primary conductor was down on the Utica Blacktop.  They’re not sure what caused it to be down. 

Crews were working to have service back on shortly after two.

Two arrested on heroin charges

Over 20 tins of heroin are off the street after a drug sting set up by TRIDENT.  Officers with the drug enforcement team arrested a man and a woman in La Salle after a set-up deal Monday.

          Police say Martha Delao of Bureau sold two tins of heroin to undercover police while in the 24 hundred block of St. Vincent’s Avenue yesterday.

          She was arrested.  Police say they found three more tins on her and 33 bags of heroin on a man that was waiting in the car.

          Delao and Bryan Ericksen of Princeton were arrested on felony drug charges.  Police say they found another 15 tins of heroin while searching Delao at the jail.

New Wind Farm In La Salle County

The La Salle County Board yesterday gave the go ahead for 98 more towers in Otter Creek and Allen townships.  The towers will start to go up in the spring and be built by Iberdrola Resources.  It’ll be called the Otter Creek Wind Farm since most will be in that township.

These new towers will join about 200 towers that are already up around Ransom.  Those towers are the property of Invenergy and Horizon Wind.

Toys Needed For Christmas Charity

If you are still in a shopping mood after Black Friday, Project Success of Eastern Bureau County could use your help.

The group is holding its 7^th annual Santa’s Workshop this Saturday from 8 until noon at Lincoln Elementary in Spring Valley.  The non-profit group needs toys to help 400 families with Christmas gifts.  They need gifts for kids up thru high school.

You can drop-off toys at: Spring Valley City Bank; Curves in Spring Valley; North Central Bank in Ladd; the Locker Room in Spring Valley; State Bank of Cherry; and Citizen’s Bank in Spring Valley and Depue.

County Freezes It’s Property Tax Rate

The La Salle County part of your next property tax bill should remain the same.

After a hearing yesterday, the county board passed their new tax levy which is a 16 percent increase from last year.  However, the tax rate of 93 cents per 100 dollars assessed valuation stays the same because the county expects over two million more dollars in revenue from a reassessed Exelon nuclear power plant.

The county is looking to bring in 24 million dollars in property taxes in the new fiscal year, three million more than the previous year.

Forest Preserve Board Members Are Picked

About a year after taking applications to sit on a La Salle County Forest Preserve Board, the La Salle County Board picked five people yesterday to serve on the inaugural board.

The members are: Doug Kramarsic of La Salle Township, a prosecutor in the La Salle County State’s Attorney’s Office; Cynthia McKee of South Ottawa Township, she’s a retired certified public accountant; Robert Rogowski of Dayton Township, a township trustee and Ottawa business owner; Rodney Verdine of South Ottawa Township, he’s assistant director of the La Salle County Detention Home; and Todd Volker of Ottawa Township, owner of a small publishing company.  These five were picked from 33 applicants.  The choices are from counties that are still part of the forest preserve even though they may not be after the February election.

Because every township could be disconnected from the forest preserve after the primary election, some board members wanted to table the selection of forest preserve board members.  The motion to table failed.

If the nominee’s townships vote to disconnect from a forest preserve, they’ll be ineligible to serve on the board.

Wastewater road named Eagle Road

The road leading to the site a of a new wastewater plant has a name.  Eagle Drive will start at Oak Wood Drive and wind through the former quarry.
Alderman Diz Demes proposed the name Monday night.  He though they should name it for the company that donated the land for the plant and the park that’s planned for that area.  Illinois Cement donated much of the land.  Their parent company is Eagle Materials.