Boone County Watchdog: 07/04/12

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

The political truth teller

Keep this Annenberg site handy for all the political campaign rhetoric from the PAC’s and the Presidential campaigns.

http://www.factcheck.org/

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FactCheck.org is a non-partisan,^[1] nonprofit^[2] website that describes itself as a "'consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics."^[3] It is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.^[3] FactCheck has won three Webby Awards in the Politics category, in 2008, 2010 and 2011.^[4]

Most of its content consists of rebuttals to what it considers inaccurate, misleading, or false claims by politicians. FactCheck has also targeted misleading claims from various partisan groups.

Besides maintaining a website, FactCheck.org distributes audio stories by podcast^[5] and iTunes Radio.^[6]

Mulch Fire Question: Was mulch storage confined to the 16 acres of special use zoning?

3:00 PM 7-5-2012--I just went out and took a look at the place myself—it appears that all activities were confined to the northern 16 acres. BILL P

8:00 PM I attended the 6:00 Health Subcommittee. It appears there is related question because the 16 acre parcel was split and sold—did the special use zoning go to each of the parcels or is it void?

See RR Star article for more details: http://www.rrstar.com/news/x537696152/Boone-County-officials-examine-mulch-fire-expenses

Below is the Advisory Report for the 2007 Special Use Permit for 10432 McKinley Road.

Page 1, BACKGROUND: “The special use is being requested for the northern 16 acres of a 72 acre farm….”

Note the map which shows portion of the farm which comprises the 16 acre special use. Is this where the mulch was stored?

Click on the photocopies to enlarge:

Here are some Bing Maps of the property taken with no mulch piles in sight. It appears to be sometime in Spring without crops and water possibly sitting in the fields.

Timberlane leaders talk up Orth Road bridge repairs - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

By Jennifer Wheeler

The Boone Roads and Capital Improvements Committee recessed Tuesday until July 18 to determine whether the county could approve a contract for the repairs. By then, Timberlane officials will have learned whether Belvidere Township will help pay the village’s share of the costs.

The bridge over Beaver Creek has been closed since February 2012, when one of the deck beams collapsed. About 1,850 motorists use the bridge daily, according to inspection records

Originally, the engineering phases were evenly split between the county and village. The preliminary construction and constructing engineering would be paid 10 percent by Timberlane, 10 percent to the county and 80 percent from the federal government.

However, Belvidere Township may help pay Timberlane’s portion of the design engineering phase to get the project off the ground.

Click on the following for the details: Timberlane leaders talk up Orth Road bridge repairs - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Take a look at my candidate site

Click on the following: http://boonecountywatch.blogspot.com

Reid announces candidacy for Belvidere Township supervisor | Belvidere Daily Republican

Written by Bob Balgemann

Of all those concerns, he said the one that pushed him into the Feb. 26, 2013 primary election was “when I saw the continual modification of rules to make it more difficult to speak at public meetings.”…..

Reid said township residents were upset last year when the board tried to purchase the old Eagle’s Club building in downtown Belvidere. That proposed acquisition, he said, was overwhelmingly rejected by the electorate during a special town meeting.

“Lack of due diligence in researching all issues created a reveal of an overpriced property, with a large capital improvement cost making what seemed like a good deal a potential money pit,” he said. “Don’t buy useless property to become a landlord.”

While the board was willing to pay $150,000 for the building, he said it eventually sold to someone else for $60,000 earlier this year.

Read all of the story by clicking on the following: Reid announces candidacy for Belvidere Township supervisor | Belvidere Daily Republican

Update on Thursday 7-5-2012 Health Subcommittee of Boone Co. Board

The word I hear is that representatives from Fire Protection District and possibly Poplar Grove will attend the 6:00PM meeting and may answer questions.

The following is Mr. Terrinoni’s response to Board Member, Pat Mattison’s letter: (Click on the photocopy to enlarge)