Poplar Grove may hire help to find new administrator
By Bob Balgemann
Reporter
POPLAR GROVE - Village officials are moving toward hiring a consultant to help them find a new village administrator. But they may have jumped the gun by forwarding resumes to a former Machesney Park executive whom they have not officially approved.
Questions arose during Monday night's village board meeting, resulti...ng in a brief delay in retaining the services of Bob Mullins. The primary stumbling point was the lack of specifics as to the scope of work to be done for $50 an hour, not to exceed a total of $1,500.
Trustee Ron Quimby brought up the need for a contract that would contain those kinds of details.
It had been stated at the Oct. 6 finance committee meeting that Mullins would provide Poplar Grove with the names of five candidates. There were no other details.
Trustee Jeff Goings said he couldn't understand why the village was going to spend money on a regional search, when Village President John Neitzel and Trustee Don Bawden earlier conducted a national search at no charge. Their efforts led to the employment of Mark Lynch, who resigned effective May 31 after the board voted 4-3 to retain him for another year.
"That took us an enormous amount of time," Neitzel recalled. "He (Mullins) has the local expertise, which is important."
Mullins was Machesney Park's administration and finance director for 10 of the 11 years he worked there. He was the first village administrator before retiring in 2011. "He is well respected in the area," Bawden said.
Trustees Owen Costanza and Goings expressed concern that some resumes already had been sent to Mullins. That caused Village Attorney Jim Stevens to say that no longer should be done. "We've got the cart before the horse a little bit," he said.
Rather than have to call a special meeting, the board voted 4-2 with Costanza and Goings dissenting to allow Neitzel to sign a contract with Mullins, once one is received and approved by the attorney.
BELVIDERE TWP ELECTRIC BILLS TO SEE AN INCREASE
BELVIDERE - Belvidere Township residents are among the last in this area to see an increase in their monthly electric bills.
The board of trustees has agreed to remain in the electric aggregation program, renewing the kilowatt use rate at 7.14 cents per hour for the next 36 months. That's an increase of almost 2 cents an hour from the 5.229 that was in effect since the program started Jan. 1, 2013.
Township Supervisor Pat Murphy said under the lower rate, homeowners saved an average of $275 a year, with the township as a whole saving $450,000.
Boone County, the village of Machesney Park and Harlem Township also have approved rates considerably higher than what had been in effect for the past two years.
Karen Herbert, president and CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, said the increase was because of new U.S. Environmental Protection Regulations (EPA).
She said the Obama Administration wants to reduce carbon emissions by 42 percent in 2030. But she added that a study showed more aggressive standards would increase American electric bills by $17 billion and cost 224,000 jobs nationwide. That while reducing global emissions by just 2 percent, far short of the announced goal.
"The president's war on coal will create a significant blow to the economy in exchange for very little environmental benefit," she said.
Information obtained by Boone County Administrator Ken Terrinoni stated the new regulations could cause the closing of 30 percent of the coal-fired electric plants in this country.
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