JCJ 7.8.20

Page 1

CURRENT RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER

EDITORIAL: It is not over until its over: Page A4 NEWS: Star Spangled Submissions: Pages B7-8

PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE

PAID Jerseyville, IL PERMIT NO. 204

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

P.O. Box 407 Jerseyville, IL 62052

JERSEY COUNTY

JERSEYVILLE, IL 62052

JULY 8, 2020

NEWS Election law changes to vote by mail . See page A2

Dance Studio to open in Downtown Jerseyville. See page A7 COUNTRY Financial donates to Jerseyville police, JCH. See page A3

FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS Connor Ashlock/Jersey County Journal

LIGHTING

WEEKEND WEATHER FRIDAY, JULY 10

89 70 High

Low

SATURDAY, JULY 11

90 69 High

Low

SUNDAY, JULY 12

86 66 High

Low

ONLINE Visit us on the web at

jerseycountyjournal.com

TOP STORIES ONLINE July 1 - 8 1. Health Department talks recovery, active cases 2. Relay for Life still set to celebrate survivors 3. Sheriff’s Office launches K9 program 4. Donor Pool opens with restrictions to public 5. Farmers and Artisan Market returns

INDEX Opinion . . . . . . . . . . .A4 News . . . A2-3, A5-6, B6-8 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5-6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4 Public Notice. . . . . . . . .B3 OBITUARIES: ALLEN, BAKER, BROYLES, CHAMNESS, EDDELMAN, EMBLEY, HARMAN, MORRIS. JERSEY COUNTY

JOURNAL

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VOL. 18, NO. 28 - 75¢

Development and delays announced with MidAmerica Gateway Project in Jersey

INSIDE

Welcome, baby Evelyn. See page B2

JOURNAL

UP THE RIVER

Area locals descended on Grafton July 2 to do some early celebrations of the nation’s independence. Just ahead of the fireworks, people enjoyed music at the Music in the Park series at Grove Memorial Park. More photos of Jerseyville and Grafton Fourth of July firework displays can be found at B6.

Jerseyville, Grafton apply for Rebuild Illinois grant By JARAD JARMON Jersey County Journal Jerseyville and Grafton are hopeful for changes on an economic and infrastructure level with the Rebuild Illinois grant program. This program is funded by state funds as included in the 2019 Capital Bill. These funds are to be used for community development projects, and local officials are looking to get some of this money for a couple of local projects. Jerseyville tackles drainage In Jerseyville, city officials are hoping to tackle long-needed improvements to the Pleasant Street and vicinity drainage. This work will focus on the natural drainage corridor along Pleasant between E Arch Street north to Snedeker Street, near the Jersey Community High School soccer field. During normal rains, the water drainage in the area is adequate. It is the larger rains, though, where problems arise. “There is a drainage basin in that area that, during heavy rains, there is some flooding issues,” Bob Manns, Jerseyville Public Works director, said. “The existing pipe is undersized to handle our larger storm flows. It is in bad shape structurally, so all those things make it a good candidate for grant funding.” The project has been on the city’s plan for years. The area eyed for reconstruction has piping dating back decades. “It's way beyond the end of its useful life,” Manns said. “It has been on the city’s target for a number of years.” It is something that residents

along the street have hoped for, too. Manns noted for their grant application, residents along this street have drafted letters of support for the project. “It is has been a good partnership having the residents help with that,” he said. The total amount of Rebuild Illinois funds to be requested is $700,000. The city would still have to chip in funds for the project. The city proposes to expend $250,000 in non-Rebuild Illinois funds on the project. These nonRebuild Illinois funds will be derived from the following sources: Illinois DCEO for $150,000, and the City of Jerseyville for $100,000. In addition to the pipe rehab planned in the area, they will also be putting in a stormwater basin for peak flows. Manns indicated that the city should know fairly soon if they were awarded this grant money. If they are not successful, they have plans to go for other grants this year to tackle the project. Outside of construction, this project is fully cooked, more or less, unlike other drainage projects across the city, which are not in their final stages. “Now we are at the stage of ‘we are ready to build this thing,’ so now we are going after grant funding to try and make that happen,” Manns said. Grafton rolling out red carpet Officials in Grafton are hoping to set the stage for longanticipated business to come to an approximately 10-acre piece of property along the river road between Downtown Grafton and (See, GRANT, A2)

By MEAGAN MCGLASSON Jersey County Journal The $700 million MidAmerica Gateway Project, a collaboration between the Stonemont Financial Group, Kansas City Southern Railroad (KCS) and the Jerseyville Economic Council (JEDC), is still a go according to Jerseyville Mayor William Russell, though the project has been delayed by coronavirus restrictions. At a meeting hosted by the Riverbend Growth Association last Thursday, Mayor Russell explained that while Stonemont, the Atlanta based development company financing the project, is now roughly a year behind schedule following the coronavirus pandemic, the city and state have made progress. “COVID has put Zack (Markwell, Managing Principal and CEO of Stonemont Financial Group) about a year behind in El Campo (the MidAmerica Gateway Project’s sister site), so his timeline was to have already been built in El Campo and moved this way,” Russell said. “But that has also given us time to do some of the things that we’re doing for the infrastructure to work with the EDA, with the federal government, with DCEO, with the State of Illinois on grants and applications for infrastructure.” The mayor did not elaborate on what specifically had been accomplished by the city or the JEDC and did not respond to requests for comment. “Unfortunately, no one can give a timeline as to when that first shovel will be taking place, but until we have heard anything negative from our developer, our plans are to move forward because that is his plan at this point,” he said. Russell did mention several anticipated areas of development including housing projects, improvements and expansion of education services, technological support and other infrastructure, but stressed that concrete details including the scope of these developments and potential contracts have not been released. “It’s important to all of us that this

project moves forward for Southwest Illinois. Again, we’ll be working diligently once we know exactly where we’re at and the timeline,” Russell said. “We’re hoping that, by this fall, all of that will be announced in hard documented contracts. That’s where we stand right now with our project with the railroad.” Details regarding the broader development of the project, according to Mayor Russell, will be made by NAIC, which Stonemont has announced will be taking over marketing for the MidAmerica Gateway Project.

“We’re hoping that soon those people will be coming to Jerseyville to make some announcements to the ‘when’s’ and the ‘what for’s.’”

William Russell Jerseyville Mayor

“We’re hoping that soon those people will be coming to Jerseyville to make some announcements to the ‘when’s’ and the ‘what for’s,’” he said. The state, however, has made more concrete progress in recent months, first naming the MidAmerica Gateway Project an Illinois Super Site and committing funding to the Delhi bypass project, which is considered necessary infrastructure for the project’s development. The Super Site designation, which was given to the site in August of 2019, allows the state to mitigate some of the risk that can be taken on by corporations when working with developers by providing state sanctioned information about a given project’s resources including acreage, zoning, utilities and acces(See, GATEWAY PROJECT, A2)

Grafton Historical Society making plans for future By CONNOR ASHLOCK Jersey County Journal The Grafton Historical Museum, which is currently located in the visitors center on the east end of town, is about to experience some major changes thanks to an IDNR grant. “A new museum is being built and will be connected to the visitors center,” Bonna Downey, Grafton Historical Society president, said. It all began back in 2014 when one of the historical society members came across a grant application for the Illinois Capital Museum grant. “A public group had to apply, so with the city’s help we applied for it and received the funds,” Downey said. “We are one of the few communities in downstate Illinois to receive the grant. It’s usually big museums that apply for it, so we feel very lucky and are very appreciative for being able to do this,” The society was originally supposed to receive the grant when Bruce Rauner was governor, but the grant was among many of the curtailments of his administration. “We weren’t sure we’d get it back, but when Gov. Pritzker took office, we were notified that the grant was back on,” Downey said. Ever since then, the dedicated group of volunteers have been working diligently

to meet the grant deadline to get the building up and going. “The interior is still being designed. Our goal was to get the building up so we could move to the next stage,” Downey explained. The society is already brainstorming ideas for how the new-and-improved museum will look. “Before this opportunity was available to us, we were given a small amount of space inside the visitors center and much of our material was in filing cabinets,” Downey explained. “We’d like to have more items accessed in the museum collection and hope to rotate exhibits if we can.” Soon, the museum will have more room to display exhibits, which include a reconstructed punt boat for duck hunting, clothing, household items and other artifacts that tell the interesting and unique story of Grafton. Jersey County is home to several organizations dedicated to preserving local history, all of which focus on different elements and regions of the county, and for good reason. Jersey County is located in a unique region of Illinois, rich in history. While many families found their sustenance in the soil, there were others whose life(See, FUTURE, A2)

Jerseyville Donor Pool issues new updates for season By CONNOR ASHLOCK Jersey County Journal The Jerseyville Parks and Recreation Department issued new guidelines for the 2020 pool season last Thursday. JPRD Director Tyler Hermans has been following the guidelines coming down from the Illinois Department of Public Health, which has relaxed some of the restrictions that state municipal pools must abide by. The pool will be open seven days a week from noon until 6 p.m., with pool breaks lasting from 2 to 2:30 p.m. and again at 4 to 4:30 p.m. During pool breaks, Donor Pool staff will sanitize the locker rooms and bathrooms. Pool parties, toddler time and swim lessons will also be allowed under the new guidelines. Deck chairs will still not be pro-

vided, but pool-goers will be allowed to bring their own chairs with them. Normally, the bather load at the pool is 500 people maximum, but as of now, only 50 percent of the normal maximum capacity is allowed, so only 250 people will be admitted into the facility at a time. Also, the pool will be open to patrons outside of Jersey County, as opposed to the original COVID-related restriction of only Jersey County residents. For anyone desiring more information concerning guidelines or programs is encouraged to call the JPRD office at 498-2222. Connor Ashlock/Jersey County Journal

Manager Ellie Huitt guards from the pool deck on Tuesday at Jerseyville’s Donor Pool. The municipal pool has seen a steady stream of patrons since its opening last week.


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