Community News
Benld Council accepts annual audit, approves Ameren easement modification
Mayor Kelly reported to the council that new flags representing each branch of the military have been purchased and are currently being flown at Veterans Park. The council authorized the purchase of the flags last month, but after last month’s meeting, former residents George and Dee Gaudino (California) donated $180 to purchase the banners.
With only three aldermen present, the Benld City Council on Monday night accepted the city’s annual audit and approved modifications to an Ameren utility easement along the Benld-Gillespie Bike Trail.
In addition to Mayor Jim Kelly, the meeting was attended by aldermen Mickey Robinson, Lance Cooper and Jim Tilashalski, and City Clerk Terri Koyne. Without a majority of aldermen in attendance, there was some question about whether the meeting constituted a quorum, but City Attorney Rick Verticchio said only a majority of the corporate majority was required.
“We have a quorum,” City Clerk Terri Koyne announced after taking roll.
Following a lengthy and detailed presentation by Margot Holt, an accountant with Scheffel Boyle Certified Public Accountants, Alton, the council accepted the city’s annual audit on a motion by Ald. Jim Tilashalski, seconded by Ald. Lance Cooper. The audit, covering the fiscal year that ended April 30, will be filed with the Illinois State Comptroller’s Office as well as the Macoupin County Clerk’s Office.
Reading from the document, Holt said the financial statements provided by the city to the auditors “present fairly, in all material respects, the respective modified cash basis financial position of the government activities, the business-type activities, and each major fund of the City of Benld, Illinois, as of April 30, 2017.”
[pullquote]You have what we call a clean opinion, which is what you want to have[/pullquote]
“You have what we call a clean opinion, which is what you want to have,” she said. “Overall, it’s a good report.”
While the audit provides a “clean opinion” of the city’s financial reporting, it notes that that city’s use of a “modified cash basis” for accounting is counter to generally accepted accounting procedures. Last month, in response to a communication from the State Comptroller’s Office, the city moved to switch its accounting procedures to an accrual basis.
Holt noted that the audit includes a page to reconcile the city’s modified cash basis accounting with an actual cash basis. The only difference, she said, is that the cash basis includes capital assets and depreciation, which are not actual cash assets but have an impact on the city’s financial position.
Holt spent several minutes on a page-by-page discussion of the audit.
The document shows total assets for both governmental and business-type activities of $3,342,364 as of April 30, with liabilities of $41,000 for a net financial position of $3.3 million at the end of the fiscal year.
A page detailing financials for the water and sewer department, along with trash collection—the so-called business-type activities for the city—shows total cash assets of $200,817, with equipment and capital assets of about $2.2 million. Liabilities are shown at nearly $52,000, with an end-of-the-year net position of about $2.4 million. The document also shows the Refuse Fund owing Water and Sewer $6,882, which is the amount Water and Sewer loaned as seed money to commence the city-controlled trash collection program.
The same page documents about $74,000 in negative cash flow for the Water and Sewer Fund, which Holt said was due to a one-time $125,000 expenditure for renovating the Shehorn Lift Station. That project will now become a depreciable asset for future audits.
For governmental activities, which includes the city’s motor fuel tax program and General Fund, the audit documents assets of slightly more than $744,000 with liabilities of about $1,800 and an end-of-the-year net position of $742,000.
[pullquote]Holt said the audit does address the issue of internal control regarding financial activities.[/pullquote]
Though not identified as an audit “finding,” Holt said the audit does address the issue of internal control regarding financial activities. Being a small town government, Holt said the City of Benld doesn’t have the resources to hire additional personnel to act as comptrollers in regard to city financial activity. However, based on past recommendations, she said the city has taken steps to implement mitigating controls.
For example, she said she observed the City Clerk coming into the office on the days water bills are due, collect the payments and prepare the bank deposit for the day. That information was then used to enter the data in the city’s QuickBooks accounting system.
“That’s good,” she said. “That’s a separate control.”
Likewise, having the treasurer do the reconciliation of the monthly bank statement adds another layer of mitigating control.
She said the auditors did make some oral recommendations to the Mayor regarding accounting procedures and that the Mayor may wish to discuss those recommendations with the council in more detail.
“Most of the oral recommendations we’ve made in the past have been implemented,” she noted. One of those recommendations, she said, was eliminating the use of signature stamps to affix signatures to checks.
AMEREN EASEMENT
On a motion by Ald. Tilashalski, the council approved a resolution modifying an easement Ameren has with the city along the Benld-Gillespie Bike Trail. Roger Osthoff, who identified himself as a contractor hired by Ameren, said the utility company wanted to address the issue prior to a “vegetation reclamation” project involving the removal of vegetation potentially encroaching on power lines.
“They’re going to clean up the vegetation,” Osthoff said. “They’re wanting to keep vegetation away from the easement and make sure trees don’t sway and touch the line or vice-versa.”
[pullquote]They’re wanting to keep vegetation away from the easement and make sure trees don’t sway and touch the line or vice-versa.[/pullquote]
Ald. Mickey Robinson voiced concerns about rumors that the utility plans to replace poles carrying power lines with large metal towers. He said residents have complained that cell phone service on the 1.9-mile bike trail is spotty already and that large towers could further compromise cell phone service.
Osthoff said he was unaware of any plans to replace utility poles with towers at this time.
“What Ameren is telling us it that this is a vegetation reclamation project,” he said. “They’re trying to better define the easement. There is an easement already, but the width of easement varies.”
City Attorney Rick Verticchio, who reviewed the easement modification on behalf of the city, said there is no current proposal to do anything other than the vegetation reclamation project.
“They already have an easement,” Vericchio said. “They have a right to do that (build towers to carry transmission lines) now. This is only to better define the easement by expanding it in some areas and, in some cases, contracting it.”
A city resident who uses the trail voiced concerns about how the removal of vegetation could eliminate morning or afternoon shade on the trail.
Ultimately, all three aldermen present at the meeting voted to accept the resolution.
BUSINESS LICENSES
Council members approved issuing a business license to Jessica Rieffer for the Firehouse Salon, to be located at 207 West Central Avenue, but tabled a business license request from Phillip Willis, Granite City, for a retail auction business to be housed in a former bank building in the 200 block of East Central Avenue.
Jessica Rieffer said the Firehouse Salon will be housed in the same building as a Discount Pool and Patio business and a video gaming business she and her husband, Ed Rieffer, already own and operate.
The salon currently is located in Gillespie.
“We’re just moving the business from Gillespie to a building we own here in town,” she said.
Ald. Tilshalski asked to table action on the Willis auction business license request, pending more information. “I have a lot of questions,” Tilashalski said.
FLOW METER REPAIRS
The council unanimously voted to accept a bid from Missouri Machinery and Engineering, St. Louis, Mo., to repair a flow meter at the city’s sewage lagoon. The meter is used to measure effluent coming into the Benld sewer system from Sawyerville.
The bid calls for a cost of $1,179 for labor, plus $4,620 if the meter itself has to be replaced or $3,886 if the issue can be addressed by making repairs to the control box.
[pullquote]Savant said the St. Louis firm is the only nearby company capable of working on the unit.[/pullquote]
“That’s for everything in the box,” said Jim Savant, maintenance supervisor. “It’s burned up.”
Savant said the St. Louis firm is the only nearby company capable of working on the unit.
Mayor Jim Kelly reported that the city will make repairs to hydraulic systems on a John Deere road grader “in-house” with the assistance of Dustin Fletcher.
“Dustin has agreed to do it here, so that will save us a lot of money,” Kelly said.
SANTA EVENT
With one abstention, the council authorized the expenditure of up to $275 to cover half of the cost of ‘An Afternoon with Santa’ being co-sponsored with the Build Benld civic improvement group. Tom Allan, representing Build Benld, said the cost of the event currently is estimated at about $520, with $400 earmarked as a donation to HEIDI (Helping Every Individual Develop Independence) in exchange for Santa’s appearance at the event.
Allan said the event is set for 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 16, at the Benld Civic Center.
He said the group has received a donation for cookies from Randy’s Market, and plans to spend about $120 on snacks and treat bags for children who attend the event. Parents are welcomed to take photographs of their children with Santa, but no photographer will be provided.
In a related matter, Mayor Kelly publicly thanked Build Benld for benches the group recently placed in the downtown area.
ORDINANCE REVISIONS
Ald. Tilshalski reported that the council will be expected to vote on adopting revisions to the city’s ordinance book in December. The Ordinance Committee has been working on updating ordinances for several weeks, and City Attorney Verticchio reportedly has reviewed and commented on the proposed updates.
Mayor Kelly reported that the city has received responses from the owners of four nuisance properties to whom the city recently sent letters. One of the nuisance properties is being torn down and the owner of one of the properties has asked for more time to bring his property into compliance.
Ald. Cooper voiced concerns about serving a letter on one of Benld’s long-time residents who is responsible for one of the nuisance properties.
“Maybe we could have handled that a little different, maybe we could have gone to him and talked to him before just a letter on him,” Cooper said.
“We’ve gone to him before,” Ald. Tilashalski said. “This letter should not have come as a surprise to him because of the condition of the house.”
“I don’t mean any disrespect,” Cooper commented. “I just thought we could have been more compassionate.”
FLAG DONATION
Mayor Kelly reported to the council that new flags representing each branch of the military have been purchased and are currently being flown at Veterans Park. The council authorized the purchase of the flags last month, but after last month’s meeting, former residents George and Dee Gaudino donated $180 to purchase the banners.
The couple currently resides in California.
“We appreciate your efforts to keep Benld going,” Kelly said, reading from the Gaudinos note to the city. “Benld is our hometown and we try to support it whenever we can. The coal dust is still on us.”
Kelly also acknowledged a letter from the Governor’s office that accompanied an Illinois Bicentennial flag. Benld, along with other Illinois communities, will start flying the flag starting on Dec. 4 in commemoration of the state’s 200th year.
OTHER ACTION
In other action, the council:
- Approved Christmas bonuses of $125 for full-time employees and $75 for part-time employees.
- Ratified by the Mayor’s appointment of Norm Emmons to fill an existing vacancy on the Benld Public Library Board.
- Approved the expenditure of about $200 to cater an appreciation luncheon for city employees from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday, Dec. 22, at City Hall. City offices will close for business at noon that day.
- Approved the schedule for regular meetings of the council for 2018. The council will continue to meet at 6 p.m. on the third Monday of each month.
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Gillespie will host a Community Blood Drive with ImpactLife, the provider of blood components for local hospitals. The blood drive will be from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Monday, May 11 at 900 Broadway, inside Gillespie Methodist Church Gym.
To donate, please contact Brenda Lowe at (217) 7101336 or visit www.bloodcenter.org and use code 60020 to locate the drive. Appointments are requested. You may also call ImpactLife at 800-747-5401 to schedule.
Potential donors must be at least 17 years of age (16 with parental permission form available
through www.bloodcenter.org) and weigh more than 110 pounds. A photo I.D. is required to donate.
For questions about eligibility, please call ImpactLife at (800) 7475401. Donors who last gave blood on or before March 16, 2026, are eligible to give at this drive.
Blood donation is a safe, simple procedure that takes about 45 minutes to one hour. Individuals with diabetes or controlled high blood pressure may be accepted as eligible donors.
ImpactLife is a nonprofit community organization providing blood products and services to more than 100 hospitals and emergency medical service providers in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin, as well as researchers and resource sharing partners across the country.
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Members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education on Wednesday night approved a package of four capital improvement projects totaling more than $160,000 in value. Work will start on the projects after the end of the current school year and is expected to be completed before the start of the 2026-27 academic year in August.
The board met on Wednesday night after Monday’s inclement weather forced the district to reschedule the board’s regular monthly meeting.
The board approved entering into a contract with Fisher Tracks, Boone, Iowa, to resurface the district’s all-weather track at a cost of $105,209. Supt. Shane Owsley told the board the district will use about $50,000 from an all-weather track activity fund, with the remainder to be paid with proceeds from an alternate revenue bond issue approved last year for capital improvements.
Great Western Abatement, Jerseyville, was retained to remove flooring containing asbestos from the choir room floor and middle school gymnasium school at a cost of $40,700. Great Western’s bid was the lowest of seven bids, ranging up to $65,000, submitted for the work. Additionally, the district is paying $8,900 to Reliable Environmental Services, Springfield, for engineering and design work associated with the asbestos removal.
All-purpose rubberized flooring material will be installed on the middle school gym floor by Dynamic Sports Construction, Leander, Texas, at a cost of $51,424.
For the first time in a number of years, the high school gymnasium floor will be sanded and refinished with new artwork. Blast Technologies, St. Louis, was hired to sand the 4,200-square-foot floor at a cost of $5,250. Designs Unlimited, Pinckneyville, will paint game lines and logos on the floor before sealing it with a clear stain at a cost not to exceed $18,738.
The board also accepted a bid of $33,890 from DeLaurent Construction, Wilsonville, to resurface the 118,700-square-foot parking lot at Benld Elementary School.
Though no action was taken, Board President Mark Hayes reported that the Building and Grounds Committee had directed Owsley to investigate the cost of replacing the CUSD 7 administrative building.
“This building is very much in need of replacement,” Hayes said. “It’s beyond its time.” During Monday’s torrential rainfall, Hayes said water came in through windows and water seeped in under the sill plate, bringing displaced nightcrawlers into the building. Staff members ran fans after the storm in an effort to dry out the interior.
According to Hayes, the school has been in contact with the local Baptist Church to investigate the possibility of acquiring the former Trinity Baptist Church for use as an administrative building. Church officials, however, have not yet made a decision about the fate of the former sanctuary after Gillespie’s two Baptist churches merged.
Owsley said the current administrative building comprises about 6,000 square feet. Current estimates are $400 per square foot for new construction which would translate into about $2.5 million to replace the administrative facility. The district might be able to shave some dollars off that estimate by reducing the size of the building.
“There’s a lot of unusable space in this building,” Owsley said, suggesting a more efficient floorpan could reduce cost. He also mentioned the possibility of a basement to provide storage space for outdated documents.
In addition to construction costs, Owsley noted, the district would be responsible for tearing down the existing building.
“I have no idea what’s in this building,” Owsley said, raising abatement concerns. “I’m guessing disposal of this building is going to be expensive.”
Hayes said Kevin Wills, the district’s bond issue advisor, will attend the June board meeting to discuss the possibility of refinancing some existing bonds to free up enough revenue to build a new administrative building. The administration currently is housed in a “temporary” structure that has served as the administration building for several decades.
MINE SUBSIDENCE STUDY
After several minutes of discussion, the board took no action in relation to entering into a contract with Marino Engineering and Associates to assess the district’s risk for incurring damage from a mine subsidence event. Owsley said existing maps show that portions of Gillespie Middle School are undermined. While the high school is not undermined, a major subsidence would likely damage the high school as well as the middle school. In recent months, more than one residential home on Elm Street near the school property has experienced damage from mine subsidence.
Marino’s $94,000 Phase I proposal would “determine the likelihood of something happening to one of our buildings,” Owsley said. The problem is that too much information could negatively impact the district’s ability to purchase subsidence insurance. “Information is great until it’s not.”
The district currently pays about $300,000 for mine subsidence insurance on the middle school, high school and vocational arts building. The school carries no subsidence insurance on BenGil Elementary because mine shafts under the building were grouted before the school was built.
“If we find out there’s not a major concern,” Owsley noted, it could reduce the district’s subsidence insurance costs.
On the other hand, if the study reveals a high risk of experiencing mine subsidence, the insurer could drop the district at the end of the current policy’s term. With only two companies in the country offering subsidence insurance, the district could end up with no insurance at all to cover damage from mine subsidence.
The only way to avoid that scenario would be to implement whatever options Marino might recommend to reduce risk. Those recommendations would likely include grouting (backfilling) mine shafts under the middle school. Grouting for the elementary school cost $4 million. To grout under the middle school would likely run as much as $6 million or more.
The only way the study would make sense, Owsley suggested, would be if the district was “comfortable making the corrections the study is going to make.”
Moreover, $94,000 would cover only a preliminary assessment.
“To get a full understanding of what’s going on underground, we’d be looking at a half million dollars,” said Owsley.
The issue was allowed to die when no board member moved to consider the contract.
COMMUNITY SOLAR PARTICIPATION
On a motion by Bill Carter, seconded by Weye Schmidt, the board voted unanimously to enter into a contract with Summit Ridge Solar to participate in a community solar project. Under terms of the 15-year contract, the district will realize a 13 percent savings on electrical power bills. The contract is automatically renewable for five years unless the district chooses to withdraw.
“Illinois provides a number of incentives for using solar,” Owsley said. “However, not everyone likes the look of having solar panels on their property. This will get us the benefits without putting up solar panels on our property.”
Summit Ridge’s proposal was the most lucrative of the proposals the district received. Other companies offered shorter terms with savings of five percent.
After 20 years, it’s likely the savings would drop to five percent. Owsley said he was told the district was better off going with the longer contract to get 13 percent in savings for as long as possible.
The school district was able to secure such favorable rates, according to Owsley is because there is an issue with solar fields storing the power they generate. “Our main usage time is during their maximum production time.”
DISTRICT FOCUS
During a District Focus segment, the board recognized sophomore Matrix Wright, whose art was the only entry from the United States included in the 2026 TOLI International Student Art Exhibition. The exhibition is a project of The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies in New York. The exhibit includes student art relating to themes associated with the Holocaust.
Wright’s work, entitled “An Immortal Continuum,” attempts to portray “the constant entrapment a Holocaust survivor might feel.”
Exhibition organizers received more than 250 entries from around the globe.
BUDGET PROCESS
On a motion by Peyton Bernot, seconded by Board President Hayes, board members voted unanimously to begin work on developing a district budget for fiscal 2027. Board members also approved a routine measure to permit expenditure of fiscal 2027 funds after July 1, pending approval of a new budget.
The school district’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30 but new budgets typically are approved two to four months after the start of the fiscal year.
The current fiscal year’s $19 million budget was approved in September last year.
PERSONNEL
Following a one-hour executive session to discuss personnel and other issues, the board voted unanimously to approve the request of long-time middle school English and language arts teacher Kim Henderson, effective at the end of the 2028-29 school year.
Board members also voted unanimously to hire Andrew Crook as a first-year, non-tenured high school English teacher for the 2026-27 school year, pending documentation of certification and a routine background check. A graduate of Gillespie High School, Crook earned his teaching certificate at Illinois College, Jacksonville and for the past two years, he taught English at North Mac High School.
In separate actions, the board made multiple assignments to staff the district’s summer school program. Those hired include: Jessica Kelly as a middle school teacher, Ashlee Gibbs as a high school math teacher, and Jennifer Brown and Rob Macias as high school drivers’ education instructors. Each of the positions are contingent upon adequate student enrollment to offer the classes. In addition to academic staff, the board hired Andy Hirstein as a summer school food service worker.
The board voted unanimously to accept the resignation of Foli Seferi as high school paraprofessional and as assisted football coach. Both resignations are effective immediately.
In other personnel action, the board appointed Cate Plovich as the BenGil Elementary School yearbook sponsor, and appointed Josh Ross as a volunteer assistant football coach, pending documentation of certification and a routine background check.
OTHER ACTION
In other action, the board:
• Approved a mens highs school soccer coop with the Carlinville School District, with the provision Carlinville will dissolve the agreement if it pushes its program into a higher competitive classification.
• Approved an intergovernmental agreement with Lewis and Clark Community College under which the college will recognize some high school courses as college level credits.
• Approved early graduation requests for an undisclosed number of students, provided all graduation requirements are met.
• Approved renewing the district’s membership in the Illinois Elementary Schools Association.
• Approved the final calendar for the 2025-26 school year pending no further emergency days. Barring the use of emergency days, Monday, May 18 will be the last day of student attendance, with graduation ceremonies set at 2 p.m., Sunday, May 17.
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One of the greatest annual events in American sports is the Saturday is the Kentucky Derby, which will be run for the 152nd time this Saturday. One past champion was bred in Macoupin County.
This week marks 137 years since the victory of Spokane, who captured the 1889 Kentucky Derby during the infancy of the event. The horse was bred at “The Meadows,” the farm of Gen. Richard Rowett one mile north of Carlinville.
Rowett horses, and their jockey colors of orange jacket and blue cap, were on tracks throughout the west and south. But Spokane was the greatest production of The Meadows, a nationally recognized breeding ground for thoroughbreds.
In 1885, a prized dark brown horse named Hyder Ali was standing at The Meadows when Rowett bred him to one of his top mares, Interpose. This pairing had produced favorable offspring in the past, including Grey Cloud, a fine racer owned by Noah Armstrong of the Doncaster Ranch near Twin Bridges in the Montana Territory.
Armstrong’s famous stable included such horses as Lord Raglan, the third-place finisher in the 1883 Kentucky Derby. When Rowett offered Interpose for sale late in 1885, Armstrong, familiar with the high quality of Rowett stock, purchased the pregnant mare and her suckling filly, Madelin, for the price of $1,000 and shipped the brood to Montana.
The Doncaster Ranch was known for its spectacular, three-story round barn that featured an indoor track. While in Spokane in the Washington Territory on business, Armstrong received word of the birth of Interpose’s colt. In honor of the city, he named the colt Spokane.
Spokane showed great promise as a two-year-old, winning two of five starts in 1888, and Armstrong entered him in the 1889 Kentucky Derby. Although a premier race, the Derby had not achieved the monumental status it enjoys today.
The race was run on May 9, 1889–a Thursday–in front of a crowd of 25,000, a fraction of the throngs that fill Churchill Downs today.
Home state favorite Proctor Knott was the overwhelming favorite at 1-to-2, while the relatively unknown Spokane was listed at 10-to-1 odds. That was enough for Frank James, brother of outlaw Jessie and a regular at countless tracks.
James, flush with a windfall of $2,400 from an earlier race that day, asked a bookmaker of the odds on Spokane. The reply was “Ten-to-one and the sky’s the limit.” James threw down $5,000 on Spokane, causing the bookmaker to reply, “As far as I’m concerned, that’s the sky!”
Under jockey Thomas Kiley, Spokane edged Proctor Knott by a head, setting a record at 2:34 ½ over the mile-and-a-half layout (it was changed to a mile and a quarter in 1896). He remains the only Kentucky Derby winner ever born in Montana.
Proving the win was no fluke, Spokane again beat Proctor Knott five days later at the Clark Stakes in Louisville. On June 22, Spokane won another key race of the era, the American Derby at Washington Park in Chicago, to become the first horse to win both races in the same season.
Back in Illinois, Rowett did not live to see the triumph of Spokane, as he died on July 13, 1887. His death was covered on page one of the New York Times the following day.
In addition to breeding, Rowett is also remembered as the first to introduce the true-bred beagle hound to this country from his native England. Prior to that, he was a Civil War officer and state politician.
The only horse actually born in Illinois to win the Kentucky Derby was the 1970 champion, Dust Commander.
Tom Emery of Carlinville, who wrote the award-winning biography Richard Rowett: Thoroughbreds, Beagles, and the Civil War, may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.
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