Community News
Benld Council votes not to waive failed inspection
Council decides not to sign agreement with TJ’s
Bonnie Zirkelbach holds up the shirts she purchased for Jim Savant and Jim Zirkelbach.
Judy Spencer Dona, real estate agent of Century 21, addressed the Benld City Council on November 10th during a regular scheduled board meeting. Dona explained she has a buyer interested in purchasing a property located on 707 North 6th Street. An offer is on the table, but the house failed the inspection.
The buyer would like to move in and make the repairs later because they cannot get all of the items completed before they move in. The house failed inspection because of two broken windows, two windows cannot open, back door has a keyed deadbolt, hand rail to the basement, GFCI duplex in the kitchen, wiring needs put in the basement, the home needs a smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector, and the main issue is two walls in the basement are caving in.
The inspection was made two weeks ago, but a second inspection has not been completed yet. The first inspection was incomplete as the garage was locked, so the inspector could not inspect the wiring inside the garage. Sidar noted that the second inspection needs to made anyway.
The buyer’s agent explained most of the items can be repaired within 30 days, but the buyer would like 6 months to fix the basement walls. The council explained they are very concerned about the basement walls and wish to stand behind the inspector at this time. “He is licensed, he knows what he is looking for and I don’t think many people would want to inspect houses for us if we waive what they have completed,” Sidar concluded. The council denied the request for a waiver by a 6-0 vote.
Gloria Sidar then brought up Terry Plovich’s offer to the City of Benld. In October, Plovich submitted a request to the council that all gas for city vehicles be purchased from TJ’s. He would take $0.05 off per gallon for all Benld vehicle and offer free coffee, fountain soda, and cappuccino to all on-duty city employees. He also added that he would subtract all the taxes from the fuel prices.
Bernot explained he checked on Casey’s bills and they give the city a five-cent discount as well, which is the same as TJ’s is offering. “The discounts are the same, so you guys can do whatever you want,” Bernot explained. Lynn Fraelle questioned whether the council needs a vote or not. Nepute said no vote is needed and the maintenance does get gas at TJ’s anyway. “They alternate back and forth,” Nepute explained.
Judy Spencer Dona of Century 21 questioned the council about waving the inspection on a house that has an offer on it.
New Business
The council approved a renewal notice for required training for law enforcement officers. The City of Benld has been sending both full time and part time officers to required training for the past 25 years.
Mayor Robinson questioned Bernot on “all the water meters that have problems.” Some meters are coming up zero that have been installed and read Robinson clarified. The mayor explained the meters that are reading zero are getting billed the minimum. “Why is that,” he questioned. “It means they are broke. I am not aware of any problems, no one has told me anything,” Bernot responded.
Robinson then questioned Bernot how much water was used in the fire two weeks ago. “I am not aware of that unless they start putting meters on the fire extinguishers,” Bernot responded. “How is he supposed to know that,” Nepute asked Robinson. “Well, you know they used over 200,000 gallons of water and that means your water budget is going to be really crazy this month. I guess you got all kinds of money then,” Robinson added.
The council voted 6-0 to give city employees a Christmas bonus. Full time employees will get $100 while part time employees will get $50.
Public Recognition
Cathy Petrak reported to the council on how the Senior Christmas Dinner went. Petrak noted over 80 seniors were in attendance and over 30 meals were delivered. She noted extra food was delivered to families in need.
Bonnie Zirkelbach took it upon herself to have shirts made for Jim Savant and Jim Zirkelbach. No one preapproved it, but she wanted to give the maintenance crew shirts to wear since the city does not pay for work apparel anymore. “The city normally buys coveralls and a jacket for winter,” Bonnie said as she holds a t-shirt up for them to wear.
She purchased t-shirts, long-sleeved, and sweatshirts for them to wear personalized with their names and explained the city can reimburse her if they want, but she does not expect them to. “You haven’t done that for eight years now.” The bill, from the Cubby Hole of Carlinville, totaled $487.18 for the shirts. The council voted 6-0 not to reimburse Zirkelbach of any of the cost.
Mike Cavanaugh went through the grant process again with the council. “I helped you get a lot of grants,” he started. “It’s very competitive. You are up against the entire State of Illinois.” He noted the money was federal money handled by the state. He confirmed the grant had a typo and contained the words “water tower”, but he assured the council that was not the reason the first grant rejected.
He explained the first grant was an engineering grant and the second grant is the construction grant. Mike explained he builds engineering into the second grant just in case the engineering part gets denied and the construction grant is approved. He advised the council they can resubmit the same grant next year in hopes of success.
Old Business
Alderman Peyton Bernot brought up the Altrazene Settlement and displayed the calculations to the council. The mayor and city attorney Rick Vertichio questioned what he was doing as it was already brought up and already approved. Bernot explained he was just showing the calculations. “Well, the calculation comes to an estimated $275,000,” he went on. “That’s what I was told by the law firm that represents us.”
“Actually, they represent the class, they don’t represent you,” Vertichio clarified. “You are a member of the class.” “Are we paying for this?” Mayor Robinson questioned. Without a response, Bernot went on to say he called and they told him they were looking at the city’s sheet. “It read $275,000,” Bernot said they told him.
George Nepute, alderman, said he was not going to hold his breath. “Oh, you did the calculation,” Robinson questioned. “No, I did the same math the law firm gave me and it matched up,” Bernot responded.
“I wish it was that much, I wish it was twice that much, but it isn’t going to be that much,” Vertichio added. “I will double check this.”
Mayor Robinson explained that the Cahokia Township Committee finally got the railroad’s boxcars and all other things from the railroad removed with the help of the EPA and other parties. “No, nothing has been removed,” Cathy Petrak clarified. “That is not correct, Channel 5 is working with these different entities to try and get something done. Everyone is still in limbo with it and progress is being made, but very small progress.”
Robinson explained that the boxcars have chemicals in them that have been inside there for over 30 years. “Now, they are working on the trailers to get out. That is where we are at now,” Robinson explained.
Committee Reports
Jim Kelly reported to the council there is an issue with electricity in the City Clerk’s office. “No big deal, but this needs done.” According to Kelly, it could be around $200 for the work to be done. The council approved the repairs to be done in the city clerk’s office to be done 6-0.
Gloria Sidar explained to the council the police department is going to look into applying for a grant to purchase a new police car. The grant the department is looking at is a 75/25 grant where the city would be responsible for 25% of the grant. The council approved the police committee to pursue a grant to purchase a new vehicle after a 6-0 vote.
Miscellaneous
The City Clerk’s office will be closed on Christmas Eve now after the general assembly passed the bill. So, they will be closed on both December 24 and 25 and December 31 and January 1.
Mayor Robinson wanted to inform the public about a Vandalia/Centralia tree trimming company scamming people out of money. “They say they are going to cut your tree, but never show up or never do much work.”
Next meeting: The City of Benld will not meet again until 2013. They will meet on January 14, 2013 at 7:00 in the evening.
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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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