Community News
Gillespie Council eyes new lake rules
Bob Rieman, owner of former Castle Resale Shop on Macoupin Street, appeared before the council to announce plans for using the building for a bar/nightclub.
The Gillespie City Council is poised to consider new rules governing recreational uses at Gillespie Lake, some of which may be codified as municipal ordinances. Lake Chair Ald. Frank Barrett briefly discussed some of the revisions under consideration during the council’s regular monthly meeting on Monday night.
Barrett said he wants to implement new rules on a trial basis to allow personal watercraft such as jet skis on the lake for the first time in many years. Under the proposed rules only persons who are current lease-holders for Gillespie Lake lots would be allowed to operate personal watercraft on the lake. They would be required to buy permits at a cost of $100 per watercraft, and permits would be limited to no more than two per lease-holder. Personal watercraft could be operated only during the regular boating season from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday, Tuesday and Thursday only. They would be banned on weekends.
Penalties for enforcing the rules could be stringent, according to Barrett, and could include revocation of lot leases for violators. Lake Supervisor Gary Thornhill set the $100 permit fee after checking with surrounding communities. Litchfield charges a permit fee of $200 for personal watercraft, he said, while Springfield charges $300.
Ald. Dave Tucker suggested that the rules also include a speed limit for personal watercraft. “Some of those really fly,” he said.
[pullquote]Barrett says he wants to allow personal watercraft on a trial basis for at least one season.[/pullquote]
Barrett says he wants to allow personal watercraft on a trial basis for at least one season.
“We banned them years ago for some reason,” Mayor John Hicks commented.
Barrett said the Lake Committee also is suggesting additional rules regarding lake lots and campground use. One proposed rule would ban refrigerators outdoors. “Some of them out there have started putting down a pallet and setting a mini-fridge on it,” Barrett said. “It’s unsightly.”
The committee also would like to impose a new rule allowing one tent per campsite for an additional fee of $10. The measure is an apparent response to complaints registered last year by camping lot owners who were told they could not allow guests to tent camp on their sites.
The council took no action on the proposed rules, presumably to give City Attorney Kevin Polo time to review the proposals and determine which, if any, should be codified as city ordinances.
Provisions for revoking lake lot leases, for example, probably would need to be backed up with an ordinance, according to Polo. “If you want it to rise to the level of an ordinance violation, you would need to pass an ordinance,” he said.
PART-TIME POLICE CLERK
Council members tabled a request by Police Chief Jared DePoppe to hire a part-time police dispatcher to work one day per week. DePoppe said a current full-time dispatcher is doing some work as a clerk but an increasing volume of paperwork is putting more demands on her time. He asked for permission to hire a part-time dispatcher, which would free the current dispatcher for clerical work one day a week.
City Attorney Polo said he would like to check the city’s contract with dispatchers to make sure hiring a part-time dispatcher would not violate the contract.
“Let Kevin (Polo) check that,” said Mayor Hicks. “If it’s okay with the union, we’ll do it.”
DERELICT CARS
Ald. Dona Rauzi reported on her frustration with dealing with complaints about derelict cars in the city. She said she had received several complaints about unlicensed or immobile vehicles in her ward. Citing a city ordinance, she said owners of such vehicles are required to keep them in a garage or cover them with a custom car cover.
Despite the ordinance, Rauzi said owners of derelict vehicles often cover them with blue tarps that eventually deteriorate and litter neighborhoods. According to the ordinance, owners of uncovered or improperly covered vehicles can be given 10 days to move them.
“If they can’t move that car in 10 days, let’s tow those puppies and charge them for it,” she said.
[pullquote]If they can’t move that car in 10 days, let’s tow those puppies and charge them for it.[/pullquote]
Mayor Hicks said Rauzi was acting properly in notifying police about the infractions.
Ald. Jan Weidner said the ordinance allows for immobile vehicles to be covered because not everyone has a garage. “If they have a car that they’re saving for their kids or going to work on and they don’t have a garage, what are they supposed to do?” she asked.
Ald. Dolliger said residents resort to using tarps because custom car covers can be expensive, costing $150 or more.
“It (the ordinance) is being abused,” Ald. Tucker said, adding that the issue would be resolved “if we enforce our own rules.”
Rauzi also started to read from a letter she had received from a resident complaining about the amount of money the city has devoted to the former United Community Bank building and the Illinois Coal Museum it now houses. The letter writer said the museum generates no revenue for the city and suggested the money would be better spent supporting tax-generating businesses.
“Wait a minute,” Mayor Hicks interjected, “is that letter signed?”
When Rauzi acknowledged the letter was anonymous, Hicks took the document, tore it in half and threw it into a nearby trash can. “That’s where unsigned complaints go!” he said.
PIPELINE/FIBER OPTIC EASEMENTS
On a motion by Ald. Tucker, seconded by Ald. Barrett, the council agreed to enter into an agreement with MCC Network Services, Sullivan, allowing the company to install underground fiber optic cable along city boulevards. Hicks said the company expects to use the cable to access two mobile phone towers in the city.
“It may help with cell phone service for people with T-Mobile,” he said. “That’s their intent—to be more competitive with AT&T.”
The council also reconsidered a request from Nustar Pipeline for an easement on city property south of the city limits to replace an existing pipeline. The company originally asked for an easement to go under the Benld-Gillespie Bike Trail. Hicks said he contacted the company and pointed out the bike trail is not owned by the city and is still subject to ownership by the railroad owning the right-of-way.
“I called them and said we don’t own the bike trail,” Hicks said. “He said, ‘Yeah, you do. We’ve got a copy of the deed.’ So he sent me the deed and it’s for our sewage treatment plant.”
Hicks said Polo researched the easement and found that it would run between two of the city’s sewage treatment lagoons. Further, the agreement with Nustar would prohibit ponds or lakes over the area of the easement.
“We need to tell them that they can’t go under our lagoons,” Hicks said.
Public Works Supervisor Dale Demkey asked to look at the easement and suggested it refers to a pipeline easement that already exists. “We need to get a proper engineer’s drawing,” he said.
“That’s what we’ll do,” said Hicks, deferring a final decision to another meeting.
LIQUOR LICENSE REQUEST
Bob Rieman, owner of former Castle Resale Shop on Macoupin Street, appeared before the council to announce plans for using the building for a bar/nightclub. He said he stopped operating the resale shop after his wife experienced health issues.
“I need to use the building for something that will make some money,” he said. “My son wants to have a bar where he can have live music. I won’t be doing any gaming machines or anything like that. On dance nights, I want to have an off-duty police officer there. Sometimes you get people who get a little liquored up and they can cause problems.”
Hicks said there is a liquor license available for an establishment without gaming, but he suggested that Rieman have Fire Chief Larry Norville inspect the building to ensure there is an adequate number of exits before he formally applies for a license.
CEO SPONSORSHIP
The council tabled action on donating to support the CEO Program, an educational program aimed at developing high school entrepreneurs. Hicks said the city originally committed to donating $1,000 a year for years. The first three years have transpired and Hicks said it is time to renew the financial commitment if the council approves.
“I’d like to know how many other towns in Macoupin County are sponsors,” Ald. Weidner said.
Hicks agreed to table the measure until he can get a list of other municipalities that have committed to sponsoring the program.
OTHER ACTION
In other action, the council:
- Agreed to renew membership in the Coal Country Chamber of Commerce for an annual payment of $100.
- Approved the purchase of an $800 locator for the Street Department.
- Referred to the Finance Committee the possibility of purchasing a used Hyundi truck at a cost of $17,000.
- Approved low bids for the purchase of water treatment chemicals for the coming year.
- Approved $1,121 in repairs for a city truck.
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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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