Benefit for former resident

There will be a benefit for the Jay Bulfer family from 4-10 p.m., on Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Green River Saddle Club. Jay and Vicki recently lost their son David, and Jay has been diagnosed with stage 3 lung and kidney cancer.

Sublette Board discusses fate of Amboy Junior High School

Amboy CUSD 272 is taking a more aggressive approach when it comes to the fate of the Amboy Junior High School.

Part of that approach is educating the community on the condition of the building, results of a survey the school district conducted and explaining the options that are available. Amboy CUSD Superintendent Jeff Thake and Amboy CUSD School Board President attended the Sublette Village Board meeting on Oct. 9 and discussed those topics.

Thake said the question that has continued to come up during his 12 years in the district is how much longer is the Amboy Junior High going to last. He said that the district has completed work that needs to be done to the building, but the building itself continues to age. As an example, he said that the gym floor will not survive another sanding.

The school district conducted a survey to residents in the Amboy school district, asking them two questions: would you support a referendum to close the Amboy Junior High and build an extension to the Amboy High School to create a 5-12 grade junior/senior high; and would you support the district pursuing a general obligation bond referendum for the March 2018 election.

Thake said of the 500 who responded to the survey, 55 percent said yes, they would support a referendum closing the junior high and building an extension onto the high school. He said that 56 percent said they would support a bond referendum on the March 2018 ballot.

Thake added that the biggest concern from the residents was that they didn’t want the junior high and the high school students to intermingle.

Thake said the district is currently working with an architect to come up with options for the extension.

The district will host a town hall meeting at 7 p.m., on Monday, Oct. 30 at the junior high school where plans for the extension will be revealed.

Sublette Village Board President Michael Vaessen asked what the plans would be for the junior high if the district went ahead with the extension.

Thake said there was talk of a YMCA looking to have a presence in Amboy, and that an organization like the YMCA or Teen Turf doesn’t have the same restrictions that a school district has.

Thake said that if the district were to sell the junior high, whoever bought it would get an outstanding deal.

Sublette Village Trustee Julie Kessel said she likes the idea expanding the Amboy High School, which would mean, if consolidation would happen, the high school would not be moving.

Vaessen agreed saying he thinks this is a great idea and that down the road, if the district has a bigger building, if consolidation happens, the students will come to Amboy.

GARBAGE CONTRACT

Jim Pozzi from Republic Waste addressed the board about the recent concerns with the garbage contract. Pozzi said that on Sept. 11, Republic Waste acquired Illinois Valley Waste Services. He added that for the foreseeable future, nothing is changing – the pick-up will still be the same day in Sublette. He also said that mostly, the drivers will remain the same as well.

Pozzi said the contract with the village says three cans, not to exceed 40 pounds in weight, will be picked up.

Pozzi gave one example of an item that was not picked up – apples. Pozzi said that a bag full of apples is considered yard waste, which Republic will not pick-up. He said that if you eat an apple at home and throw away the core into the garbage, then that is fine and will be picked up as part of the garbage pick-up. But, a 30-gallon can full of apples from someone’s yard is considered yard waste. Pozzi said yard waste is not allowed in the landfill.

A former Sublette Village Board member said that residents shouldn’t complain about cardboard boxes not being picked up, that those cardboard boxes should be put into the recycling dumpsters near the community building.

Pozzi said he will get a letter to the village about change over. The village said it will then photocopy the letter and send it with the water bills to the residents of the village.

In other board news:

• The village board set the Trick or Treating hours of 4-6 p.m., on Sunday, Oct. 29.
• Don Dinges reported that plans are underway for this year’s Sublette Christmas Walk. The Christmas Walk will be held on Thursday, Dec. 7. Dinges said the event will be similar to last year and have caroling, an official tree lighting, craft and vendor show at the community building and at LaFiesta. He added that they are asking the downtown businesses to furnish cookies for that night.
• Vaessen reported that Jerry’s Tree Service will be falling 15 trees at the park. Volunteers from the Sublette Park Committee will then burn the trees. The cost to the village to remove the trees is $2,200. Vaessen added that the village will hire someone local to remove the stumps that will remain. The village will then plant new trees.