7-16-2024 4:30am

Municipal meetings this week in South Beloit, Rockton, and Roscoe

Michael McGinnis Editor

Staff photo

Three communities in farthest northern Illinois are holding public meetings this week.

The Village of Rockton’s Board of Trustees met at Rockton Village Hall at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. The meeting was scheduled to include public comments from Julia Scott-Valdez, Director of Management Services for Four Rivers Sanitation Authority, and reports from village officials, including Mayor Peterson and the village attorney. The zoning section of the meeting was to include a public hearing and the approval of three ordinances related to the annexation and zoning of 11818 Wagon Wheel Rd. Trustees approves special events applications for “Blues & BBQ” and “Rockton Lions Last Roar Car Show,” and a purchase requisition for street name signs and hardware.

The Village of Roscoe voted to add a Class T2 liquor license to allow out-of-town retailers to get a temporary liquor license for special events in Roscoe. Village Administrator Josef Kurlinkus said the current Class T liquor license "allows for the holder of a Village of Roscoe liquor license to temporarily transfer a portion of its alcoholic liquor inventory from its licensed premises to another location" for a special event. But that limits the options for larger events, such as Roscoe Lions Fall Festival, where Poison Ivy Pub has been the only provider of alcohol in recent years.

After the Liquor Commission meeting at 6:15 p.m., Village trustees approved part of a proposed agreement with Crimson Valley Landscaping to provide landscaping services at Roscoe Village Hall and Porter Park Cabin. The Village met with several landscapers, but Kurlinkus says, "Crimson Valley provided the most comprehensive proposal." A landscape designer will create a plan for maintenance and clean-up of Village Hall and the adjacent Police Department ($5,039), adding new plantings for the front median at Village Hall ($1,126), and landscaping at Porter Park as part of the cabin renovations there. Trustees did not include the front median at Porter Park, but may add that work later.

Some residents of Roscoe Township and even Rockton Township received a letter informing them they would be covered by the Village of Roscoe's electrical aggregation agreement with MC2 Energy Services unless they opt out, even though they don't live in the Village. Kurlinkus explained to us, "The list that is provided to MC2 comes directly from ComEd. Because of how the boundaries work in their system, we occasionally have a few groups of people on the edges that get listed by ComEd as being in the Village limits, when they are actually in unincorporated Winnebago County." Residents can contact the Village directly (815-623‑2829 or frontdesk@villageofroscoe.com) about opting out, and they can pass on your information. Or they can call MC2 at 833-836-0230 during business hours, mail back the response card by July 30, 2024, email Roscoe@mc2energyservices.com, or call Rock River Energy Services at 815-766-2574.

City of South Beloit commissioners had several items on the agenda for Monday, July 15, 2024:

Spending up to $20,000 for an ambulance and fire truck computer aided dispatch (CAD) system
Additional assistance from Fehr Graham for the wastewater treatment plant
Giving $10,000 to the South Beloit Historical Society through a Hotel Motel Funding Application
Appointing a new member to the Library Board
Authorizing public bids for the demolition of the Garden Hotel
Future disc golf-shelter rental fees

On Wednesday, South Beloit's Zoning Board of Appeals will again discuss a text amendment to allow hens in "certain residential districts" and Jesse Contreras's request to have a haunted house at The Fitness Zone on Progressive Lane, near Dollar General south of Prairie Hill, as a "temporary special amusement event" in the Commercial Retail district.