The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 5

LOCAL News of our communities, our region and state A5 Friday, June 6, 1997, The Pantagraph Township supervisor seeks to lead meetings jOpinion finds mayor jshould not chair By DAVID WICKERT Pantagraph staff City of Bloomington Township Supervi opinions from regular township attorney Jim DePew and city attorney Todd Green-burg. Although she wants to keep her vote, Markowitz has no problem with Dillman running the meetings. "I don't think that's anything unusual," Markowitz said. "I don't think it's ever been done here, but I'm not sure we've ever had a supervisor that wanted to." Markowitz said Dillman first approached her about the idea of running the meetings about nine months ago. Dillman said she surveyed 11 coterminous townships and found most of them operate as she proposes.

Only one, Champaign Township, ran meetings like Bloom-ington's. Another, Cunningham Township in Urbana, allowed the mayor to run the meetings but the supervisor to vote. Dillman also has asked Pelini to deter, mine whether council members can legally continue to serve as township trustees in light of a recent court ruling that freezes the township's boundaries. As the city continues to annex property, it is conceivable council members could be elected that do serving the needy. i "Regardless of who's in charge of the' township meetings, I still have the same! questions about administrative over head," Sprague vowed.

1 Dillman, who received the attorney's' opinion in early May, said she has beeni considering the status of trustees for some time and that the timing is coincidental." She, in questioned the timing of! trustee's questions about her which she said should have been asked be-j fore the new budget was approved. i Dillman, who supervises six full-time and two part-time employees, has since! taken a look at the budget but declined toj say whether she has found $30,000 to cuti until she speaks with trustees. However, she defended township spend- ing, noting that Sprague's figures don't; take into account contacts with clients," which range from phone calls and inter-! views to referrals to other agencies. "I have to pay people to do the work," shej said. "We have to be here to see the faces at the door.

We'have to meet these faces." a court ruling that freezes the township's boundaries even if the city annexes property. The move comes as Dillman faces increasing criticism from township trustees for high administrative costs. Some trustees see the move as politically motivated. "If the township supervisor wants to get into a big public political fight, more people are going to ask questions about how their money is spent," said Councilman Mike Matejka. The legal opinions of Champaign attorney Gregory Pelini, a township law specialist, threaten more than 40 years of tradition in local township government.

Bloomington City Council members, including the mayor, have overseen the township since at least 1953, when the city manager form of government was implemented. Although the opinions do not carry the force of law, Markowitz initially agreed to relinquish control of the meetings to Dili-man. But after consulting with council members, the mayor decided to solicit not live within the township limits. The alternative would be separately elected township trustees, who may or may not be members of the City Council. Greenburg, who handled that lawsuit, said the court held the township continues to be coterminous in most respects, and that council members could continue to serve as township trustees.

The appearance of the legal opinions comes as trustees continue to question township administrative costs. Last week, trustees voted to ask Dillman to find $30,000 to cut from one fund so it can be given to various social services agencies the township supports. The vote came after Councilman Mike Sprague questioned administrative expenses, saying the township spends $2 on administration for every $1 on direct client services. Matejka and Sprague see the timing of Dillman's claim as a move to silence then-questions. Matejka said Dillman's priority appears to be "keeping people in well-paying jobs with lots of perks" rather than i v.

sor Mary Ann Dillman upped the ante in an ongoing confrontation iwith some township trustees this, week by i seeking control of town-! ship meetings. Dillman delivered to trustees an attorney's -opinion claiming she legally is a voting member and chair of the -township board. The jsame opinion found the Jetty mayor has no place on the board and cannot chair meetings. Mary Ann Dillman Dillman also has solicited an opinion on whether City Council members can contin- ue to act as the township trustees in light of -tfniii All dressed up, no one to share (- Clothing show for needy draws no crowd Heartland has to wait General Assembly won't feel 3 urgency to fund new campus By RANDY GLEASON t- Pantagraph staff a Although area legislators were able to find $4 mil- lion in state funds earlier this year to equip the new science building at Illinois State University, don't ex-'I pect such late-hour heroics for Heartland College this time around. X.

"They'll have to wait along with everyone else," said' State Sen. John Maitland, R-Bloomington, referring to the General Assembly's failure to pass a capital budget last week that contained, among other projects, $21' million for Heartland to build its permanent campus. Heartland President Jonathan Astroth, who blamed the situation on the heated politics that erupted overt the debate on K-12 funding, I fa. ington-Normal is a blessed city. The unemployment rate is less than 3 percent.

We have been blessed in that area. But pride does get in some folks' way." "The purpose is to share what God has blessed us with, with somebody else less fortunate who may have fallen on hard times," said Carol Wilson, the commentator for the fashion show. "The clothes are beautiful and they are things we would be proud to wear." All of the new outfits modeled would have been appropriate for luncheons, meetings, job views or other functions. And they were bought in sizes to fit women of different shapes. Frances Bush, who helped organize the fashion share, said she did not understand why there was so little interest in the event, but perhaps a different way of publicizing or marketing the fashion share would have worked better.

"We appreciate the invitations from the community," said Deborah White, director of Neville House, a shelter for domestic violence victims. "Unfortunately, it just didn't work out for us. With our clients it's not a homeless is- sue. They are fearful for their lives and that's why they're at Neville House." Leaving the shelter, even for a generous luncheon and fashion show, is too big a risk for many of the women at Neville House, she said, noting that the shelter is trying to network with local clergy on the issue of domestic violence. Despite the lack of community participation, the group of about 60 women in the auxiliary obviously enjoyed the afternoon of food, fashion and fellowship.

The clothes will be given away either said Heartland's current leased facilities' are becoming so crowded, the school may have to limit enrollment. Instead of moving into its permanent home in the year 2000, the college will have to wait at least an additional year. By VICTORIA PIERCE Pantagraph staff Imagine organizing a luncheon and fashion show with free giveaways for the participants and not having anyone show up. That's essentially what happened to the members of the Women's Auxiliary of the Baptist General State Convention Thursday afternoon. The convention is being held this week in Bloomington-Nor-mal, and one of the activities was a "fashion share" at St.

John's Lutheran Church in Bloomington. The women attending the convention brought newly purchased outfits with them to be modeled at the luncheon and then given away to women from the community who had fallen on difficult times. Various social service agencies, such as Neville House, Salvation Army and Home Sweet Home Mission, were contacted in recent weeks to invite their, women clients to the luncheon. If needed, transportation would have been provided. Unfortunately, no one in need showed up to enjoy the occasion or choose from among the stylish dresses, suits and separates modeled by several of the women and children attending the conference.

"I'm not so surprised, but disappointed. We wanted to share with the women. We bought them to give away," said Rosa Cooper of Chicago, who is the state president of the women's auxiliary. This is the first time the state convention has organized a fashion share, but said she's attended others in various cities where the format has been a success. "No one admitted they, were poor.

To each his own," said the Rev. Phenues Bush of Union Missionary Baptist Church. "Bloom- Heartland is 'a new project and a new campus, so there's not much you can State Sen. John Maitland, R-Bloomington Maitland said he regretted the situation, but there's not much he or other area leg-J islators can do about There's a possibility some cap-i ital funding could be put together in the fall veto ses-l sions, but that's unlikely, Maitland admitted. So Heartland will have to wait until next spring for! another chance.

"It's too bad," Maitland said. "We've got our annuai capital expenditures at a manageable level. We're ablej to pay the debt service, so there's no reason why we 4 shouldn't do it. But we don't call all the shots." Maitland and state Reps. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, and Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, were able to find $4 million earlier this year to help equip ISU's new sci-J ence building, scheduled to open this fall.

Without that? money, the facility would have been mothballed for year. That predicament, Maitland said, was strongj leverage to get the needed funding. "Sometimes you have to threaten and play hard-J ball," he said. Unfortunately, though, Heartland's situ- ation is not considered so dire. "It's a new project and a new campus, so there's not much you can do." The PantagraphCHUCK MILLER Models Jennifer Williamson, Candice Haley, Stefanie Williamson and Saidah Wood, front to back, received last-minute instructions before their entrance during Thursday's "fashion share," which was part of the Baptist General State Gonven-.

tion of Illinois and held Thursday at St. John's Lutheran Church in Bloomington. locally or to other communities, she said. "This won't stop us," Cooper said. Planners transmit new antenna plan to Normal council Special-use permits would be required sion members and City Council members want to limit the number of antenna structures in Normal as much as possible, the proposal encourages shared location of antennas by making the approval process easier.

If a company wants to add an an-' tenna to an existing antenna structure, it can do so by getting approval from the zoning administrator rather than going through the special-use process. Also included in the recommen dation are guidelines for amateur radio antennas. The Planning Commission originally limited those antennas to 50 feet but raised the height limit to 70 feet after hearing from amateur radio operators. 1 The radio operators do have the option of seeking a variance to build a higher antenna, Mahrt said. The new antenna proposal will go to the City Council June 16.

Antennas in S-l and S-2 districts will not be subject to height limits and will require a site plan review and public hearing, Mahrt said. Commercial antennas in all other areas are limited to 105 feet and must be set back at least 500 feet from a residential district, residence, day care, or elementary or secondary school. In addition, there must be at least one-quarter mile between antennas 70 feet or higher. Because both Planning Commis a work session May 29 and is fashioned after one recently adopted in Denver. The new recommendations approved by the commission Thursday require a special-use permit for all commercial antennas, such as those for cellular phone companies, in all areas except those zoned S-l (Illinois State University) and S-2 (public lands, such as BroMenn Regional Medical Center or parks), according to Normal Corporate Counsel Steve Mahrt.

By MARY ANN FORD Pantagraph staff The Normal Planning Commis-. sion is recommending the City Council adopt antenna regulations that require a special-use permit for virtually all commercial antennas, restrict their height and encourage shared locations. It's the second time the Planning Commission has passed a recommendation for antenna guidelines to the City Council. The last proposal went before the council April 21. However, after council members listened to concerns from commercial vendors and amateur radio operators, they returned the matter to the Planning Commission in part because they felt they lacked technical information on the issue.

The latest proposal was hashed out by the Planning Commission at Vehicle accidentally driven into driver's license facility If' -J ded up to its windshield in the building at 5)V I a Democrats to pay postage SPRINGFIELD (AP) State Democratic organizations will pay the U.S. Postal Service $218,073 to resolve a dispute over bulk-mailing of campaign literature, officials reported. In addition, party officials agreed to give up any claim to $33,814 on deposit with the Postal Service, primarily in its bulk-mailing account. The state Democratic Party as well as House and Senate Democratic campaign committees admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, in which the Postal Service originally sought more than $335,000 in more than 6 million mailings. By KEVIN SIMPSON Pantagraph staff Bad drivers and driving instructors are often the brunt of many jokes in movies and TV shows.

So when a car crashed into the state Dri- ver's License Examining Station in west Bloomington Thursday morning, the question begged to be asked: Was the driver taking a test? No as it turned out. Jessica L. Balogach, 22, of Normal had just picked up an Illinois identification card and was attempting to leave when she mistook forward for reverse. Balogach, who suffered a major case of embarrassment but was otherwise none the worse for wear, declined comment. She told police she thought she had put her car into reverse before attempting to pull out of a parking space.

The car surged forward, she panicked, and her Chevrolet Cavalier hopped the curb and was suddenly embed "I thought it was a bomb or a shotgun that went off," said an office employee, declining to give a name. "Everyone looked up and glass was flying everywhere. It's now our drive-through window." Luckily, the car landed in an unoccupied office on the south end of the building at 1510 W. Market St. The office walls kept glass and debris from flying into an adjacent lobby where testees were seated.

"Most everybody ran to the front to see if they could help," said Dan Splain, facility manager. "A couple of people who were ing tests simply got up, moved over and continued taking their tests." The car was backed out, and Balogach and a friend cleaned glass off the vehicle with ice scrapers. The car and building received relatively minor damage. There was no damage estimate, and no tickets were issued. i I The PantaaraohLORI ANN COOK 5 Jessica Balogach of Normal had a stroke of bad luck Thursday morning after going to the Driver's.

License Examination Station to get an Illinois I.D. card. She thought her I car was in reverse when it was in drive, and the car went forward into the windows at the facility at 1 51 0 W. Market St. in Bloomington..