Latest news with #DixonCityCouncil
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
New Dixon police chief sworn in Monday
Jun. 3—DIXON — Dixon's City Council chambers were filled to capacity Monday evening to applaud the swearing in of the city's new police chief, Ryan Bivins. "What an incredible night as we honor Ryan Bivins as he begins to lead our Dixon Police Department into this next chapter," Dixon City Manager Danny Langloss said. ExpandAutoplay Image 1 of 5 Dixon Mayor Glen Hughes (right) administers the oath of office for Dixon's new chief of police Ryan Bivins (left) at the Dixon City Council meeting Monday, June 2, 2025. (Payton Felix) Bivins' appointment as chief comes after former Chief Steve Howell's retirement May 9. Bivins was one of two candidates that went through the interview process conducted by a committee of 10 people and led by Jon Mandrell, vice president of academics and student services at Sauk Valley Community College and a former police officer. "It is with great pride and confidence that our committee recommends the appointment of Sgt. Ryan Bivins as the next chief of police for integrity, professionalism and dedication to community engagement make him exceptionally well suited to lead the department into the future," Mandrell wrote in a statement that Langloss read at the meeting. [ Dixon's new police chief plans to prioritize community policing, youth engagement ] Bivins joined the Dixon Police Department in 2009. He's served in many roles, including detective, street crimes sergeant, and hostage negotiator, among others. He also leads the department's Crisis Prevention Team and was instrumental in launching the Police Chaplain Program, Peer Support Program and First Responder Resiliency Program, according to a May 27 news release from the city of Dixon.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dixon council inks agreement with OSF Saint Katharine that allows enrollment in drug discount program
May 20—DIXON — The Dixon City Council on Monday, May 19, approved an agreement with OSF HealthCare marking its commitment to providing care to low-income and uninsured patients. The memorandum of understanding is basically a formality because OSF Saint Katharine Medical Center, a non-profit and a Catholic health system, as part of its policy already provides care to all individuals regardless of their ability to pay. It's really intended to fulfill a prerequisite for the hospital to participate in a federal assistance program that provides drug discounts to hospitals and clinics that qualify, Dixon Mayor Glen Hughes said. The 340B Drug Discount Program, authorized under Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act, provides significant discounts on outpatient drugs for certain safety-net health care providers, primarily those that serve a higher number of low-income and uninsured patients, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration website. In Lee County, the median household income is about $68,459 a year compared to about $80,306 a year across Illinois. About 11.7% of people in Lee County are living in poverty, which is nearly equal to the estimated 11.6% statewide, according to the U.S. Census 2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates data. That data also estimates that 3.6% of people in Lee County do not have health care coverage, which is less than the estimated 6.2% for all of Illinois. The agreement "does not create any substantive legal requirements on the part of the city," City Attorney Rob LeSage told the council, adding that the agreement doesn't impose any cost or liability requirements on the city. "We're just making that statement that we have an understanding with them and that we're supporting the fact that they are providing services to an above-average lower-income or Medicaid clientele," Hughes said. OSF Saint Katharine is "effectively doing these things already, and by memorializing this in this standard form of wave the magic wand, and now they are eligible to receive pharmaceuticals at a lower cost," LeSage said. "This agreement marks a significant milestone in our continuing efforts to improve healthcare access and affordability for the communities we serve," OSF Saint Katharine President Jackie Kernan said. "By participating in this program, we can extend our resources, making sure that our patients receive the medications they need at a lower cost. We thank the city of Dixon for their partnership and shared vision in making this initiative possible."
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dixon council accepts bid for $21M project to update wastewater treatment plant
May 4—DIXON — Dixon city officials are moving forward with a $21 million project to update the aging infrastructure at the wastewater treatment plant. "This is going to be a long-term project," Public Works Director Matt Heckman said. "It's the revamping of all of the major systems at the wastewater treatment plant. Although they're still functioning properly at this moment, they have reached a point of mechanical life where we need to update or repair these things before they start to give us fits." At the April 21 Dixon City Council meeting, the council approved a bid of $18.257 million from Vissering Construction Co. of Streator. The project is expected to take about 18 months to complete, but next steps are dependent on the city being formally accepted into the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Water Pollution Control Loan Program, which is how the city is paying for the upgrades, Heckman said. So far, the city has received preliminary approvals from the program and expects to get that formal approval within the next two months, Heckman said. Based on the preliminary approvals, the entire project is eligible to be financed through the program, and the principal forgiveness increased from $4.8 million to $6.3 million, Heckman said. Principal forgiveness is a portion of the loan that is permanently removed; the borrower is not responsible for paying that amount. "That's a big win for us. It's been a pretty good week for the city of Dixon," Heckman said. The remaining costs will be financed at 1.2% interest over 30 years with an annual payment of about $600,000, "which is exactly where we want to be," Heckman said. This type of financing for costly needed projects "is a fairly effective way of doing the infrastructure," Mayor Glen Hughes said in an interview with Shaw Local Radio. Dixon's wastewater treatment plant "is over 20 years old. A lot of things need to be upgraded," Hughes said. "We've been talking about these improvements for many years," Heckman said, adding that if left as is, "you could have a critical failure at the wastewater treatment plant, which would not be ideal." Heckman said the updates also incorporate some upcoming regulatory changes from the IEPA mandating that by 2030, plants treating at least 1 million gallons a day must lower their phosphorus levels to 0.5 milligrams per liter, as part of the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. "The Illinois EPA sets the standards for wastewater effluent. We take meeting and exceeding those standards very seriously. We want to keep our waterways clean. ... That's super important to us," Heckman said. Other repairs to the plant also were completed in late 2024. There were a couple screws — one broken, another fractured — that needed to be fixed because they're an important structural part of the system that moves the waste, Hughes said. The council approved a bid of $439,905 for that project at its Nov. 4 meeting. Those screws needed to be replaced for a long time. The issue was first brought to the city's attention under former Comptroller Rita Crundwell and was expected to cost about $35,000, council member Dennis Considine said in a previous interview with Shaw Local. Considine was elected to the council six months before Crundwell was escorted out of Dixon City Hall in handcuffs in April 2012 and convicted in 2013 of embezzling $53.7 million from the city. While Dixon struggled to pay for infrastructure and other projects, she used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle raising champion quarter horses, a $2 million tour bus, multiple homes and other trappings. The completion of that screw project wrapped up the list of backlogged projects. Dixon City Manager Danny Langloss said Friday "we're not catching up with anything from Crundwell" that he's aware of.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dixon council OKs funding contracts totaling $375K to aid 2 economic development nonprofits
May 1—DIXON — The Dixon City Council has approved contracts that allocate funds to Discover Dixon and the Lee County Industrial Development Association. Both contracts, approved April 21, provide a specific amount of annual funding — $325,000 for Discover Dixon and $50,000 for LCIDA — in exchange for services that include economic development, event planning and tourism marketing. Their approval was tabled at the April 7 council meeting because the council wanted representatives from the organizations to explain what the funds would be used for before casting a vote. [ Dixon council holds off on approving funding contracts for two nonprofit organizations ] The contract with Discover Dixon is a renewal of a one-year agreement previously approved at the council's May 15, 2023, meeting. The contract with LCIDA is new and will automatically renew each year unless either party provides a written notice of termination. These partnerships "really multiply what our team can do," Dixon City Manager Danny Langloss said. In them, they detail what services the organization will provide for the city. For Discover Dixon's, it outlines marketing plans, community events and running committees, such as the Preservation and Beautification Committee. In LCIDA's, it would agree to become a member on the Dixon city manager's economic development team, promote development in Dixon and assist the city in securing federal or state grants for development projects. "I think it's really a winning partnership," LCIDA Executive Director Tom Demmer said, "to have people like the city of Dixon, Discover Dixon and Lee County Industrial Development coming together to try to strategize about what kinds of things you want to accomplish in the years to come, as well as building upon the current progress that we're seeing unfold. "Dixon is very active. Every single day, we're seeing continued progress in commercial, retail, industrial, housing — all sorts of projects." Some major sites include the Gateway project, the commercial development site on North Galena Avenue near Interstate 88; the city's purchase of a 65-acre property behind Walmart on North Galena Avenue to be developed; the Lee County Business Park on the other side of Interstate 88 consisting of 236 acres where, most recently, Bonnell Industries built a new facility; and a more than 200-acre property known as Dutch Road Corner along Bloody Gulch Road behind the Road Ranger gas station on Route 26. Most of those properties are located in either the Fargo Creek or Industrial Park tax increment financing districts. A TIF district is an economic development tool that allows municipalities to set aside property tax revenue created by any new property value in the district's boundaries and use it to fund economic development agreements, infrastructure improvements and other initiatives. On Discover Dixon's side of things, Executive Director Amanda Wike said the organization placed a major focus on increasing tourism in 2024 and, with the help of city and grant funds, was able to launch several marketing strategies and ad campaigns. "What we have here in Discover Dixon is the gold standard, and it's hard to do. It took a lot of years to accomplish, because there's silos and territorialism to be able to bring all these different organizations together, but the synergy and the way they work with our team is just absolutely phenomenal," Langloss said. Wike said those efforts resulted in 108,500 overnight visits to Dixon in 2024, which is a 3.3% increase from 2023 based on data from The potential spend on those visits is about $19.6 million, which is about $175 a night on lodging, dining and anything else visitors might do in a night, Wike said. In 2024, the group had 99 events, and 62 of those were open to the public. Again, using data from every event except for one — Ultimate Tailgate — increased in attendance, Wike said. She noted that Placer only tracks adults, so the actual number of attendees may be higher.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dixon council recognizes Lott, Dishman during Black History Month presentation
Feb. 21—DIXON — The Dixon City Council honored two people at its regular meeting Tuesday in observance of Black History Month. Gerald Lott, founder and executive director of Sauk Valley Voices of Recovery, was presented the Ike Mercer Certificate of Achievement Award. The Lifetime Achievement Award was dedicated to Jim Dishman, the city's public property commissioner in the late 1960s. The Mercer award recognizes people making a difference in the community like its namesake, Ike Mercer. "Mr. Mercer was a man of our community who lived a life of service," Councilman Mike Venier said. "He is a decorated citizen that we still recognize and respect today." Mercer died in January 2019. He was well known for co-founding the Al Morrison Baseball League as well as serving on the Lee County Board and Dixon's public safety commission. Lott said he remembered meeting Mercer when he first moved to Dixon about 12 years ago. "He was an amazing was very kind to me. It's an honor to be even considered in the same space as him," Lott said. Aaqil Khan, director of patient accounts at OSF Saint Katharine Medical Center, presented the formal nomination to Lott. "[He is] a dear friend of mine," Khan said. "I'm very honored and privileged to be able to give this nomination" Khan said he remembered back in 2019, working in a different position at the then KSB Hospital, "a group of us professionals are working on addressing substance use disorder in our community." After a two-hour session, Khan said, they thought they laid out a great plan approaching the issue from an academic perspective when "a voice in the corner of the room spoke up and said, 'you know, if you don't mind, I'd like to give you some feedback about this' and that voice was Gerald." Lott, now celebrating over a decade of sobriety, brought a much-needed new perspective — lived experience, he said. They "handed the marker to Gerald, threw up the papers, erased the whiteboard, and said, 'Gerald, you lead us,'" Khan said. Throughout the course of several meetings, Lott worked with the group to engage those in the community who were actively using substances, former users and those seeking treatment, Khan said. "There's a major gap in trying to get individuals who want help into treatment," Khan said. "It became very clear that we needed to put more energy and resources into this." Lott, having earlier moved from Chicago to Dixon, began to feel isolated in the community and noticed that it lacked the recovery supports that were once so readily available to him, Lott said in a previous interview with Shaw Local. Lott then decided to leave the security of his well-paying job and started Sauk Valley Voices of Recovery. He was backed by a three-year grant from KSB, giving him $5,000 a month "to start doing events, newsletters and promotions," Khan said. [ Sauk Valley Voices of Recovery works to build a sober community ] Fast-forward about six years later: SVVOR has become Dixon's one-stop shop for recovery services by opening a sober living home, assisting people in finding treatment and building a sober community. In all, it's raised about $4 million for the community, driven more than 100,000 miles and taken over 700 people to treatment, and grown to a staff of 10 recovery coaches, Khan said. "It's our neighbors who are struggling," Khan said. "One in four adults struggle with substance use disorder." "Gerald and his team are making strides in efforts to address all of that. For that, we're forever indebted. I am forever indebted," Khan said. The Lifetime Award was presented by former city commissioner Walt Lohse, who was a mentor to Dishman when he first joined the council. Lohse was elected to the council in 1968 and reelected five more times, serving a total of 20 years, he said. During that first term, the council needed to appoint a new public property commissioner as that commissioner had just died. The mayor at the time advocated for Dishman to be appointed, telling the council that he thought he "would be a good man on the council," Lohse recalled. "When it came time to vote, it was unanimous," he said. Dishman was sworn in, served the remainder of that unexpired term and "was elected by the good citizens of Dixon," he said. "He was competent, he was knowledgeable, he was always friendly, he was dependable, and he possessed a great amount of integrity," Lohse said. Over the years, there have been 13 recipients of the Ike Mercer Award. The Lifetime Award was created in 2024, Venier said.
