Executive
Report

Will, Carroll, Schuyler counties declared major disaster areas

PRESIDENT Ronald Reagan declared Will, Carroll and Schuyler counties major disaster areas June 30. Gov. James R. Thompson requested the declaration after a tornado devastated the town of Littleton in Schuyler County, and heavy rains caused extensive flooding in Will and Carroll counties. Between June 13 and June 21, the governor had declared six counties — Cook, Will, Carroll, Schuyler, Kane and Grundy — state disaster areas due to flooding or tornadoes. Damage estimates for the six counties totaled more than $96 million.

Residents of a county declared a state disaster area can apply for downward reassessments of their property values. A major disaster declaration is necessary, however, before a county can become eligible for a slew of federal assistance available through the Small Business Administration, the Farmers Home Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This assistance includes temporary housing, unemployment assistance, increased social security and Veterans Administration benefits, legal assistance and low-cost loans to individuals, families, businesses and farmers.

But a major disaster declaration is not made lightly; a governor must show in his request that uninsured losses in the area are high enough to warrant one. Thompson, for example, had also requested that Cook and Grundy counties be made eligible for federal assistance. Even though Cook County had suffered by far the most property damage, an estimated $64 million, only five townships in it were declared major disaster areas; and the request for Grundy County was denied altogether.

Voter turnout up at April local elections

A dramatic increase in voter turnout for the April 7 local elections — the first held under Illinois' new election consolidation law — was reported in June by the State Board of Elections. Though no previous statewide records are available, it is estimated that before the law went into effect voter turnout for local off-year elections seldom exceeded 25 percent of registered voters, and in some cases fell as low as 5 percent.

On the basis of those eligible to vote, the statewide average turnout for the April 7 consolidated elections was 36.3 pecent, with several counties reporting turnout in the 60 percent range, which is more typical of state general elections in even-numbered years. The consolidation law provides for uniform polling places and voting hours, and fewer elections, which the state board feels helped eliminate voter confusion and encourage participation.

Immunization compliance for school districts

All of Illinois' 1,012 public school districts reported compliance with student immunization and health examination requirements above 80 percent, the minimal level of compliance for the 1980-1981 school year. In addition, 93 percent of the school districts reported that more than 90 percent of their students had been immunized against polio, diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles and rubella. A 90 percent level of immunization is required beginning in the 1981-1982 school year and every year thereafter.

First Illinois coal contract with European buyer

The first contract sale of high-sulfur Illinois coal to a European buyer was announced June 9 by then-Lt. Gov. Dave O'Neal and Sen. Charles H. Percy. A purchasing agency representing the Spanish cement industry agreed to buy 125,000 tons of coal over the next year from the Freeman-United Orient 3 mine at Waltonville.

The announcement was made during a coal export conference at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, which was held according to Percy, "for the purpose of bringing together Illinois coal companies and foreign buyers. I am delighted that we can use the occasion. . . to report this good news." The coal is being shipped by rail to New Orleans ports in cars of the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (ICG), marking the first time coal has been shipped by rail "from mine-head to ship-berth in this part of the country," according to Harry J. Bruce, an ICG vice president. O'Neal, who resigned as lieutenant governor a month later, had recently been named by Gov. James R. Thompson to head the Illinois Council on Coal Development, an organization designed to promote the development and sale of Illinois coal.

Capitol complex food contract to Heritage House for 12.1% of gross sales

A two-year food service contract for the Capitol complex was awarded in June to Heritage House Restaurants Inc. of Springfield. The contract, which the Secretary of State's Office estimated could bring in as much as $83,000 a year in facilities and equipment rental, is the first to be awarded on a percentage of return basis. In its bid Heritage House offered to pay the state 12.1 percent of its gross sales in the Capitol, Centennial and Stratton buildings. Canteen Corp., which has held the contract since 1969, submitted a bid of 5.5 percent of its gross sales. In 1980 Canteen Corp. recorded gross sales in the Capitol complex of $690,000 but paid the state only $1,600 for use of its facilities.

Heritage House, which operates 11 restaurants in six states, already has food service contracts with the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Department of Corrections Training Academy and the State Police Training Academy.

Solar-heated homes built by students

Seventeen Illinois schools have built solar-heated homes as part of their building trades vocational training in a program sponsored by

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the Illinois Institute of Natural Resources (IINR). During the 1980-1981 school year, 17 high schools, vocational schools, community colleges and universities built 18 passive solar homes using plans, grant money and technical aid provided by IINR. A second group of schools is now being formed to repeat the program, which IINR hopes will eventually reach 50 percent of the schools that build houses through the program and involve at least 5,000 future builders.

Thompson protests FAA move from Chicago

The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) decision to relocate 395 employees of its Des Plaines regional office to Kansas City drew a letter of protest from Gov. James R. Thompson in June. The plan, an economy move by the FAA, seeks to consolidate the Chicago and Kansas City regions. In his letter to Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis, the governor said, "If a consolidation. . . is necessary, I believe it makes more sense to relocate 249 people from Kansas City to Chicago, than 395 from Chicago to Kansas City. . . . the direct cost to the government will be substantially lowered." The governor also noted that Chicago is the most centrally located metropolitan area in the region, and that the relocation could cost the area economy as much as $20 million. The relocation was scheduled to begin July 1.

Funds released to CDB

The governor released funds totaling nearly $18 million to the Capitol Development Board (CDB) in June for several building and renovation projects. The CDB received $9.8 million for phase II construction of the basic instructional facility at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, scheduled for completion in early 1984; $8 million for construction of a recreational marina facility for the Waukegan Regional Port District, which is due for completion in the fall of 1982; and $110,000 to renovate three coal-fired boilers on the campus of Eastern Illinois University at Charleston, due for completion in 1984, and which the CDB says will pay for itself in less than four years.

Project to establish Environmental Consensus Forum

The Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois received a grant of $225,000 from the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation in June. The grant will be used to begin a three-year pilot project aimed at establishing an Environmental Consensus Forum. The project is an attempt to provide businessmen, environmentalists and government officials with a forum in which to make and discuss specific recommendations to state and federal agencies on environmental issues such as land use, location of industrial developments and air and water pollution.

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