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| State pays portion of prison water bill |
| By suburbanchicagonews.com |
| Published: 09/11/2009 |
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September 11, 2009 By JOE HOSEY JHOSEY@SCN1.COM CREST HILL -- The mayor and other officials secured more than a half million dollars of state money owed to the city for Stateville Correctional Center's past due water bills -- but now the politicians are working to convince the governor to keep the prison open. "We will be meeting in the near future with the governor's office to discuss Stateville Correctional Center and we will have more information after those meetings," said state Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi, D-Joliet. Wilhelmi, who said he is allied with Crest Hill Mayor Ray Soliman, Will County Executive Larry Walsh and state Rep. Emily McAsey, D-Lockport, in the bid to keep the prison operating, also said, "The closure of Stateville would be detrimental to Crest Hill and the region." While the meeting with representatives from the governor's office to determine the fate of Stateville, and by extension Crest Hill, has yet to be convened, the city got a financial shot in the arm when the state came up with $539,898 to pay off part of Stateville's outstanding water bill. Past due balance The money came in two payments, with one made last week and the second arriving Thursday. The heavy debt has been accumulating since December, which, until the money came in last week, was the last time the state paid Stateville's water bill. The state still owes Crest Hill $260,987, according to the city. But the first concern, Soliman said, is saving Stateville. "I have been working diligently with our state officials, using their experience, expertise and advice in regards to this issue," the mayor said. "My main priority is to look at the overall impact that Stateville prison has on our annual budget and to keep the level of communication open between the city and the state of Illinois." But city Treasurer Joseph Bobikiewicz believes Crest Hill should be more assertive in attempting to get its money out of the state. "The city's got to go to work and get the state to pay," Bobikiewicz said. "My gosh, this is September. "We can just take and accept that's the way it is," Bobikiewicz said. "If a resident gets a couple hundred dollars behind (on his bill), they shut off his water. You can't do that to residents if that's the way you treat the state." Soliman holds a different opinion. "If we were to discontinue service to the prison, an injunction would have been obtained by the state in a few hours, jeopardizing future negotiations with the state of Illinois," he said. "As the mayor, I took all of the information I had available, evaluated it, and decided, in the best interest of the city, not to discontinue service and to work with our state officials. "With the help of Sen. Wilhelmi, we did receive 60 percent of the past-due bill last week, with the remaining portion to be paid in the near future. Hopefully, the end result is to keep Stateville open and a viable business to the economy of Crest Hill and Will County." The governor's office failed to return calls for comment on the matter. Closing Stateville Stateville has a daily inmate population of 3,357. The 74-year-old prison houses maximum-, low- and minimum-security male inmates, according to the Department of Corrections, and Stateville's Northern Reception and Classification Center functions as the major adult male intake and processing unit for the entire state. Read More. |
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