Full Text of HR0324 103rd General Assembly
HR0324 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to congratulate the Clover Township Fire | 4 | | Protection District on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of | 5 | | its founding on June 10, 2023; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, In 1947, Woodhull Fire Department Trustee Fay | 7 | | Bell was instructed to start procedures to form a fire | 8 | | protection district; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, On June 17, 1948, the local fire department was | 10 | | dissolved, and the Clover Township Fire Protection District | 11 | | was formed by a vote of 51 in favor and 15 against; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, In July of 1948, Circuit Court Judge Richards | 13 | | appointed Harold Holmes, Carl Herndon, and Fay Bell to serve | 14 | | as the district's first trustees; Carl Herndon was replaced by | 15 | | Henry Faulkner, who in turn was replaced by Reginald | 16 | | Bergstrom; Harold Holmes was replaced by Dean Litton and Fay | 17 | | Bell, the longest serving trustee in the district's history, | 18 | | died while in office and was replaced by Kenneth Martin; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, In 1948, the first year of the district, $2,965 | 20 | | was collected as the district's portion of property taxes; by | 21 | | 1964, the tax base had increased to $6,335.77; assessments for |
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| 1 | | 1981 were $23,000 and, in 1982, the tax base jumped to $33,000 | 2 | | compared to $119,000 in 2015; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, On May 28, 1949, the district purchased a fire | 4 | | truck from the Village of Woodhull for $250; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, On June 6, 1949, the fire district formed its | 6 | | fire department with 13 able-bodied volunteers; J B Anderson | 7 | | was named chief, Earl Elliott was named assistant chief, and | 8 | | Dale Johnson served as secretary/treasurer for the fire | 9 | | department; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, On September 24, 1949, a new two-ton truck | 11 | | chassis was purchased from Luallen's; the body was built by | 12 | | Gene Morris and Alexis Fire Equipment Company at a cost of | 13 | | $4,649 and delivered to Clover on November 15, 1949; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, In March of 1950, a bond referendum was passed to | 15 | | issue $15,000 in bonds to build a new fire station and to | 16 | | purchase another fire truck; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, On May 7, 1951, a one-ton truck was purchased | 18 | | from Luallen's for $1700; the body was again built by Alexis | 19 | | Fire Equipment for $3,675.30 and delivered on August 22, 1951; | 20 | | the new fire station was a cement block structure 30 feet by 42 | 21 | | feet and was located just east of Division Street at East 2nd |
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| 1 | | Avenue; the building was constructed by Gene Woolley at a | 2 | | total cost of $5,400 and completed on November 12, 1951; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, On May 17, 1951, a used Ford chassis was | 4 | | purchased for $450; the body was built by Alexis Fire | 5 | | Equipment for a cost of $3,765 and put into service on August | 6 | | 28, 1952; in July of 1953, maps of the entire fire district | 7 | | were purchased; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, On August 24, 1954, a warning siren was purchased | 9 | | for $313 and mounted on the roof of the east side of downtown; | 10 | | the siren now resides at the fire station as a memorial to | 11 | | past, present, and future firefighters; on January 14, 1961, | 12 | | the district took delivery of a 1960 Ford Alexis-built pumper, | 13 | | replacing the old Ford tanker; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, On May 20, 1969, a Chevrolet chassis was | 15 | | purchased from Luallen's for $5,776; Alexis Fire Equipment | 16 | | built the body for $10,000 plus trade-in; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, On April 13, 1979, a used 1974 Chevrolet van was | 18 | | purchased from Alexander Lumber Company for $3,300; the van | 19 | | was outfitted with air-packs, protective clothing and other | 20 | | emergency equipment and responded with the fire trucks on all | 21 | | calls; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In December of 1981, the old fire station located | 2 | | at East 2nd Avenue was sold on sealed bids to Woodhull State | 3 | | Bank for $10,255; at the same time, firefighters moved into | 4 | | the new fire station at East Highway Avenue; the 80 feet by 60 | 5 | | feet Cuckler steel structure was constructed by HLR Carlson | 6 | | Construction at a cost of $70,000; firefighters finished the | 7 | | interior of the building, which included a meeting room, | 8 | | kitchen, and rest rooms; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, In January of 1982, three FM mobile radios and an | 10 | | FM base radio were purchased for $3000 from Gem Electronics in | 11 | | Monmouth; they replaced citizens band radios that used Channel | 12 | | 9 as the emergency communication channel; at that time, the | 13 | | fire department was averaging 24 calls a year; the ISO | 14 | | combined, class rating at that time was Class 8 for the village | 15 | | and Class 9 for rural; as a reference, Class 1 is the very best | 16 | | class awarded by Insurance Services Organization and Class 10 | 17 | | represents no water source/no coverage; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, In 1982, the Women's Auxiliary was resurrected | 19 | | after many years of inactivity; their purpose was to raise | 20 | | funds for additional fire equipment; at their first meeting, | 21 | | Sandy McDowell was elected president, Jill Larson | 22 | | vice-president, Kim Goodrich treasurer, and Connie Eiker | 23 | | secretary; to raise money, the women started having bake | 24 | | sales; then, they organized their very first pancake |
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| 1 | | breakfast, using the kitchen's stove and electric pancake | 2 | | griddles; as a result of the women's efforts with subsequent | 3 | | fundraisers, they were able to purchase portable radios, | 4 | | pagers, turnout gear, and loose tools; in 1986, they | 5 | | spearheaded the fundraiser to purchase their very first set of | 6 | | hydraulic rescue tools known as the "Jaws of Life"; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, The next new truck would not come until 1989, a | 8 | | fluorescent red pumper; the color was considered ahead of its | 9 | | time, though it has been very popular in Europe for many years; | 10 | | the Chevolet Kodiak chassis was purchased from Wight Chevrolet | 11 | | in Williamsfield, and the body was built by Alexis Fire | 12 | | Equipment for a total cost of $105,000; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, In March of 1991, Clover Fire began lobbying | 14 | | their state and federal representatives for an emergency | 15 | | crossover in the median of Interstate 74 between the two, | 16 | | east/west rest areas; by May of 1991, the crossover was | 17 | | approved and then constructed at I-74 MM 28.5; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, In May of 1995, Clover Fire underwent an ISO | 19 | | Classification audit; their Combined ISO Class at the time of | 20 | | the audit was Class 8 for the village and Class 9 in | 21 | | unhydranted and rural areas; in October of 1995, word was | 22 | | received that the ISO Combined Class would be Class 6 for the | 23 | | village and Class 9 for rural; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, On June 27, 1998, a banquet celebrating the 50th | 2 | | anniversary of the formation of the fire district was held at | 3 | | the Homestead Restaurant in Woodhull; commemorative medallions | 4 | | were presented to all of the guests, including past | 5 | | firefighters, current firefighters, past trustees, and current | 6 | | trustees, Mr. and Mrs. Gene Morris and Galesburg FD Chief and | 7 | | Mrs. Cratty; guest speakers included State Representative Don | 8 | | Moffitt, Mayor Lloyd Carlson, Jeff Morris of Alexis Fire | 9 | | Equipment, Galesburg FD Battalion Chief John (Tyke) Jordan, | 10 | | and keynote speaker, Assistant Chief Rick Lasky of | 11 | | Darien-Woodridge Fire Department; congratulatory letters were | 12 | | received from President Bill Clinton, Governor Jim Edgar, U.S. | 13 | | Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman Lane Evans, State Senator | 14 | | Todd Sieben, Secretary of State George Ryan, Illinois Fire | 15 | | Chiefs Association President Tom Allenspach, Illinois | 16 | | Association of Fire Protection Districts President Richard | 17 | | Baier, and State Fire Marshal Tom Armstead; it was a special | 18 | | night for Willis Luallen, Glen Kasparie, Merrill Brown, and | 19 | | Dale Johnson, who joined the department in 1948, the year that | 20 | | the fire district was formed, and served for many years; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, In August of 1998, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was | 22 | | held at the Galesburg Regional Fire Training Site; Clover | 23 | | Fire, Western Illinois Firefighters Association, State | 24 | | Representative Don Moffitt, State Senator Carl Hawkinson, and |
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| 1 | | former Galesburg FD Chief Dale May assisted Galesburg FD and | 2 | | Chief John Cratty in securing the very first training site | 3 | | outside of facilities in Champaign; following the | 4 | | ribbon-cutting ceremony, training was held for 82 | 5 | | firefighters; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, In September of 1998, delivery was taken on a | 7 | | Freightliner Alexis-built engine with 5-person cab, 1500 gpm | 8 | | mid-ship pump with top-mount controls and painted iridescent | 9 | | mother-of-pearl white over fluorescent red at a total cost of | 10 | | $198,000; the state-of-the-art engine was dedicated to those | 11 | | who had served their fire district; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, In November of 1999, Chief Art Goodrich | 13 | | participated in the Illinois Volunteer Fire Service Summit, a | 14 | | first-of-its-kind in the nation; the summit was videocast to | 15 | | selected state universities and community colleges; many | 16 | | recommendations from the summit became House and Senate bills | 17 | | that strengthened the Illinois volunteer fire service; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, On October 13, 2000, Clover Fire responded to the | 19 | | largest vehicle accident scene in its district's history; the | 20 | | accident was caused by a field fire that was blowing across the | 21 | | eastbound lanes creating "white-out" conditions; by the time | 22 | | traffic was stopped, 16 cars, semis, and pickups were | 23 | | involved; the incident resulted in one fatality and 14 victims |
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| 1 | | transported by ambulance; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, In March of 2001, State Representative Don | 3 | | Moffitt became the first honorary member of Clover Township | 4 | | Fire Protection District, due to his tireless and unwavering | 5 | | support of Clover Fire, other area fire departments, and the | 6 | | Illinois Fire Service as a whole; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, In July of 2003, Trustee Art Goodrich was invited | 8 | | to serve on the state committee that would write the rules | 9 | | creating, then governing, the Fire Truck Revolving Loan Fund, | 10 | | also known as the Zero Interest Fire Truck Loan Program; also | 11 | | serving on the committee were Chief Peter Vina, Don Moffitt, | 12 | | Chief John Cratty, John Kohlhepp, Simony Schwartz, Larry | 13 | | Smith, Dave Foreman, and Chief James Grady; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, In December of 2005, the first female firefighter | 15 | | joined the fire department; Kassi Cowser, daughter of Captain | 16 | | Larry Cowser, made district history in what had been a | 17 | | department populated by "all able-bodied men"; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, In 2006, the district purchased a 1993 Ford | 19 | | Alexis-built heavy rescue truck from the Chillicothe Fire | 20 | | Department at a cost of $125,000; this was the district's | 21 | | first professionally-built rescue; the others were built by | 22 | | the department's volunteers; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In 2009, an international all wheel-drive | 2 | | Alexis-built pumper was delivered at a cost of $298,000.00 and | 3 | | painted in traditional fire truck red; this engine was | 4 | | partially financed through the Zero Interest Fire Truck Loan | 5 | | program; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, In June of 2015, an ISO audit was performed; in | 7 | | November of 2015, the results of the audit were received; | 8 | | within the village, Clover Fire received ISO Class 5; the | 9 | | rural classification is ISO Class 5X; since 1982, call volume | 10 | | has tripled; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, In October of 2015, the AlWood Fire Explorer | 12 | | program was finalized; sanctioned by the Boy Scouts of | 13 | | America, the program welcomes anyone interested between the | 14 | | ages of 14 - 21 from Clover and Oxford Townships to participate | 15 | | in a structured setting where they can learn life-saving, | 16 | | firefighting skills; the inaugural group of Explorers were | 17 | | Ethan Ashby, Anthoney Brown, Quentin Reckers, Breck Shannon, | 18 | | and Jacob White; therefore, be it
| 19 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 20 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 21 | | we congratulate the Clover Township Fire Protection District | 22 | | on its 75th anniversary on June 10, 2023; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That we wish the Clover Township Fire Protection | 2 | | District continued success in service to the community; and be | 3 | | it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 5 | | presented to the Clover Township Fire Protection District as | 6 | | an expression of our esteem and respect.
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