Event Center, water well, housing projects are planned or underway
The Village of Hordville in northern Hamilton County saw a big jump in the town’s operating budget for the new fiscal year when the budget was approved last month — 178 percent! But board of trustees chairman Rod Blase says most of that significant increase will be paid for by grants the village will receive for some current projects. Furthermore, he said the hike is a sign of some good things happening in the town of 136 souls.
Blase explained that current projects that will benefit the community include replacing one of the town’s aging wells, a major kitchen upgrade at the village-owned Hordville Event Center located in the old school gym and a planned housing project on land currently owned by the village.
“We are receiving grants for all three projects that will pay a good share of them, but we still had to show them in our budget,” Blase explained.
A project that will enhance the usability of the Hordville Event Center for dinners and other gatherings where food is served, is the renovation of what was originally the Hordville School’s kitchen at the west end of the main room. The 1950s era kitchen is getting a makeover including new flooring, sinks, refrigerators, ovens, quartz counter tops, plumbing and electrical. The kitchen will also get a new water softener and water purification system.
The work is being done by Juzyk Construction of Aurora and will be paid for by grants from the Hamilton Community Foundation and, more specifically, from the Carl Chader Memorial Fund and the Harlan and Emma Jane Peterson Fund.
“They lived in this part of Hamilton County and they earmarked their monies to be spent in this area, if possible,” Blase explained. “It’s not every year we get it, but we’ve been fortunate to get some, and we are really, really thankful to the Hamilton Community Foundation. This would not get done without it. There’s no doubt about it.”
Blase said the target date for completion of the project was originally November and he believes it may be done ahead of schedule. He estimates the total cost of the project will be in the $60,000 range. He said some of the funding will come from a special fund of donations to the Event Center.
Next spring the original 1959 windows in the kitchen will be replaced as well.
The village does charge a nominal rent for some of the events held at the center but other functions such as Lion’s Club pancake feeds are allowed to use the facility for free. After all, Blase said, the center was never meant to be a money-making operation but is maintained as a service to the community.
“Years and years and years ago, when we were first going to get the school, Mr. Dick Anderson was our board chairman, and he was long time banker here in town,” Blase said. “He had the foresight to say, ‘Guys, we’ve got to get that building. We don’t really want it to go to some private interest, because if I was a private interest, trying to rent this out, there’s no way they can make any money.’ So he said, ‘We’ve got to get a hold of that, and it’s not to make money, it’s to do something for Hordville.’”
The original school building, which once adjoined the Event Center on the south side, was purchased by the village at the same time, but was torn down several years ago at a cost of nearly $80,000. In its place is now a lighted concrete parking lot to serve the center.
Next month Blase said the center will host the Hamilton Community Foundation’s annual gala.
“We really wanted to host it and they wanted to have it here, because they want to see some of the things that the Community Foundation has done,” he said. “This was all private donation, but the kitchen and then the parking lot and some of the other improvements were Hamilton Community Foundation and private too.”
A new well
Another big project being undertaken by the village right now is a new well for the community.
“We are in the process of getting our bids back for that,” Blase said. “We’ve got a place already picked out. It’s going to be within feet of the other well. The water is not the problem. The casing on the well is showing rust and I think it was something to do with two different, types of metal that were used like a screen of either stainless steel and galvanized. They do not work together... So we have to replace our casing, which, you know, is basically the whole new well.”
Blase said both of the town’s wells are still working fine but the village board wants to replace the one before it becomes a problem. He said the village received a large grant from the federal government to replace one of the wells which he expects to be done next year.
“We haven’t received it yet and that’s why we haven’t started, but that’s why we had to put it in our budget,” he explained.
While he said the exact cost of the well project is still unknown, the federal grant is expected to pay for it. Blase said so far Hordville has not had a problem with nitrates in its water supply as other local communities have had. He suspects the depth of the wells may have something to do with that.
Housing project
Another federal grant will help with the third project the village board is working on at present, a three-bedroom single-family home that will be built on three vacant lots about a block north of the Event Center and next to the town’s old baseball diamond. The trustees plan to build the home then sell it and use the funds to start another such project. He said the village has received donations toward the project which will be matched by the federal monies.
“So we’ve got a pretty good sum of money, but the thing is, you only have so much time to use it... like three years,” he said. “So you can use all of that money towards the cost of a new home and sell it, and whatever you get out of the home, you can either take that money and reinvest in the next one or you have to give it back.”
Blase said Hordville is working with the Aurora Housing Development Corp. on the project.
“It’s a nice big lot and water and sewer are there, which is nice,” he said. “We’re going to put a two-car garage attached to it and a full basement, because we figure a family of three or four, if they have four kids you could put a bedroom in the basement if they wanted to, and we’ll have egress windows and all that.”
Blase said he hopes future projects can focus on clearing out and replacing some of the older, deteriorating houses in the village.
As far as being able to sell the home once it is completed, Blase said he doesn’t anticipate that will be a problem.
“I think we’re going to sell it, I think it’s going to go like that,” Blase said. “The banker feels the same way. He says, ‘You give me a price and we’ll put it in the paper, it’s going to sell.’”
Blase said he believes one of the attractions of a town like Hordville that it’s a quiet community within a short driving distance of jobs in surrounding towns.
As for himself, Blase says he has driven 40 miles (round trip) every day for the last 45 years to work at Bonnavilla Homes in Aurora and does not mind the commute. He also noted that all of the local schools run bus routes to Hordville.