Flush with cash: Batavia to offer rebates for high efficiency toilets

Batavia's public works committee faces some complex work on some mundane subjects.

After all, it deals with technical stuff for the city's electrical, water, streets and sanitation departments. It has overseen contracts to buy and sell electricity on the private market, slogged through the details of purchasing a part of a power plant, figured out where to put new water towers and the like.

And then last week it had the glamorous job of talking about toilets.

The city is starting to offer rebates to homeowners who swap out old toilets for those that use less water.

And you can't talk toilets without talking about what goes in them.

The committee found itself discussing whether high-efficiency toilets sufficiently move, uh, solid waste along. And you don't need an engineering degree to feel like an expert in that.

"The one good thing was we all knew what we were talking about," said Chairman Eldon Frydenall, laughing.

Play a sad song: The Batavia school board announced Monday that longtime high school band director John Heath has filed paperwork for retirement.

He'll put down the baton in June 2012, which gives you plenty of time to see the fruits of his works at school concerts.

THE place to lunch: At the risk of being mistaken for fellow columnist Dave Heun, let me point out that a lunch hot spot has returned for the season in St. Charles.

Yes, the bratwurst lunches are back at the Blue Goose Supermarket downtown.

The store is once again setting up a grill and patio tables outside its front doors from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, weather-permitting. And if brats aren't your thing, there are hot dogs, hamburgers and rib-eye steak sandwiches.

It drew quite the crowd last summer.