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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are pleased to congratulate Mike O'Grady on his | ||||||
| 4 | retirement as Director of Grounds and Fleet Operations at | ||||||
| 5 | Illinois State University in Normal; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, He oversees exterior maintenance of the 450 acre | ||||||
| 7 | campus and has served the University for over 36 years; he | ||||||
| 8 | began his profession at Illinois State as a grounds worker and | ||||||
| 9 | has served in a number of leadership roles over the years, | ||||||
| 10 | including the past 13 years as the Director of Grounds; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, Under his leadership the Illinois State campus has | ||||||
| 12 | been awarded 8 national and 6 local awards for campus beauty | ||||||
| 13 | and the department's maintenance program; in 2008, Illinois | ||||||
| 14 | State was named the first University in the State of Illinois | ||||||
| 15 | to be awarded the designation of Tree Campus USA by the Arbor | ||||||
| 16 | Day Foundation, an award it has continued to receive every year | ||||||
| 17 | since; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, Over the past several years, he has introduced a | ||||||
| 19 | number of environmentally sustainable practices to campus, | ||||||
| 20 | including ultra-thin concrete white-topping in parking lots, | ||||||
| 21 | permeable concrete, bio-swale installations to aid in storm | ||||||
| 22 | water management, rain gardens, "no mow zones", and most | ||||||
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| 1 | recently the beginning of the development of an Oak Savanna | ||||||
| 2 | Restoration project next to the new Cardinal Court Complex; and | ||||||
| 3 | WHEREAS, He assisted in seeking grants that would be used | ||||||
| 4 | to create the community's first food waste composting program, | ||||||
| 5 | diverting over one million pounds of food waste from the area | ||||||
| 6 | landfill in the first year; he has also helped to create the | ||||||
| 7 | campus's biodiesel program that uses cooking oil from the | ||||||
| 8 | campus dining areas to run vehicles on the campus; almost 6,000 | ||||||
| 9 | gallons of cooking oil is being developed into biodiesel on an | ||||||
| 10 | annual basis; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, He was a 2011 recipient of Governor Quinn's Green | ||||||
| 12 | Government award for his sustainable efforts on the campus; he | ||||||
| 13 | is the Past President of the Civil Service Counsel and | ||||||
| 14 | currently serves on the Athletics' Wiesbecker Scholarship | ||||||
| 15 | Advisor Board, and serves as Chair of the Redbird Pride | ||||||
| 16 | Committee; and | ||||||
| 17 | WHEREAS, He is a graduate of the Leadership McLean County | ||||||
| 18 | program and has served on various boards in the community, | ||||||
| 19 | including the Bloomington-Normal Boy and Girls Club, the Mclean | ||||||
| 20 | County Extension Foundation, and Leadership McLean County; and
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| 21 | WHEREAS, He also serves as the Township Supervisor of | ||||||
| 22 | Hudson Township; he and his wife, Connie, have 2 children, | ||||||
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| 1 | Brandon and Jamie and live in Hudson; therefore, be it
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| 2 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 3 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 4 | we wish Mike O'Grady the best in his retirement and all the | ||||||
| 5 | best in his future endeavors; and be it further
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| 6 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 7 | presented to Mike O'Grady as a symbol of our respect and | ||||||
| 8 | esteem.
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