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DeKalb County, Illinois |
Minutes of the
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The
Public Policy Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, June 21, 2001
at 7:30p.m. in the Sandwich City Council Chambers. Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias called the meeting to order.
Members present were James Barr, John Dlabal, Eileen Dubin, Pat LaVigne
and Jeffery Metzger. Ed Brown
was absent. Others present were Ray
Bockman, Bill Lorence, Marlene Allen, John Guehler, Mayor Tom Thomas, Janet
English of B&B Developers, Norman Troeger, Sandwich Township Supervisor, and
Jerry Davis, Trustee from Sandwich Township, Peter Dell, Mr. Baker from Open
Door.
Chairman
Tobias introduced the committee to the audience and briefly reviewed their
mission. Each member introduced
themselves and mentioned which committees that they sit on.
She also introduced the staff members from the County who were present.
Moved
by Mr. Dlabal, seconded by Ms. Metzger, and it was voted unanimously to accept
the minutes from the last meeting.
Moved by Mr. LaVigne,
seconded by Mr. Metzger, and it was voted unanimously that the agenda be
approved.
Chairman
Tobias mentioned and passed out a copy of a memo that was sent to all department
heads and county board members relative to the request for legislative agenda
items. Some of the issues that the
committee has worked on in previous years were the collection of mobile home
taxes, trying to increase Medicaid payments for the nursing home and trying to
get increased coverage for health insurance for prisoners.
Mr. Bockman mentioned the issue regarding the increase in authority to
regulate cellular towers. If anyone
has issues that they would like the committee to research please call the county
board office or their board members, said Chairman Tobias.
Chairman
Tobias said that several of the members present called various departments and
asked for statistics on services. She
called Public Health and tried to find out what kind of personal services are
offered in this part of the county. There
have been a number of programs, such as, the WIC Program where there are coupons
for food and milk and training for new parents.
The Director of that program said that there has been an increased need
for this in Sandwich, so they are planning to offer more clinics.
For Home Healthcare since August of last year, there have been 29 home
health visits in Sandwich and 14 in Somonauk.
The nursing home does not have many patients from this area, maybe
because it is too far for family members to drive to see their loved ones, Ms.
Tobias explained. Ms. Allen also
said that there are two nursing homes here in the area.
There are environmental services offered by the Health Department also.
Ms.
Dubin explained the Senior Services Tax Levy and how it benefits various
programs throughout the county. Mr.
Metzger mentioned that we have an excellent Sheriff’s Department.
He said that if you want they will let you ride for a day or a shift with
one of their deputies to see exactly what they do each day.
He highly recommended it for people to try and learn to appreciate what
these people encounter each day. He
also mentioned the Coroner’s Office and stated that they are very well
respected. Chairman Tobias said that along the lines of the Sheriff’s
Department she was highly recommending that people should take the Citizens
Police Academy Classes that are offered through the Sheriff’s Department. She
said that it is very worthwhile. Mr.
Metzger also encouraged people to access the county’s website for any
information that they might be seeking regarding the County.
Mr. Barr reviewed what the Planning & Zoning Department does. This
department takes care of the administration for the county’s zoning ordinance
and subdivision regulations, building codes, etc.
They have developed our county comprehensive plan which is an excellent
plan with regards to maintaining growth around the municipalities.
Mr. Dlabal stated that he represents District #10 but wanted people to
know that he also represents everyone in the county. Ms. LaVigne said that she
was supposed to find out services from the Highway Department and she said that
with Mr. Lorence here, that he would be better able to answer their questions.
Mr.
Lorence explained his handout to the members present and the audience that it
covers the last five years of what his office has done South of Route 30 and
what they plan to do over the next five years.
One thing that he wanted to say is that some people don’t understand
that just because you’re outside the city limits, they think that the county
highway department takes care of all the roads. Well, you do have a very capable township road commissioner,
Mr. Jerry Davis, and he takes care of all of those roads and we don’t, Mr.
Lorence further explained. Out of
all the roads outside the city limits there are about 1,000 miles and 200 of
those are ours. Mr. Lorence also
wanted to point out that on his handout it states that there was nothing done in
the year 1999, but that is wrong. In
1999 they put new guardrails on Suydam Road and Somonauk Road.
Mr. Guehler asked Mr. Lorence to explain the County’s Snow Removal
Policy? Mr. Lorence said that
DeKalb County does not have a bare pavement policy. In other words, we do not
clear all the snow off the road. His
department will clear the intersections, hills and curbs.
Ms. Allen complimented Mr. Lorence on doing a very good job of clearing
Perry Road and Somonauk Road this year.
Mayor
Thomas wanted to remind him about Chicago Road and the traffic amount that
travels it every day. They have
about 6500 cars a day going out on it and asked if Mr. Lorence could keep
looking at that road because it is going to just increase in volume.
One of the other things that he was asked to bring to the committee’s
attention this evening is that there is a trailer park where there have been two
accidents. They want to know if
there is a possibility of getting a guardrail there?
Mr. Thomas then commented on the flooding problems that they have
experienced here in Sandwich. He
stated that they would be putting in another detention pond area to help with
this problem. He further stated
that he and Judge Engel have discussed the court call for Sandwich and have
decided to make it for one day a month from 9:00a.m. to 5:00p.m.
The only problem is that they will need to be able to access records and
cases on a computer. They have
computer hookups in the courtroom but Mayor Thomas said, they need the funds to
supply the computer and they are seeking the County’s help. Mr. Bockman said that he would speak to the Circuit Clerk on
their behalf about this issue.
Mr.
Thomas also voiced his concern on the trailer on church property and wondered if
the county had approved this? Mr.
Barr said that it was approved last evening at the county board meeting, but
that it had many conditions that needed to be met. Mr. Thomas then informed the committee about people who have
purchased 5 acres to build a home on the South side of County Line Road and then
after it’s done they sell four acres back to the farmer on several occasions.
He further stated that now he’s heard that there’s talk about putting
a crematorium in one of the homes. He
just wanted the county to be aware of this.
Mayor
Thomas then thanked the committee for coming down to Sandwich and holding their
meeting here.
Mr.
Metzger asked Mr. Bockman if he could explain to everyone present what his
office does? Mr. Bockman said that
his office is responsible for the day-to-day operations of this county, which
has a $40 million dollar operating budget.
This county has about $200 million dollars in fixed assets.
We have in excess of 440 employees in 22 different divisions.
Our primary role with regard to the county board is what he calls
“policy support.” Our office
doesn’t make policy, but we hopefully supply the board with the ammunition to
make the policy and once they have decided on a course of action, our office is
then responsible either directly or through the operating division to get the
board’s wishes carried out. His
office is comprised of two people, himself and Ms. Mary Supple.
We do have support from other administrative divisions, too, Mr. Bockman
continued. One of the challenges
facing the board now is the tax cap issue.
We haven’t noticed a great effect yet, but we can already see that over
time it will have an affect on our ability to operate our services.
Moved
by Mr. Dlabal, seconded by Mr. Brown, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn
the meeting.
Respectively
submitted,
______________________________
Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias
______________________________
Mary C. Supple, Secretary
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