The DeKalb County Public Infrastructure and Development Sub-committee met on Thursday, April 22, 2004 at 7:30P.M. at the Legislative Center’s Freedom Room.  Chairman Frank Van Buer called the meeting to order.  Those present were Haakon Andreasen, Sandy Quiram, Larry Lundgren, Tom Zucker and Nicholas Noe.  Those absent were Bill Cross, John McBride and Jerry Bejbl.  A quorum was present.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Moved by Mr. Zucker, seconded by Mr. Andreasen, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes of the March 2004 minutes.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Moved by Mr. Zucker, seconded by Mr. Lundgren, and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda as presented.

DRAFT REPORT – OUTLINE STATUS     

Chairman Van Buer said that Mr. Dennis Sands, Chairman of the DeKalb County Board, desires for the committee to wrap things up and to prepare the report to present to the Public Infrastructure and Development Committee in the very near future.  Therefore, this is the last meeting for this committee tonight.  Chairman Van Buer said that he feels that the report should give a sense of what this committee’s concerns are.  He then asked for their direction and suggestions.

Chairman Van Buer said that we have asked very good questions and that he hopes that when we raise the questions from the last year in our report he hopes that people ask themselves, “why haven’t these questions been asked before?” 

Ms. Quiram said that she is interested in the roads issue.  She wants to know what roads will be used with the Casino issue in Shabbona.  Can the townships do the roads issue better than the County does?  She would like to see the County support the expansion of VAC’s role in Mass Transit for the County’s short-term needs and long-term needs.   She feels that we should enhance the services that we currently have established here in the County.

Mr. Larry Lundgren said that he supports the county looking at becoming home ruled.  We need to ask ourselves what we want to do for our community?  What kind of infrastructure do we want?  Light industry? He said look at the Rail yard now opened in Rochelle, they have run the water and sewer all the way to the end of the County for future use.  We need to make some decisions as a county as to what we are going to do and how we want it to look, that is, development.  It would be good if the County became home ruled so that they would have some say in their own future growth.  He said that about two weeks ago he was listening to a radio show on WGN and they said in DeKalb County a farm had just sold for $17,000 per acre, which is unheard of.  Something is happening here, in DeKalb, and we need to become prepared, said Mr. Lundgren.  He suggested that he would like to see the first two items on the report cover - home rule and the water control and roads system issue. 

Mr. Noe said that he researched the NIU Corridor Project on their website and they state that the county will be moving people North and South throughout the County in the future.  Their report claims that our population in 2030 will be 130,000 people, which is a contrast with the County’s current comprehensive plan.  He believes that the County Board needs to be asked, “Are we prepared to deal with this type of growth?  

Mr. Lundgren said that the county roads will be greatly impacted by this growth.  If the County is home ruled then we will be the planner of our future.  Mr. Zucker cautioned the committee by stating that if you build a 4-lane highway to remember that the traffic will never decrease.  Ms. Quiram pointed out that the only 4-lane highway in the County is I-88 except for Peace Road in Sycamore and DeKalb and Route 23.  Mr. Lundgren said that there are only 5 east-west roads in the County and only 1 North/South road west of Route 23, which is Malta-Shabbona Blacktop Road.  The committee felt that this road would have space for 4-lanes. 

Mr. Noe inquired that with the Elburn railroad station going in next year, has there been any discussion on transporting our citizens to this new station?  Mr. Zucker said that there has been very little talk but that there has been strong interest from NIU, the City of DeKalb and the City of Sycamore regarding it.  Do we have roads to handle the increase of bus routes to Elburn?  The committee agreed that these are questions that the County needs to ask for the future growth issue. 

Mr. Lundgren said that the County would be better off if they were home ruled prior to the negotiations on the Shabbona Casino issue than not.  If the County would become home ruled before the Casino issue is resolved then the County could have a gaming tax, which would be beneficial to the County. 

Mr. Lundgren suggested two items that he felt strongly about that should be included in the final report to the full board.  Those are 1.) home rule and 2.) A north/south access road especially if the Shabbona casino issue happens.  This would enable people to travel from I-90, I-88 and I-94 to DeKalb County, which he feels will benefit our county very much. 

After further discussion, the committee agreed that they would be sending their written input of longer than a couple of paragraphs each,  via email, to Chairman Van Buer so that he could develop their ideas into a report.  They agreed that the report should not be any longer than a couple of pages.

Moved by Mr. Lundgren, seconded by Ms. Quiram, and it was carried unanimously to recommend the following points to be included in the final report:  1.) Home Rule; 2.) Development of the Roads System; 3.) Public Transportation – Mass Transit; 4.) Preserve Farmland Protection and Wetlands. 

Mr. Zucker asked if economic development should be part of this report?  Chairman Van Buer said yes, he felt that it should because it ties the four points all together.

The committee agreed that they would like to tie this report all together in the next couple of weeks.

ADJOURNMENT

Moved by Mr. Zucker, seconded by Mr. Andreasen, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.

                                                          Respectfully submitted, 

                                                          _________________________________
                                                          Frank D. Van Buer, Chairman

______________________________
Mary C. Supple, Secretary