The Public Policy Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday, May 6, 2004, at 6:30p.m. at the Legislative Center’s Liberty Room. Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias called the meeting to order. Members present were Mr. Osborne, Mr. Sands and Ms. Vary.  Those absent were Ms. LaVigne and Mr. Wiegand.   There was a quorum present.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Mr. Sands, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from April 2004.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Mr. Sands asked to have the agenda amended to reflect three items under New Business, Item #8a.    Those three items would be:  a proclamation for May being the Month for Mental Health Awareness; to have filming go on inside and outside of the Courthouse; and Chairman Tobias’ request to talk about the Kids Page on the Internet. 

Moved by Mr. Osborne, seconded by Ms. Vary, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended agenda.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN INFORMATION

Chairman Tobias informed the committee that Northern Illinois University (NIU) is writing a grant to the Association of State Universities and Colleges where the University would act as a Demonstration Site for a Making Place Matter grant for a 3-county regional planning group (DeKalb, Kendall and Kane counties), relying on the staff at the NIU Outreach Division to bring these members together to talk about the many issues that they have.  Chairman Sands has written a letter to the Association in support of the formation of this group already, as has the Public Policy Committee.  This group will be focusing on stewardship efforts in the community.  They are looking at this as a demonstration project and if it works out they would like to replicate it at other areas within the state.

CONSERVATION EASEMENTS REPORT

Ms. Vary recently attended a one-day session on Conservation Easements in Madison, Wisconsin.  Ms. Vary said that the session was very good and that most people who attended the session are actually writing the conservation easement reports.  She said that Ms. Julie Anderson from Vermont was the speaker.  She is the fundraiser for the conservation easements group in Vermont and that she raises approximately $1 million each year for this cause.

She said that one person from Barrington, Illinois, said that they have about 400-acres of conservation easement currently.  A person from Traverse City, Michigan said that they have been doing it for about 10-years now and that it has snowballed.  There are many people who are interested in doing it there in Michigan because of the news that it has received.  The state of Wisconsin has a state-run program for this purpose, therefore, they are processing these all the time.  The city of Rockford, Illinois, has been doing land preservation for the past 45 years.  Finally, in St. Louis, Missouri, a major conservatory just negotiated 90,000 acres for a conservation area. 

Ms. Anderson highlighted the fact that you should write these applications with perpetuity in mind.  The committee discussed whether or not grant monies could be received by the County from the DeKalb County Community Foundation.  The committee would contact the Foundation about this.  Ms. Vary also said that the person who gives the money is entitled to a tax write off from the federal government.

NACO ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Chairman Tobias encouraged everyone present this evening to please think about attending the NACO Annual Conference.  This year it is being held in Phoenix, Arizona, from July 16 – 20, 2004.  She said that the conferences are very good and they are different than the Legislative Conferences in Washington, D.C. because there are broader subjects that they discuss. 

JULY MEETING DATE

Chairman Tobias approached the committee about canceling the July meeting date due to the 4^th of July weekend and people traveling.  The committee agreed to cancel the July 2004 meeting. 

Chairman Tobias then asked if the June meeting could be held at Afton Forest Preserve?  She said that we could bring our own dinners if we wanted to and then hold the meeting at the enclosed shelter house at Afton.    It was agreed by the committee to hold the June committee meeting at Afton Forest Preserve.

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA CALENDAR

Chairman Tobias reviewed the calendar for the legislative agenda process to the committee. She said that in July Ms. Supple would be sending out memos to all the department heads asking for their submittals.  The committee discussed having some of our federal legislators present for a luncheon possibly to discuss items this year, maybe in August.  The committee agreed that they would like to submit the agenda to the full board for approval in November this year.

NEW BUSINESS   

Mr. Sands read a proclamation that he would like to go before the full board at their May meeting.  It declares May as Mental Health Month.  The proclamation is from the Ben Gordon Center who sent it out to all of the local governmental offices in the county.  The committee agreed to forward the proclamation at the full county board meeting.

Mr. Sands informed the committee that he had been approached by a county board member regarding no filming on the courthouse lawn or in the courthouse.  He continued by stating that this board member would like the board to revisit it and have the policy amended to allow filming companies on the courthouse lawn.  He said that he spoke to the Presiding Judge about it and he said that the Judge was very much in favor of allowing it because he and everyone else in DeKalb County are proud of the courthouse and the grounds, plus it would be good for the merchants.  Mr. Sands said that he would be bringing the issue up at the Executive Committee for them to discuss and forward to the full board for consideration. 

Chairman Tobias said that the NACO newsletter always has a section about Cyber Courthouses and she would like our courthouse to be in this section.  She had a picture taken of our courthouse and sent off to the newsletter already for, hopefully, inclusion in their near future edition. 

Chairman Tobias then spoke about the Kids Page on the county’s website that she would like to have updated.  She would like to include more facts and information on the page for the school children in the county.  She would also like to email the teachers throughout the county, once the page is updated, and notify them that we have this resource out there for their students to read.

ADJOURNMENT

Moved by Ms. Vary seconded by Mr. Osborne, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.

Respectively submitted,

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  Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias

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Mary C. Supple, Secretary