The Public Policy Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday, August 5, 2004, at 6:30p.m. at the Highway Facility. Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias called the meeting to order. Members present were Mr. Osborne, Mr. Sands and Ms. LaVigne.  Those absent were Ms. Vary and Mr. Wiegand.   There was a quorum present.  Mr. Barrett and Mr. Millburg were also present.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

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

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

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

FILM COMMISSION & POLICY

Chairman Tobias introduced Mr. Metzger, DeKalb County Board Member, to give his update on the film commission research.  Mr. Metzger said that he surveyed surrounding counties, which were Kendall County, Kane County, McHenry County and Rock Island County.  Some do not have policies at all and those that do - have strict language.  Kane County is open to having filming at their courthouse.  They do have to go before a committee of the county board and then to the Chief Judge for final approval.  Kendall County is different because they have a historical courthouse with only a few offices housed there.  Their courthouse can be used for filming and they do have a film coming up this fall. 

Mr. Metzger said that those that have policies, state  “no filming during county hours,” filming needs to be during evenings or weekends.  Those policies also state what they would use the courthouse for, what they can do and can’t do, etc.  He is requesting that the staff come up with a draft policy and have the State’s Attorney review it.  He would then like to see it come back to this committee for review.  He stated that there needs to be consideration for security, maintenance help, etc. for the specified projects.  He said that when Road of Perdition was filmed in Rock Island County, they benefited greatly from the crews being there.  They used a lot of the facilities in the area, including the Rock Island Arsenal for interior scenes, etc.  He mentioned that when he checked with the Chief Judge, he said that he would approve it being done.

Mr. Sands said that he checked around Sycamore and spoke with the Sycamore alderman for that area who said that he favored it along with the Mayor of Sycamore.  He has spoken to the Sycamore Council and they support filming done at the courthouse too.  The community that lives around the courthouse is for the filming also.  All in all he received very positive responses. 

Mr. Bockman asked what Mr. Metzger wants him to come up with?  Does he have an example from another county?  Mr. Metzger said that he is looking for what Mr. Bockman feels a policy should state.  Mr. Metzger also said that he had an example from Kane County for Mr. Bockman to review. 

It was agreed that the policy should include the County Administrator, State’s Attorney, the Sheriff, Security people, Maintenance people etc.  Mr. Sands said that the Sheriff felt that there should be an electronic sweep before and after the film crew leaves each day.  The committee also discussed rental costs for the use of the building and that it should be included in the policy.  Mr. Bockman agreed that he would research the issue and draft a policy for the committee.

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA – FIRST REVIEW OF RESPONSES

Chairman Tobias said that she had spoken with Mr. Bill Lorence and he said that he would like to have the gasoline tax submitted again this year.  She has only received two items (see attached to these minutes), but that she is still waiting to hear from other department heads. 

Ms. Julia Fauci, County Board Member, submitted the first item which is the most controversial item.  Mr. Fauci submitted an item for industrial hemp.  She is requesting that the DEA issue a special permit to allow Industrial Hemp to be grown in test plots at the University of Illinois where it can be studied for it’s agricultural suitability in Illinois and its worldwide market potential.  Mr. Sands said that he is not against looking at alternative ways for farmers to raise crops, but he is not for this item.  He said that in Shabbona this crop has been a thorn in their side. It has been eradicated since World War II and kids go out and cultivate it and call it “ditch weed”.   He doesn’t really feel that this is what we want to use taxpayer’s money and research dollars spent on.  Mr. Sands said that he had an article submitted by Ms. Fullerton that she asked him to share with the committee on this issue.  He said that it highlights his concerns on page 4 of the article that explains what happened in Hawaii on a test plot (see attached to these minutes).

Mr. Millburg, representative of the DeKalb County Farm Bureau, said that their policy would be to follow the State of Illinois Farm Bureau’s policy in this product.  They would support the crop for research purposes.  Ms. LaVigne said that she felt that she could support the research.

Chairman Tobias said that the committee would need to do more research on this item. 

The next item that was submitted was by the Sheriff regarding an Amendment to Public Act 92-688, which would amend the Illinois Vehicle Code.  This amendment would provide law enforcement the option to seek forfeiture on vehicles driven by an individual revoked for certain Driving While Under The Influence violations.  It provides also for the County Sheriff, and State’s Attorney to store, process, and sell these vehicles.  He states that t this law currently is a drain on the County.  It will cost his department between $5000 - $8000 this year to carry out this program.  This does not include the Sheriff’s or State’s Attorney time to process these vehicles through the sale process (see sheet attached to these minutes). 

Mr. Bockman said that he agrees with the Sheriff that we need to go back to the legislature and ask them to help us recover the cost involved.  The committee agreed to keep this item for the agenda.

Other items that the committee discussed should be researched more for the legislative agenda are:  to speak to Mr. Paul Miller on planning and zoning issues, and to talk to Ms. Holmes, DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder about the voting machines to purchase or rent.

OVERVIEW OF NACO CONFERENCE

Chairman Tobias said that she listened to a presentation at the NACO Conference in Phoenix regarding “Influencing Congress from Home.”   At the federal level you should send the paperwork on your particular issue to the District Office and keep it simple.  If you send it to Washington, it can take weeks to get to your legislator’s office.  The mail is irradiated and the envelopes and letters are burnt because of this.  Use your email, fax or cell phone, too.  Also, make sure that you thank your legislators for good legislation.  Use the staff members at the district office because you will not always get a hold of the legislator because of their very busy schedules. 

Another very good session that she attended was on a data system that was researched at the Sonoran Institute.  They have created a database that will include the last 30 years worth of information on every county in the country. This database is currently only including the western states, but starting this month it will include the entire country. This report is about 20 pages long and is done in an Excel based system.

ISSUES FROM THE PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT SUB-COMMITTEE REPORT

            Chairman Tobias said that there were some good suggestions that the Public Infrastructure & Development Sub-Committee were included in the final report submitted by its Chairman, Frank Van Buer.  She said that they discussed issues on the roads in the county and their future use.  Another item that they discussed was about development and whether or not a county can draw the line and just say no more development.  The committee discussed that if the County was Home Ruled - it would give the County more authority to stop development in unincorporated areas.  

Mr. Bockman said that a properly planned, very large subdivision, almost presents us with a very indefensible case.  He further stated that one of the things that you could do with home rule is to introduce impact fees.   There is a law currently called the “Transportation Impact Fee” that allows use to measure the impact of a development on your existing roads and bridges and charge the new development for the actual impact that they have on your city.  The problem is that you need to have a 400,000-population threshold in your county. 

            The committee discussed that maybe the Transportation Impact Fee law should be changed so that it changes the population threshold, that is, just take it out.   Mr. Osborne asked if we could contract with the cities in the county to collect that fee for us and pass it on?  Mr. Bockman said that they could through an Intergovernmental Agreement become a party to an annexation agreement.   It’s an unexplored area currently, said Mr. Bockman.  The committee agreed to add this item to the legislative agenda list.

            Chairman Tobias asked Mr. Bockman if it is time to bring up the home rule issue now?  Mr. Bockman said that he would leave that up to the committee.  Mr. Sands said that he was against home rule as a county board member.  He feels that it’s a California idea that finally made it here to the Midwest.    Mr. Bockman said that one area that is a hot topic in our community is growth and the fact that the County has almost no authority to tax the incoming new growth. 

ADJOURNMENT

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

Respectively submitted,

______________________________

Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias

_____________________________________
Mary C. Supple, Secretary