The Executive Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 @ 7:00p.m. at the Legislative Center’s Liberty Room. Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias called the meeting to order. Members present were Dennis Sands, Jeff Whelan, Julia Fauci, Roger Steimel, Pat LaVigne, Jeff Metzger, Robert Rosemier and Sue Leifheit.      Others present were Ray Bockman, Gary Hanson, Steve Slack, Sharon Holmes, Eileen Dubin, Anita Turner, Greg Millburg, Diane Strand and Jerry Augsburger.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Moved by Mr. Whelan, seconded by Ms. Leifheit, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from June 2005.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

            Chairman Tobias amended the agenda to add item #9a.) Collective Bargaining as an Executive Session issue.

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

APPOINTMENTS

River Valley Workforce Investment Board :            Mr. Sebastian Cifuentes, appointment for a term 2 years, until 7/01/2007

Moved by Ms. LaVigne, seconded by Mr. Rosemier, and it was carried unanimously to accept the recommended appointment and to forward it to the full board for approval.

COUNTY CLERK’S REQUEST – PRECINCT LINE CHANGES

            Ms. Sharon Holmes, DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder, approached the committee this evening regarding changes in precinct lines.  The reason that she is suggesting these changes is because some of the precincts have grown so rapidly recently.  The State Statutes, says when a precinct reaches over 800 voters that it should be looked at.  So they looked at the last general election and there were a number of precincts that were really close.  One of the areas that she addressed is the Cortland precinct that has all the Maple Park subdivisions and in Sycamore near the Heron Creek subdivision.  In Genoa at Precinct GE-02, that is one of the “land locked” areas that has not experienced much growth, she is proposing to take 322 registered voters from GE-04 and add them to GE-02.  This change will give GE-02, 889 voters and GE-04 will have 921 registered voters.  Finally, in Sandwich there is a subdivision that has only 30 voters, but the potential there for it to grow very, very rapidly is there, when the housing starts going in.  They are suggesting this to be added into precinct line changes too.

            Ms. Dubin asked if these changes being suggested would effect the County Board districts?  Ms. Holmes said no, they will not. 

            Ms. Fauci asked, can you change boundaries on potential growth or growth that is already there?  Ms. Holmes said all the ones that she has suggested do have the growth there.  The one in Sandwich that she alluded to, has a big subdivision that has been annexed to the City of Sandwich.  It is annexed to the area that is precinct 2 in Sandwich, that is land locked.  Unless she changes the Sandwich 2 boundaries, it will never grow while the other ones are growing in size.  It is also based on the Election of 2004 where 718 voters did vote in Sandwich 5, where the new subdivision is.  Unless you change it into Sandwich 2, which at that same election, had less than 500 voters.  It amounts to balancing out the precincts, she said.

            Mr. Rosemier, in GE-04 does it no longer exist?  Oh no, said Ms. Holmes, the boundary line is just moved south so that the people north of that boundary line would become part of GE-02. 

            Mr. Metzger asked Ms. Holmes if these changes would affect wards?  Ms. Holmes said that the City determines wards.

            Moved by Mr. Steimel, seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried unanimously to forward the resolution to the full board for their approval with a positive recommendation.

UPDATE ON FEDERAL LOBBYIST PROPOSAL

            Mr. Bockman, County Administrator, said that he was updating the committee on a lobbying group that was discussed at their last meeting.  July 26, 2005 has been confirmed by the Ferguson Group to visit us, he said.  There is a schedule of a series of meetings with various county departments to discuss possible federal earmarked initiatives.  He is suggesting that the Executive Committee sponsor a workshop for that same evening for all county board members to attend and the departments to have an open discussion with members of the Ferguson Group about what they do and any other questions that you may have.  At the committee’s request, he also contacted Patti Daley of the Daley Policy Group and had a conversation with her.  She has submitted a proposal as well.  Essentially, the Daley Policy Group does the same thing that the Ferguson Group does.  They represent a number of local entities, such as, the City of DeKalb, N.I.U. and the City of Sycamore. 

            Mr. Metzger asked if there would be potential for questions to ask the Ferguson Group regarding Economic Development and what they could do for us?  Mr. Bockman said yes.

            Ms. Dubin asked if there would be a conflict with having one Group, the Daley Group, representing all of these entities?  Mr. Bockman said that Ms. Daley’s clients said she does a very good job.  Ms. Dubin asked if other counties do this sort of thing?  Mr. Bockman said, yes, Lake County recommended the Ferguson Group to us.

            Mr. Sands asked if both groups could be represented that same evening?  Mr. Bockman said yes, if you want.  We could ask the Daley Group, however, it depends on what the Daley Policy Group’s schedule is.  Mr. Sands suggested maybe having a second evening with the Daley Policy Group if need be.  Mr. Bockman said that he knows that the Ferguson Group is also making a presentation to McHenry.  He also said that this was the Ferguson Group’s idea and their suggestion to do it this way, not his.  Mr. Rosemier suggested having the Ferguson Group make a presentation at 6:30p.m. to 7:30p.m. and then the Daley Policy Group could make their presentation from 7:30p.m. to 8:30p.m.  Mr. Sands said that he will really want to hear the Daley Policy Group too.

            The committee was in agreement with doing these presentations and to sponsor the workshop or workshops.

INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF SYCAMORE

            Mr. Bockman, County Administrator, approached the committee about a request from the City of Sycamore regarding a modification to the Memorandum of Agreement between the County and the City of Sycamore pertaining to future access points on Peace Road.  He said that the City of Sycamore has been approached by a developer who would like to develop approximately 500,000 square feet of retail space on the site of Route 23 and Peace Road.  Are the plans immediate?  No, said Mr. Bockman, they have a couple of projects that are doable in the next year.            What we were approached about on the site is that anything that they do on this site will require an additional point of ingress and egress.  Because of the nature of the agreement, they can only do this business with the County’s consent.  The County has been consulting with the County Engineer and the City of Sycamore’s Engineer and staff and the County does not think that these two points are necessary.  It was recommended last evening at the Sycamore Plan Commission,  who agreed to the recommendation, that there would be a single one-half intersection added at the mid-point of this property.  It’s a full in and out and would be signalized, but it would not go across the road, because there is nothing directly across from it.  The only other way into the property will be the existing Sarah Drive at the far end of the property and a “right in only”, Mr. Bockman further explained.  This is what you are being asked here this evening, that is, to agree to amend the access agreement to add one-half of an intersection at a mid-point between points 7 and 8 on the map. 

Mr. Bockman further stated that he hopes that the committee will support this since it is very important to the City of Sycamore and to the County.  The City of Sycamore has done a great job of whittling down the developer’s expectations in this case.  The City of Sycamore understands that our (the County) agenda is to get traffic through the DeKalb/Sycamore area.  The City of Sycamore would agree to coordinate the signals on this additional access point on Route 23 signals and Route 64 signals.  The engineers feel that there will not only be a diminishing flow through that area, but they actually feel that it will be a better flow.

            Mr. Steimel asked if the north boundary of that property, is it Sarah Drive?  Mr. Bockman said yes. 

            Mr. Sands said that he is all for helping the City of Sycamore, but he does have serious concerns about Peace Road and putting another access point on it.  He further stated that businesses are going to want to go where the traffic is.  He said that they could use the access point off the frontage road.

            Mr. Bockman said that in all fairness that is a fair point.  This is a quarter mile spacing that engineers say is ok.  He doesn’t feel that another ½ intersection is really going to throw it off balance,  five hundred thousand square feet of retail is a pretty good deal to the City of Sycamore and to us, said Mr. Bockman.

            Ms. Leifheit asked if there will be an access point off of Coltonville Road?  Mr. Bockman said that could be someday, this is not it.  There is a long-range plan to extend Motel Road, he believes, that will eventually get to Coltonville Road. 

            Mr. Steimel said that he is reluctant to see any additional entrances on Peace Road unless it is absolutely necessary. They need to be coordinated, not just for the benefit of one developer.  If you look at the stretch from Farm and Fleet to Route 64 and if we could get by with only one signalized intersection there, he feels that would be an accomplishment. 

Mr. Bockman said that if they don’t get this intersection this development may not happen.  He said that they need it at the center of their development.  Even our engineer is saying that they are going to have to have a signalized intersection at the center of that development.  The engineer’s claim that you cannot move customers for a 500,000 square foot of retail development in and out on Sarah Drive, it won’t happen.  The City is not asking for any incentives from the County for this development.

            Ms. Leifheit said, we are not experts at road layout and we are second guessing the engineers.  We need to remember that 3 sets of engineers have gone over this with a fine-toothed comb.  If we can get them from three down to one and yet still have the development happen, this is good, said Ms. Leifheit.  Mr. Steimel said that we are getting a lot more entrances on there than he would like and every entrance doesn’t have to be a stoplight. 

            Ms. Fauci said that where her constituents live there are some empty storefronts because they have moved to the newer developments.  They are leaving the strip malls and leaving their neighborhood with empty storefronts. 

            Mr. Metzger asked Mr. Bockman if we approve this and the engineer grossly miscalculated it and one stoplight isn’t enough, at that point will the City of Sycamore have the authority to approve another stop light or does it come back to us?  Mr. Bockman said we are not giving up control of the road.

            Mr. Fauci asked why this did not go before the County Highway Committee?  Mr. Bockman said that we trying to accommodate the City of Sycamore to move this through as expeditiously as possible, it’s their request. 

            Chairman Tobias said this was designed to be a commercial development area by the City of Sycamore through the Comprehensive Plan, we knew that this could be an issue, we need to work with our neighbor.  Mr. Bockman said that everybody talks about the need to balance the residential growth in the community with commercial and industrial development. You cannot have commercial and industrial growth without modifying the road system, said Mr. Bockman.   It is a modest request, he feels.

            Mr. Bockman reminded the committee that the County does share in the sales tax revenue, that is, ¼ of 1%. 

            After further discussion it was Moved by Ms. Leifheit, seconded by Ms. LaVigne, and it was carried to forward the resolution to the full board for approval with a positive recommendation.  Mr. Sands, Mr. Metzger and Ms. Fauci voted no.  Motion passed.

APPROVAL OF THE COUNTY BOARD AGENDA

Mr. Ray Bockman, County Administrator, reviewed the county board agenda for the board meeting to be held on July 20, 2005.  He reminded the committee that the County Clerk’s request for precinct line changes would be added to the county board agenda per the action of the committee this evening, under the Executive Committee.

Moved by Mr. Metzger, seconded by Mr. Whelan, and it was carried unanimously to forward the county board agenda to the full board for approval.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Chairman Tobias said that since she will be gone for the next county board

meeting and Vice-Chairman Sands will be on vacation at the same time, that the County Board Rules state that the Chairman of the Finance Committee is the next in line to run the County Board Meeting, which is Jeff Whelan.

Ms. Leifheit, Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee, said that her

committee listened to a presentation from a group supporting a Children’s Waiting Room.  This group has been studying how many kids are in the courthouse a day and it amounts to about 6 to 10 kids a day.  They want us to enact a $5.00 fee, which is legal, for every civil filing, to fund this Children’s Waiting Room.  It is a wonderful idea, but the problem is space, she continued.  Ms. Leifheit said that they left it for another month to consider because the Public Building Commission was not contacted about the issue yet. 

            Other questions that arose from the discussion were: “Could they collect the $5.00 in preparation of the room?”  Yes, they can, said Ms. Leifheit, and they can only use that money for that service.  “What happens if the money is collected and the room doesn’t come about, what happens to that money that has been collected?”   “Is it fair to charge everyone for the service that do a civil filing?”  “When kids are brought to traffic court, can those kids also go to that room?”  If so, you could have quite a few kids then in that room.  Ms. Leifheit said that these are all good questions and that the committee does need more time to consider the issue.

            Mr. Whelan, Chairman of the Finance Committee, said that his committee approved the FY2006 Budget Calendar and had a very good presentation on where the revenue funds go.

            Mr. Steimel, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Committee, briefly explained the four items that are coming before the county board for approval.  He said regarding the Stormwater Regulations Amendments, it was approved by the State’s Attorneys Office on the upgrade and that the committee is encouraging all towns and cities in the County to adopt it so that it would eventually help eliminate flooding.  He said that the Ordinance is recodifying the DeKalb County Code on Stormwater Regulations and that it has no impact on the cities and towns in the County. 

            Mr. Rosemier, Chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, said that his committee had a presentation from Ms. Shirlie Richmond regarding the Tri County Health Clinic located at Kishwaukee College.  He said that Ms. Grush commented at a past committee meeting that there was a large number of uninsured, underinsured individuals going there for medical service.  He thought that there were some inter-relations between them and also with Kishwaukee Emergency Services.  One of the issues discussed was the need for transportation to Kishwaukee College.  This is one of the issues as to why more people are not going there for medical services.

            Ms. Fauci, Chairman of the Forest Preserve Committee, said that they had a presentation from the Small Mouth Bass Alliance at their last meeting.  They would like to hold a County Board Picnic on 8/14/05 and also honor all the volunteers at the same time.  They would like to hold it at Afton Forest Preserve.  On September 20, 2005 @ 6:00p.m. they will be dedicating the bench at County Farm Woods in memorial of Clifford Simonson, past county board member and forest preserve member.

            Mr. Metzger, Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, said that they discussed the countywide tourism issue again.  The DeKalb Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau will be inviting all cities and chambers of commerce to the Economic Development Committee’s next meeting to discuss this and see who would be interested in participating in the concept.  They also heard from Ms. Christine Johnson, DeKalb County Treasurer, on an update on her office and their new programs.

EXECUTIVE SESSION: COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

            Moved by Ms. Leifheit, seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried unanimously to move into executive session to discuss Collective Bargaining.  Mr. Metzger said to let the record show that Mr. Rosemier stepped out of the room for a moment.

            Moved by Ms. Leifheit, seconded by Mr. Steimel, and it was carried unanimously to return to open session, no action taken.

ADJOURNMENT

Moved by Mr. Metzger, seconded by Mr. Whelan, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

______________________________

Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias

_____________________________

Mary C. Supple, Secretary

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