DeKalb County, Illinois

Minutes of the
Executive Committee

June 7, 2005

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

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

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

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

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

APPOINTMENTS

Regional Plan Commission: Mr. Dan Godhardt for the Village of Hinckley, appointment for a term 3 years, until 6/1/2008.

DeKalb County Rehab &

Nursing Center Operating Board: Mr. Richard Ubl, appointment for a term of 1 year, until 6/1/2006.

Community Services Advisory Board:

Ms. Melissa Searing

Ms. Joslyn Turner

Ms. Melissa Garman

Ms. Margaret Phillips

All reappointments for a term of 3 years, until 6/1/2008.

Moved by Ms. Fauci, seconded by Mr. Faivre, and it was carried unanimously to accept the recommended appointments and to forward them to the full board for approval.

APPROVAL OF THE COUNTY BOARD AGENDA

Mr. Ray Bockman, County Administrator, reviewed the county board agenda for the board meeting to be held on June 15, 2005.

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

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Mr. Slack , Vice-Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, said that they had a presentation from Ms. Pam Fettes, Executive Director of the Rivervalley Workforce Investment Board. They also revisited a proposal from Mr. Sands regarding the DeKalb Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) and the County becoming involved in it. There was a long discussion on this issue and Ms. Kim Kubiak, Director of the CVB suggested ideas that might work. There was no real support by the committee on the issue yet. They postponed the issue for further discussion and until Ms. Kubiak comes back with a plan explaining how it will benefit every community in the County and not only the City of DeKalb.

Mr. Bockman asked if the subject about the Motel/Hotel tax come up at all? Mr. Slack said that they discussed it and he mentioned that most CVB’s are funded through Hotel/Motel tax as is theirs. Mr. Bockman suggested that if the committee may want to take up how they can get such a tax authorized for counties. He did not think that the counties have the authority currently.

Mr. Slack also said that Ms. Whitwell spoke presented her annual report to the committee.

Ms. Leifheit, Chairman of the Law & Justice Committee, said that her committee had not met yet, but that they would have someone make a presentation to them regarding a Children’s Waiting Room in the DeKalb County Courthouse and a fee for establishing this room and operating it.

Ms. Leifheit, Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee, said the committee canceled their meeting but to please attend Mr. Hanson’s next colloquium that will be held before the county board meeting next week.

Ms. Vary, Vice-Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Committee, said that the committee discussed a model ordinance for storm water management that is being considered by the County and several cities within the County. The Planning and Zoning Committee also reviewed the recently passed SB1910 that enables counties and cities to manage storm water better.

Mr. Faivre asked if it would have authority over drainage districts? Mr. Bockman said no, they would retain their own authority.

Mr. Rosemier asked if the Soil and Water Conservation District should be part of the plan? Mr. Bockman said that he did not know but that information will be coming to the board regarding this in the near future.

Mr. Rosemier, Chairman of the Health & Human Services Committee, said that they had a very good meeting last evening. Their first presentation was by Ms. Joy Gulotta, Executive Director, of the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Unit. She will be retiring at the end of this July. She gave a great power point presentation and highlighted the services that their Unit provides to the community.

They also heard from four (4) various speakers that represented the mental health facilities in the County. Ms. Liz Carney, Mental Health Director, Ms. Sue Plote, Executive Director, of Family Services Agency, Mr. Paul White, Clinical Director at DeKalb County Youth Services Bureau and Mr. Michael Flora, President of the Ben Gordon Center. They enlightened the committee about the problems that they are experiencing in funding and the figures of how many people they serve in the community.

Mr. Rosemier said that they finally discussed the grant writing survey that he and Ms. Dubin have been working on over the last few months with Human Health agencies. These agencies are trying to assess their ability to locate, prepare grants and then see how successful they are in receiving these funds that they apply for. They will be discussing ways for finding sources of where these agencies can apply for grants and what foundations they could apply to. They are also discussing a way of holding a workshop, with possibly a person from NIU familiar in grant writing that could run it. There was no action on this issue yet by the committee.

Next month, Mr. Rosemier said, he has invited the Director of the Tri-County Health Clinic to make a presentation. They are having serious funding problems currently.

Mr. Faivre, Vice-Chairman of the County Highway Committee, said that they will not be having a July meeting and that the item that is on the agenda for the county board meeting deals with the releasing of the funds on the Peace Road median project. They also had a presentation from a company regarding the erection of signs on the right-of-ways in the County.

Ms. Fauci, Chairman of the Forest Preserve Committee, said that they have a very successful Trails Day and wetland planting at Afton. She is also proposing a County Board picnic at one of the forest preserves that is centrally located so that the entire board could socialize with each other. They will be commemorating Mr. Cliff Simonson’s bench soon. They will be starting to begin a Steward’s Program at forest preserves near urban areas too.

They just received $9,973.00 that is to go towards the University of Illinois Natural Resources Education fund, which then they can match again. About $4,000 is in the DeKalb County Foundation Fund, which was given to us by Margaret Bach and Michael McAdams. They gave it to the Foundation earmarked for Land Acquisition for Forest Preserves. The Ad Hoc Open Space Sub-Committee are the people who voted to bring the issue to the full board regarding discussion of the open space referendum. The citizen’s group has petitioned the DeKalb County Foundation Fund for this $4,000 to be used to conduct a survey of DeKalb County residents. Ms. Bach and Mr. McAdams agreed to that since the money was earmarked for land acquisition. Mr. Jerry Smith has approved this money for this purpose. She just wanted to make it clear to everyone that this money is coming from a private donation.

Chairman Tobias said that the county has been looking at federal lobbyists that could help us retain “earmarked funds.” Lake County has worked with one of them for a number of years and has suggested them to us. Lake County has done very well with this firm. This firm has 72 clients and a 96% retention rate. Mr. Bockman and she had a meeting with county department heads to ask them about their interest in this. They are very interested in talking further about this issue. The next step would be to have the Ferguson Group come to the County and do a presentation for the county board and the department heads to discuss this further. She then explained that “earmarked funds” mean monies that are promised to the county from the federal budget before it goes to everyone else. You are assured of getting your money if they are successful in getting funds for your project. She asked the members to think about whether or not they would like to sponsor this presentation.

Mr. Slack asked if they had looked at the Daley Group since other communities in DeKalb County have hired them? Would there be any advantage to have the same lobbyist work for all of us? Mr. Bockman said that he just learned of Sycamore hiring them today that was in the newspaper. Mr. Bockman said that it’s certainly worth looking into.

Chairman Tobias then mentioned that she would be appointing Mr. Jeff Whelan, who is on the Finance Committee, to chair it now that Mr. Van Buer has resigned. Chairman Tobias then welcomed Mr. Jerry Augsburger as our new county board member, replacing Mr. Frank Van Buer who resigned last month. Mr. Augsburger, once he is sworn in at the June County Board Meeting, will be assigned to the Finance Committee and the Economic Development Committee since those are the committees that Mr. Van Buer was assigned to.

Mr. Rosemier asked about the lots behind Kohl’s and what is going on with them? Mr. Bockman said that this coming Monday he will be attending the City Council Meeting where the issue will be discussed for the subdivision and rezoning of those lots. Assuming that it goes well, he could be back here at the committee as early as next month to talk about options on how to dispose of them.

ADJOURNMENT

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

Respectfully submitted,

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Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias

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Mary C. Supple, Secretary