The Economic Development Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Tuesday, October 3, 2006, @ 7:00p.m. in the Legislative Center’s Freedom Room.  Chairman Julia Fullerton called the meeting to order.  Members present were Jerry Augsburger, Sally DeFauw, Steve Slack, Jeff Metzger, Sr., and Mr. Haines.  Mr. Sands was absent.  Gary Hanson was also present.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

 Moved by Mr. Augsburger, seconded by Ms. DeFauw, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended minutes from September, 2006.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

 Chairman Fullerton said that item #5. City of DeKalb IGA-Tax Abatement was being pulled from the agenda.  Mr. Haines said that he would like to discuss another possible direction that the committee could go in.  

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

FY2006 BUDGET DISCUSSION

 Mr. Gary Hanson, DeKalb County Deputy Administrator, mentioned an item that was being changed from the Budget Recommendations for the Supervisor of Amendments Office.  Last month when the Finance Committee was going over a brief discussion of the FY2007 Budget, Mr. Metzger raised a question on item #17 for the Supervisor of Assessments Office who requested one new position, why didn’t we make that two part time positions like the Regional Superintendent of Schools was getting?  Mr. Hanson discussed it with Mrs. Whitwell and they came to the conclusion that since she just had a person leave her employ in the last month, that this would give her an opportunity to get a Chief Deputy for her office.  They don’t have one now and that office does need some supervision while she is not in the office.  Coupled together, the change suggested would cost about the same as the original proposal, but 14% more work hours will be available than in the original proposal (please see the handout attached to these minutes).  

Mr. Hanson continued by stating that now the request would include the upgrade of the position of Administrative Clerk A to the position of Chief Deputy of Assessments and that two part-time positions of up to 4 hours per day each be approved with the classification of Administrative Clerk C.  This request is approved with an effective date of January 7, 2007 for the part-time staff and retroactively to October 23, 2006 for the classification upgrade.  The money would remain pretty much the same or maybe even somewhat lower for salaries.

Mr. Metzger asked if the salaries for these positions would be competitive?  Mr. Hanson said yes.

Moved by Mr. Metzger, Sr., seconded by Mr. Augsburger, and it was carried unanimously to forward the recommendation to the Finance Committee for consideration.

 The committee also discussed the other departments that report to the committee and their budget requests.  The committee asked the Chair to request a copy of the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation’s full budget from Mr. Hopkins and also ask him to include who their contributors are.

NOVEMBER MEETING DATE

 Because of the amount of committee meetings that are scheduled for the first week of November and possibly not being able to include items in the County Board Packet for that month, the committee decided to tentatively reschedule their meeting to November 1, 2006 @ 6:00p.m., just before the Finance Committee.

NEW BUSINESS

 Mr. Haines suggested that possibly the committee could look at value added farming as an economic development function for them to research for DeKalb County.  A couple of questions he asked himself as he was reviewing this issue were: “Is there a way in which a change of nature in DeKalb County farming would add more value to the land?  Would it increase the economic climate in the County?”  One benefit that he sees is saving farmland.  

The committee discussed the fact that the State is giving incentives for wineries.  These things would change the complexion of farming in DeKalb County.

 Mr. Metzger said that he would like to see more information on ethanol operations in the County.

 The committee decided that Mr. Haines would contact the Farm Bureau and Farmland Trust to see if they would visit with the committee regarding these issues.

ADJOURNMENT

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

      Respectfully submitted,

      ____________________________

      Chairman Julia Fullerton

______________________________

Mary C. Supple, Secretary