The DeKalb County Forest Preserve District Committee met Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at the Conference Room East of the County Administration Building at 6:30 p.m.  In attendance were committee members, Ms. Fauci, Mr. Anderson, Ms. Turner, Mr. Gudmunson, Ms. DeFauw, Mr. Rosemier and Mr. Lyle and Superintendent Hannan.    Guests included Mr. Dan Lobbes, land acquisition consultant and Ms. Peggy Doty.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Ms. Fauci began by asking if there were any changes to the March 20, 2007 minutes.  Hearing none, Mr. Anderson moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Ms. Turner and the motion passed unanimously.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Ms. Fauci asked if there were any additions or corrections to the agenda. Ms. DeFauw moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Mr. Lyle and the motion passed unanimously. 

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

Ms. Fauci welcomed the evening’s guests. 

FOREST PRESERVE MONTHLY REPORTS.

Superintendent Hannan reported that a donation was on its way to the District in memory of Mr. Jeff Arnold.  Mr. Arnold had been a store manager at Gordon’s Hardware and was quite familiar to the District staff and a good friend of Michael Haines.  His widow, Linda, has elected to donate a sum in the area of $4000.00 to $5000.00 to be used for a bench and trees and prairie seed planted in the Preserves in Jeff’s name, it will be called “Jeff’s Trees”. There is some indication this could become an annual gift, but at this time it will be the initial sum only. 

Mr. Hannan also reported that the FY06 Audit document would be coming to the Committee members soon and that, as usual, a full discussion will be held at that time.  However, he did want to take a moment to highlight that there were no recommendations made in the audit only future guidelines.  There were essentially three items noted, the first being an improvement in accounting and financial reporting for District employers.  The second recommendation involved a continuing recommendation that the District report anticipated sales or pledges of receivables.  This would entail reporting items the District may be in anticipation of receiving, but where there are no firm details or offers. The final recommendation related to a Pollution Remediation issue that may or may not apply to the District.  Mr. Hannan will research that further prior to the formal discussion of the audit. Mr. Hannan closed by noting that it was a very good audit, as usual.

Mr. Hannan commented that the District has applied for an Access to Recreation grant in conjunction with the DeKalb County Community Foundation to extend accessible trails at the Afton Preserve. Mr. Hannan will complete the application process by 7-1-07 with the funding for the grant coming from a Michigan Fund for accessibility, Forest Preserve Fund balance and donations.  Many local Park Districts will also be involved in this process.

Mr. Hannan noted that he had also submitted a C2000 Grant for 2008 for restoration of the sedge meadow at Potawatomi Woods Preserve.  The grant amount requested is approximately $24,000.00 and would be used to target such items as the removal of Box Elder trees to assist in the sedge meadow restoration. The grant ranked highest in KREP.

Mr. Hannan reminded the Committee that he had also sent a recent email to them regarding the acquisition of a Bush Hog Rotary Mower for use in the Preserves.  He noted that there is a need for this type of mower to mow weeds in the prairie and wetland areas, trails and firebreaks as well as removing corn stalks when restoring corn field areas. The low estimate received for the mower came in at approximately $5035.00.  This would be for a 10 foot wide version that could be transported from location to location via an existing District trailer.  Mr. Hannan closed by noting that the recent tractor bid had come in lower than had been anticipated and that had freed up a small amount of surplus funds that could be used for this purchase. 

Mr. Fauci asked if this decision required a full open bid or if the Committee could simply move to approve the purchase.  Mr. Hannan replied that as the purchase value did not exceed $20,000.00, no sealed bid was needed. 

Mr. Anderson asked who had provided the low bid and Mr. Hannan replied that it was received from Harvard Implement.  The exact amount of the bid included the mower, back chains, and with discounts and delivery came to the $5035.00 figure. 

Discussion followed regarding the use of Wetland Bank money to offset a portion of the costs, as the mower would be used directly in the wetland areas.

Mr. Turner moved to approve the purchase of a Bush Hog Rotary Mower at the $5035.00 bid cost, seconded by Mr. Lyle and the motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Hannan then tuned to the Monthly Reports. He noted that the general staff reports were included as usual, but wanted to highlight a few items. 

He noted that the Sycamore Lion’s Club had held a clean up day at the Great Western Trail last weekend and that the new Land Stewards assigned to Adee’s Woods had held a brush clean up there on the same day.  He commented that the Adee’s work also included ongoing efforts to remove invasive garlic mustard and work to restore the oak savannah.

Mr. Hannan also noted that he was putting the final touches on the Afton Forest Preserve Addition Grant applied for to offset the recent land acquisition adjacent to the current Afton Preserve.  He noted that the grant submission deadline was 5-1-07 and that grant approvals were scheduled to occur in January of 2008. Te grant amount requested will be $420,000.00 which would represent roughly one half of the estimated $840,000.00 costs incurred for the acquisition.  Mr. Hannan commented that he felt the District had a good chance to receive a substantial portion of the grant, and also noted that the grant amount requested had been slightly inflated to cover all costs at the recommendation of the granting body. 

Mr. Gudmunson asked where the funding for the grant came from and Mr. Hannan replied that a percentage of all the Real Estate Transfer taxes collected by the State goes annually to preserve land by encouraging the purchases of open space.

Mr. Rosemier asked if the Rotary Club8k run was still on schedule for Potawatomi Woods and whether anything further was needed from the District.  Mr. Hannan replied that the run was still scheduled for 5-19-07 and that the Rotary members and FP staff were taking care of the whole event.

Mr. Fauci asked if there would be any additional formal dedications made at the Woods? Mr. Hannan replied that there would be, but that there would be invitations sent after the run event. He closed by noting that the Rotary had also donated a water hand pump to the Woods in memory of a Rotary member who was instrumental in their world outreach to bring fresh water to developing nations.

Mr. Hannan asked Ms. Doty to report on happenings at the Natural Resources Learning Center at Russell Woods.  Mr. Doty noted that the Center’s brochures for 2007 were out and had been specifically sent to past camper members. She noted that they had many walk-in registration requests the Monday after the flyers went out and at this time have 17 children from DeKalb County proper registered. She also noted that she had discovered that of the 4000 brochures the Center was printing for distribution to DeKalb Schools many were going unused as the Schools did not send them home.  Since this was a large investment to garner a small number of campers – the flyers will be distributed in other venues this year. 

She also commented that the camps are really identified as being a Forest Preserve District’s rather than a University of Illinois Extension project.

Ms. Doty also reported that she had recently met with the City of Genoa regarding a piece of land near the Nature Center.  Originally designated for soccer fields, there is some possibility that the city might be amendable to allowing the land to be used for additional open space and Nature Center activities. 

She noted that it is a very raw piece of land approximately 10 acres in size and located squarely in a land locked flood plain area.  However, it attached to the Kishwaukee River and is contiguous to the Preserve forests. At this time, she commented that the city seems open to working with the Center to maximize the possibilities for the land.  The city contact is Mr. Rick Gentile, who she notes has been very open and supportive. 

Ms. Fauci asked if there were any need for the Committee to intervene at this time or if there were any pressing needs to formalize and intergovernmental agreement. Ms. Doty replied that she did not see a need for Committee involvement at this point and that things seemed to be progressing well on an informal basis.  She closed by noting that she would, of course, keep the Committee informed of all future developments as they occur. 

Mr. Hannan closed the Monthly Reports by noting that as a part of the grant application process there would be a need for a resolution from the full County Board noting that the land acquisition grant was being applied for.   Mr. Anderson moved to forward a resolution to the full Board regarding the grant, seconded by Ms. Turner and the motion passed unanimously. 

COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS

Mr. Anderson asked where the figures of daily and monthly attendance appear for the Afton Preserve.  Mr. Hannan noted that the figures are noted in the District’s monthly reports.  However, he did comment that the figures are estimates from shelter and camping receipts and park manager estimates of use. He closed by noting that Afton becomes especially popular in the spring, summer and fall. 

Mr. Anderson commented that he would like to request that the Committee members agree to not respond to requests related to how high they would have been willing to bid for the recent land acquired.  It was agreed that there needed to be an appropriate level of discretion applied to such questions.  Ms. Fauci then went on to thank the Committee members who attended the recent land auction where the acquisition was made.  She commented that a map of the new area is in progress and will be available soon to show the potential uses for the new land.  This map is also a required component of the Development Plan portion of the acquisition grant that Mr. Hannan is finalizing.

LAND ACQUISITION UPDATE

Prior to the beginning of the discussion, Ms. Fauci asked for a motion to enter Executive Session.  Mr. Anderson moved the Committee into executive session for the purpose of discussing current information on District land acquisition activities, seconded by Mr. Gudmunson, and a roll call vote was held and the motion passed with 7 Committee members voting in the affirmative and none in the negative.  Following the Executive Session, Mr. Gudmunson moved to return the Committee to public session, seconded by Ms. Turner and a roll call vote was held and the motion passed with 7 Committee members voting in the affirmative and none in the negative. 

ADJOURNMENT

Ms. Turner moved to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Lyle and the motion passed unanimously.  

 Respectfully submitted,

Julia Fauci, Chairperson

Forest Preserve District Committee

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