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DeKalb County, Illinois |
Minutes of the
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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTESMay 12, 2009
The Executive Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 7:00p.m. at the Community Outreach Building’s Conference Room West. Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias called the meeting to order. Members present were Marlene Allen, Ken Andersen, Larry Anderson, Eileen Dubin, Julia Fauci, Michael Haines, Pat LaVigne and Jeff Metzger, Sr.. Ms. LaVigne was absent. The committee invited Mr. Jerry Augsburger, Vice-Chairman of the Highway Committee to sit in for Ms. LaVigne this month. Others present were Ray Bockman, Gary Hanson, Paul Stoddard, Mark Todd, Steve Walt, Riley Oncken, Anita Turner, Aaron Ruder, Karen Grush, Pat Vary and Scott Newport.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTESMoved by Ms. Fauci, seconded by Mr. Metzger, Sr., and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from April 2009.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDAMoved by Ms. Dubin, seconded by Mr. Haines, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended agenda.
Chairman Tobias congratulated Mr. Gary Hanson, Deputy County Administrator, and the PBC for their wonderful Open House.
Ms. Karen Grush, Director of the Public Health Department, said that this is a terrific building. She said that she can’t tell the committee how many hours Mr. Hanson has put into the planning and construction of this building over the past four or five years. She further stated that the building is what it is today because of Mr. Hanson.
APPOINTMENTS 1.) Cortland Fire Protection District: Mr. Mark Yaeger, appointment for a term of 3 years, until 03/31/2012.
Mr. Daniel Krupa, appointment for a term of 2 years, until 03/31/2011.
2.) Building Board of Appeals: Mr. Thomas Taylor, appointment for a term of 5 years, until 05/31/2014.
3.) River Valley Workforce Mr. Jeff Whelan, reappointment for a term of 2 years, Investment Act Board: until 10/01/2011.
Appointments expiring for June 2009:
Moved by Mr. Andersen, seconded by Ms. Allen, and it was carried unanimously to forward the appointments to the full board for approval.
SAFE HOUSE LEASE Mr. Bockman explained the resolution to the committee regarding an intergovernmental agreement between the County of DeKalb and the Circuit Court regarding the new Safe House Lease.
Moved by Ms. Fauci, seconded by Mr. Metzger, Sr., and it was carried unanimously to forward this recommendation to the full board for approval.
Mr. Larry Anderson asked Mr. Bockman if we had fire insurance on this building?
Mr. Bockman said only on the contents of the building.
APPROVAL OF THE COUNTY BOARD AGENDA Mr. Ray Bockman, County Administrator, reviewed the County Board Agenda for the Board Meeting to be held on May 20, 2009.
Moved by Ms. Allen, seconded by Ms. Dubin, and it was carried unanimously to approve the County Board Agenda and to forward it to the full board for approval.
GENERAL DISCUSSION Mr. Augsburger, Vice-Chairman of the County Highway Committee, said that there were three bidders on the road striping, and the bid chosen was significantly lower than the other bids. He said that the resolution on the purchase of one truck also had three bidders.
Mr. Walt asked if there were any local bidders ?
Mr. Augsburger said, yes, Mike Mooney, which was the highest bid on the truck.
Ms. Allen, Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee, said that they heard from Regina Harris who said that their numbers are holding steady in her office. Ms. Allen said that Ms. Gilmour informed them that they are interviewing various parents to staff the new Safe House right now. Ms. Josh informed them that the committee that is studying the courthouse expansion should be reporting to the Law and Justice Committee sometime in June or July.
Ms. Dubin, Chairman of the Economic Development Committee said that her committee discussed tax incentives and the possibility of a new company moving to the County dealing with Robotics. She said that the committee was updated on the National County Government Week projects and seminar that was held last week. She said that the New Jobs in a Green Infrastructure was a very good workshop. They also heard from Mr. Herb Kuryliw from NIU regarding the Fiber Optic Network that will be very exciting for the County if the stimulus money comes in for this project. Their next committee meeting will be held in June 2009.
Ms. Fauci, Chairman of the Forest Preserve Committee said that they have had a great response from volunteers. They heard from Dr. Bob Carter who is an Environmental Educator at NIU. The camps at the Natural Resource Center, taught by Ms. Peggy Doty, are almost always full. Ms. Doty has taught about 5,000 kids now that have come through the Center. Ms. Fauci also mentioned that Mr. Hannan said that the Oslad grant had come through too.
Mr. Larry Anderson asked Mr. Bockman what was the status on Enbridge and the Keslinger Road Bridge?
Mr. Bockman said that he and John Farrell from our State’s Attorney’s Office met with Enbridge a little over a week ago who told them that they are having difficulty in getting a response from the other participants. They continue to pursue a settlement.
Mr. Andersen, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Committee, said that they just finished the Public Hearing on FPL Tuesday. They will hold three more public hearings for various other requests in May and the beginning of June. The hearing officer is putting the report together for the FPL hearing and will get the report done for the Planning & Zoning Committee meeting on May 27, 2009.
The committee discussed the possibility of moving the June County Board Meeting location to the Sandburg Auditorium at NIU that seats 1,000 people.
Mr. Andersen then mentioned that he had read in the latest edition of the NACo County Newsletter that St. Lucie County, Florida, created a stimulus ordinance that states that they will use the local labor as much as possible on various projects. He asked if the Economic Development Committee could look at this ordinance and see if it can apply to our County?
Ms. Dubin said that she would be glad to bring it to her committee and review it.
Mr. Metzger, Sr., Chairman of the Health & Human Services Committee, said that his committee is sending the Senior Service Tax Levy allocations resolution to the full board for approval this month. He also mentioned that the ad is in the local newspapers seeking applications for the Community Services Director position, since Ms. Ramp is retiring.
Mr. Haines, Chairman of the Finance Committee, said that his committee heard from Mr. Fred Lantz from the County’s auditing firm about the Comprehensive Audit and Management Letter. Mr. Lantz mentioned that they gave us a clean, unqualified audit. Our County was awarded the Certificate of Achievement Award as one of thirteen counties in the state to receive this award. Mr. Haines said that our county is in much better shape then others because we have a rather large fund balance. He mentioned that we had a forty-nine and one-half percent (49 ½%) of the annual federal fund budget in our fund balance. He also said that the Mr. Lantz said that the MD&A section in the Audit is the most important section to read in the book.
Chairman Tobias mentioned the Veteran’s Breakfast on May 31, 2009 at the Carls Fargo in Sycamore. She said that if anyone wanted to attend the event to let her know.
The Annual NACO Conference will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, in July this year and said that if any county board members want to attend this event to also, let her know.
Chairman Tobias thanked Mary Supple, County Coordinator for the County Board Office and Aaron Ruder, Administrative Intern for the County Board Office, for all of their hard work on the “New Jobs in a Green Infrastructure” and Greening our Future event and National County Government Week. She said that the event was excellent and that part of the event will be put on You Tube if possible.
Ms. Supple mentioned that the three power point presentations will be on the County’s website shortly.
Chairman Tobias said that she would be speaking at the Metro West luncheon this Friday on Wind Farms.
The State’s Attorney’s position search is ongoing and that she hopes to have someone appointed for the June County Board meeting.
Finally, Chairman Tobias mentioned that Mr. Bockman had heard from the State this week regarding Evergreen Village.
Mr. Bockman mentioned that the State is recommending funding for Evergreen Village and have sent it to FEMA. Matching funds are being worked on for this project, around $1.3 million. He said to thank Representative Robert Pritchard if any county board members should see him, for all of his hard work on this project for the County.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: LAND ACQUISITION Moved by Ms. Allen, seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried unanimously to move into executive session per roll call vote.
Moved by Mr. Andersen, seconded by Ms. Allen, and it was carried unanimously to return to open session per roll call vote.
Moved by Mr. Andersen, seconded by Ms. Allen, and it was carried unanimously to approve the purchase of two parcels in the City of Sycamore, parcel#06-32-281-003 and parcel #06-32-281-011 (two homes and one apartment building) in the amount of $493,756.00, plus salvage rights and thirty-six months of post-closing possession, in accordance with the County’s policy in committing itself to remain on the Sycamore, Illinois Campus and provide for the future growth of County Government facilities.
ADJOURNMENTIt was moved by Ms. Allen, seconded by Mr. Andersen, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________________ Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias
RAT:mcs
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