DeKalb County, Illinois

Minutes of the
Executive Committee

November 8, 2011

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DRAFT

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

MINUTES

November 8, 2011

The Executive Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 7:00p.m. at the Administration Building’s Conference Room East. Chairman Larry Anderson called the meeting to order. Members present were Ken Andersen, Julia Fauci, John Gudmunson, Scott Newport, Paul Stoddard and Ruth Anne Tobias. Ms. Allen and Ms. Vary were absent. Others present were Ray Bockman, Gary Hanson, Steve Reid, Jeff Metzger, Sr., Bob Brown, Sally DeFauw, Aaron Rasty and Clay Campbell.

Chairman Anderson invited Ms. Turner to sit in for Marlene Allen to represent the Law and Justice Committee.

Chairman Anderson then invited Mr. Jeff Whelan to sit in for Ms. Vary to represent the Economic Development Committee.

Moved by Ms. Tobias, seconded by Mr. Stoddard, and it was carried unanimously to accept Ms. Turner and Mr. Whelan to represent the County Highway Committee and Economic Development Committee.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Moved by Mr. Gudmunson, seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from October 2011.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Moved by Ms. Turner, seconded by Mr. Whelan, and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda.

APPOINTMENTS

1.) South Grove Cemetery Association: Ms. Eleanor Tindall, and

Mr. Henry Burgweger, both reappointments for a term of 3 years, until 10/31/2014.

2.) Workforce Investment Act Board: Ms. Jean Petesch, reappointment

for a term of 2 years, until

10/01/2013.

Appointments expiring for January 2012:

1. Workforce Investment Act Board – 1 position

2. 911 Emergency Telephone Systems Board – 4 positions

Moved by Mr. Whelan, seconded by Ms. Turner, and it was carried unanimously to forward these appointment recommendations to the full board for approval.

ORDINANCE FOR ELECTRIC ENERGY AGGREGATION

Mr. Andersen moved to pick Blue Star Energy for the County’s Electric Energy Aggregation representative. Seconded by Ms. Fauci.

Ms. Fauci said that she had heard good things from the Sierra Club when to spoke with them about references for Blue Star Energy.

Mr. Hulseberg asked Mr. Andersen why he was picking Blue Star?

Mr. Andersen said that what he read from their handouts he liked. He said that he liked the fact that they also hire veterans and he liked their credentials.

Motion failed.

Moved by Mr. Stoddard, seconded by Ms. Turner, and it was carried to suggest Progressive Energy Group to represent the County on the electric aggregation with 8 yes votes and 1 no vote, that being, Mr. Andersen, and to forward this recommendation on to the full board for approval.

Chairman Anderson returned back to the original item to include the question on the ballot for electric energy aggregation, under Ordinance 2011-13.

It was moved by Mr. Stoddard, seconded by Ms. Turner, and it was carried unanimously to send Ordinance 2011-13 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 November 16, 2011.

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

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Mr. Newport, Chairman of the Finance Committee, said that the Finance Committee approved the Budget Ordinance, Tax Levy and 4 more resolutions and ordinances to forward to the full board for approval No one spoke at the public hearing.

Mr. Andersen, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Committee, said that his committee is sending one item forward this month to the full board for approval and that there will be some public hearings held in the near future.

Mr. Gudmunson, Chairman of the Highway Committee, said that they heard from Tom Zucker about the pass through grant that is coming to the full board this month.

Mr. Whelan, of the Economic Development Committee, said that they will be hearing from Mr. Hanson and NIU on the Fiber Strands ordinance tomorrow night. They will also be hearing from County Clerk John Acardo and Mr. Paul Borek.

Ms. Fauci, Chairman of the Forest Preserve District Committee, said that they are planting a memorial tree in memory of Jordan Gallagher at Afton Forest Preserve. They also discussed the dog walking issue, which has been extensive.

Mr. Stoddard, Chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, said his committee heard from Mr. Herb Holderman, the Veteran’s Assistance Commission Director. Mr. Holderman said that they just had to purchase a new vehicle and they are seeing the demand for services going up.

Ms. Turner, Vice-Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee, said that they heard from Ms. Stromborg who made an announcement that her department was contacted by Senator Durbin’s office regarding a grant equaling $14, 650.00. It is based on how much crime that we have in our county. His office asked her if she was interested in taking this grant? She said that she needed to talk to some people first. The City of DeKalb Police Chief said that if we do get the money he would write it off to her. Her proposal is that we divide the $14,650.00 in half, per year, for two years, for the drug court counselor at Ben Gordon Center.

Vice-Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias went on a courthouse tour the other day and that she found it amazing that there have been no injuries on the site for 170 days. She also said that the electricity is in place and the atrium is taking shape.

The committee agreed to cancel the December 13, 2011 executive committee meeting.

Chairman Anderson then approached the committee about a request from County Clerk John Acardo to see if we could cancel the February 2012 County Board meeting due to early voting taking place in the Gathertorium.

The committee agreed to wait until their January 2012 meeting to discuss this further.

There was a brief discussion again on the duties of the County Board Chairman. Mr. Reid stressed that he would like to have the county board informed better of issues that come up with regards to county business. He also felt that the Vice-Chairman should be informed.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved by Mr. Andersen, seconded by Mr. Gudmunson, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

______________________________

Chairman Larry A. Anderson

LAA: mcs