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DeKalb County, Illinois |
Minutes of the
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DRAFT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTESOctober 11, 2011
The Executive Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 7:00p.m. at the Administration Building’s Conference Room East. Chairman Larry Anderson called the meeting to order. Members present were Marlene Allen, Ken Andersen, Julia Fauci, Scott Newport, Paul Stoddard and Pat Vary. Ruth Anne Tobias and John Gudmunson were absent. Others present were Ray Bockman, Gary Hanson,
Chairman Anderson invited Mr. Charles Foster to sit in for John Gudmunson to represent the County Highway Committee.
Moved by Mr. Andersen, seconded by Ms. Allen, and it was carried unanimously to accept Mr. Foster to represent the County Highway Committee.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTESMoved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from September 2011.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDAMoved by Ms. Stoddard, seconded by Mr. Andersen, and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda.
APPOINTMENTS 1.) Board of Review Mr. Michael Miner, appointment for a term of 2 years until, October 1, 2013
2.) Sheriff’s Merit Commission: Mr. Gene Lane, reappointment for a term of 6 years, until 12/1/2017
3.) DeKalb County Nursing Mr. Michael Miner, appointment for a term of 2 years until, October 1, 2013 Home Foundation Board: Mr. John Linderoth, and Mr. Michael Haines Both to be appointed for a term of 3 years, until 11/30/2014
4) Sheriff’s Merit Commission: Mr. Gene Lane, reappointment for a term of 6 years, until 12/1/2017
5) Home Foundation Board:Mr. Gene Lane, reappointment for a term of 6 years, until 12/1/2017 Mr. John Linderoth, and Mr. Michael Haines Both to be appointed for a term of 3 years, until 11/30/2014
6) Workforce Investment Act: Mr. Mark Thate, reappointment for a term of Board: 2 years,until 10/01/2013
Appointments expiring for November 2011:
1. Workforce Investment Act Board –2 positions 2. South Grove Cemetery Association – 2 positions 3. 911 Emergency Telephone Systems Board – 4 positions
Moved by Ms. Fauci, seconded by Mr. Ken Andersen, and it was carried unanimously to forward these appointment recommendations to the full board for approval.
ELECTRIC AGGREGATION PRESENTATIONS
Blue Star Energy: Mr. Aaron Rasty represented Blue Star Energy Solutions from Chicago, Illinois. He explained that energy aggregation is the ability to group together the residential base of a municipal government to get a better rate as a group. Residents usually will see 15% in savings on their own, with aggregation they will see a 25% savings. On their Commonwealth Edison bill they will see a rate for energy and one for delivery. Com Ed makes their money on delivery and the resident will see that line item go down.
This requires a referendum for the Opt-Out Program. They will put the referendum on the ballot at no cost to the County. If the referendum fails, it is the risk that they take. If the referendum goes through the marketing costs will be passed on to the supplier. We need to keep a very good accounting of what is spent. If we get the best rate out there and if people still don’t want the program they have the right to opt out of the program. The first step is to educate the voters.
Blue Star has offices in 10 states. They are located in Chicago and Peoria in the State of Illinois with over 110 employees. They have a total of 200 employees. They are one of the fastest growing companies in the State of Illinois. They are a national company with $225 million in revenue and they are ranked #134 largest privately held companies in Illinois. (Please see their handout in the County Board Office.)
To get this on the ballot you will need to get it on the referendum by January 3, 2012 for the March 20, 2012 ballot.
Pat Vary asked how often do we re-bid?
Mr. Rasty said that the first thing that we do is to get the referendum done by January 3, 2012, on the ballot by March 2012 and you need to form an internal committee. You have to hold public hearings, develop a plan of governance needs to be in place and then they go out for bids.
Integrys: Mr. Dean Nicol and Mr. Angelo Kyle represented Integrys Energy Services. Mr. Nicol said that Mr. Rasty had covered the aggregation explanation pretty well and that he would move on discuss who Integrys is. (Their handout is available in the County Board Office.)
He said that 22 communities held referendums in time for the April 2011 elections and 20 of those passed successfully. North Aurora, Grayslake, Lincolnwood and Oak Brook have selected Integrys as their supplier. They’ll benefit from the lowest rates negotiated to date.
Integrys is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Chicago with over $9.8 billion in assets. They have 1900 employees in Illinois with strong credit ratings. In for of the past five years, they have been named among the top five “Most Admired Energy Companies in America” by Fortune Magazine.
Their current posted 12-month residential fixed price is approximately 11% lower than ComEd’s current price to compare. Aggregation will yield pricing lower than posted, therefore a greater savings to the residents. They estimate 21% or better in savings based on current rates. Their experience indicates that 85% of the residents in communities passing an Opt-Out Aggregation Referendum choose to participate in the program. Based on posted pricing savings - they are approximately $2,963,432 per year for DeKalb County residents at 85% participation. Through aggregation, they can create an opportunity for DeKalb County residents to collectively save over $5,130,859 on their annual electric costs.
Progressive Energy Group: Mr. Chris Childress, with Progressive Energy Group, then gave his presentation. He also said that Aaron and Dean gave the committee a lot of information about energy aggregation already and he will try to be short with his presentation. He said that Progressive is an advisor and broker for energy aggregation companies and communities. (Their handout is available in the County Board Office.)
He explained that 19 Villages have passed the ballot referendum. Fifteen of those Villages are working with Progressive Energy, NIMEC, or Rock River Energy. Twelve of those Villages completed the referendum all with Progressive Energy, NIMEC or Rock River Energy.
Their report states what residents in unincorporated DeKalb County can expect with aggregation - to save residents (estimated 6,000 households) over $1,000,000 based on the initial savings realized by area towns such as Sugar Grove and North Aurora. Annual residential customer savings calculated by multiplying the estimated number of house in DeKalb County times $175 which is the expected minimum savings for area municipalities that have implemented the aggregation program.
He reiterated what Mr. Rasty said about the steps that the County would need to take.
The committee asked Mr. Childress what does his company make off of this?
Mr. Childress said that they make anywhere between $2.50 to $5.00 a customer.
Mr. Stoddard said that with the committee just really receiving materials and hearing all of this for the first time he felt more comfortable with it going to the Economic Development Committee to discuss further.
The committee discussed it further and it was moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Mr. Andersen, and it was carried to have the same 3 energy companies give their presentations to the full board for the October County Board meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
The committee also requested that each company do a formal power point presentation for the board meeting.
APPROVAL OF THE COUNTY BOARD AGENDAMr. Ray Bockman, County Administrator, reviewed the County Board Agenda for the Board Meeting to be held on October 19, 2011. The committee discussed that the energy group presentations should be added to the county board agenda.
Moved by Ms. Fauci, seconded by Mr. Andersen, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended agenda.
FY2012 BUDGET APPEALS
Most of the members felt that we should leave the rule as it is this year, that is, to cancel only 2 meetings a year. Each committee could still cancel even more meetings than that if the need arises.
Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried to deny the appeal to cancel 3 meetings for each committee per year. The motion carried. The no votes were Mr. Newport, Mr. Andersen and Chairman Anderson.
Most of the committee felt that if a county board member attends the executive committee meeting and they are not on the committee that they should be paid for attending it. It shows that we value their attendance.
Moved by Ms. Allen, seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried to deny the appeal. Mr. Newport and Mr. Foster voted no.
Ms. Vary said that she felt that he Economic Development Committee, who she chairs, is a very successful committee. She feels that during these hard economic times, it is now that we need to help people find jobs. The momentum that the committee has built up over the past year would stop if the meetings would be reduced to quarterly meetings.
Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried to deny the appeal. Mr. Newport, Chairman Anderson and Mr. Andersen voted no. Mr. Foster abstained.
Mr. Oncken asked how do we budget for this type of appeal. He suggested that this should be a rule change and that the Ad Hoc Rules Committee could review it.
Moved by Ms. Fauci, seconded by Ms. Vary, and it was carried to deny the appeal and to keep the county board meetings as it is now.
Mr. Foster moved to amend the motion to allow the Ad Hoc Rules Committee to review this issue to lower the number of county board meetings that we have. Seconded by Mr. Newport. The motion carried unanimously.
Chairman Anderson returned to the amended motion and the motion carried unanimously.
GENERAL DISCUSSION Mr. Andersen, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Committee, said that his committee will hear from the Charter Cable Franchise this month since they did not show up for the last Planning and Zoning Committee meeting. They will pay for all of the costs associated with that past meeting and this new one.
Mr. Foster, of the Highway Committee, said that they discussed the budget appeals and they passed. Mr. Stoddard, Sr., Chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, said his committee heard from Ms. Vicki Broos, the new head of the University of Illinois Extension Office and the mental health board appeal. The Mental Health Board appeal was denied.
Ms. Allen, Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee, said that her committee heard from the Sheriff on his Auxiliary and Janie Torma on the Children’s Waiting Room.
Ms. Fauci, Chairman of the Forest Preserve District Committee, said that they had a good attendance number at the Star Party. They forwarded their budget at the last county board meeting and they have been discussing off leash area at the forest preserves. They will continue this discussion at their next meeting.
Ms. Vary, Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, said that they may have found a person to head up the Arts Council group and that they should be holding a meeting soon.
Mr. Newport, Chairman of the Finance Committee, said that the Finance Committee will be sending one item to the county board this month.
Chairman Anderson said that the Executive Committee will be the committee that will screen all applicants for Mr. Bockman’s replacement. The smaller ad hoc committee will conduct the actual interviews.
ADJOURNMENTIt was moved by Mr. Stoddard, seconded by Ms. Allen, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________________ Chairman Larry A. Anderson
LAA: mcs
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