DeKalb Times

Dekalb County Forest Preserve District Commissioners met March 18.

Here is the minutes provided by the commissioners:

On March 9, 2020, Governor Pritzker declared all counties in Illinois as a disaster area in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. As the spread of COVID-19 continues to grow, the Governor issued an Executive Order today to suspend the physical presence requirements under the Open Meetings Act (OMA) and to limit the size of all public and private gatherings in Illinois, among other things. The suspension of the OMA requirements was of utmost importance to public bodies throughout the State.

In general, Governor Pritzker encouraged public bodies to postpone meetings, when possible, for the duration of the disaster proclamation. Recognizing that some meetings are necessary during this time, the Governor has suspended the requirement that a quorum of the members of a public body be physically present at a board meeting and the conditions which limit when remote participation is permitted. This means that:

 A public body may convene a properly noticed meeting with any number of members physically present, or no members physically present, as long as the total participating members constitutes a quorum; and

 No specific reason or vote to allow for remote participation is required.

The DeKalb County Forest Preserve District Commissioners met in regular session at the Legislative Center’s Gathertorium on Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 7:27 p.m. President Pietrowski called the meeting to order and the Secretary called the roll. Those Commissioners present were Mr. Craig Roman, Ms. Linda Slabon, Mr. Paul Stoddard, Mr. Larry West, Mr. Jeff Whelan, Ms. Suzanne Willis (remotely), Mr. Tim Bagby, Mr. Scott Campbell (remotely), Mrs. Karen Cribben (remotely), Mrs. Laurie Emmer, Mr. Steve Faivre (remotely), Vice-President John Frieders, Mr. Tim Hughes, Mr. Tracy Jones (remotely), Ms. Dianne Leifheit, Ms. Maureen Little (remotely), Mr. Jim Luebke, Ms. Terri Mann-Lamb (remotely), Mr. Roy Plote, Mr. Chris Porterfield, and President Mark Pietrowski, Jr. Those Commissioners absent were Ms. Rukisha Crawford and Mr. Jerry Osland. A quorum was established with twenty-one Commissioners present (fourteen physically, 7 remotely via phone), two absent, and one vacancy.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion

Mrs. Emmer moved to approve the agenda as presented and Mr. Porterfield seconded the motion.

Voice Vote

President Pietrowski called for a voice vote to approve the agenda as presented. The motion carried unanimously.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion

Ms. Slabon moved to approve the minutes of the February 19, 2020 Meeting. Mr. Whelan seconded the motion.

Voice Vote

President Pietrowski asked for a voice vote on the approval of the minutes. All Commissioners voted yea. Motion carried unanimously.

COMMUNICATIONS & PROCLAMATIONS

None.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

Claims – March 2020

Motion

Mr. Stoddard moved to approve the payment of claims for this month, and the off-cycle claims paid during the previous month, including all claims for travel, meals, and lodging, in the amount of $121,783.11. Mrs. Emmer seconded the motion.

Roll Call Vote

President Pietrowski called for a roll call vote on the approval of the March Claims. Those Commissioners voting yea were Mr. Roman, Ms. Slabon, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. West, Mr. Whelan, Ms. Willis, Mr. Bagby, Mr. Campbell, Mrs. Cribben, Mrs. Emmer, Mr. Faivre, Vice-President Frieders, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Jones, Ms. Leifheit, Ms. Little, Mr. Luebke, Ms. Mann-Lamb, Mr. Plote, Mr. Porterfield, and President Pietrowski. The motion carried unanimously with all Commissioners present voting yea.

OLD BUSINESS / NEW BUSINESS

None.

ADJOURNMENT

Motion

Mr. Bagby moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:31 p.m. and Mr. Whelan seconded the motion.

Voice Vote

President Pietrowski called for a voice vote on the adjournment. Motion carried unanimously.

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/min20-fpdmar.pdf