DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Committee of the Whole met March 11.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

The Committee of the Whole of the DeKalb County Board met Wednesday, March 11, 2020 in the Community Outreach Building’s Five Seasons Room in DeKalb, Illinois. Chairman Mark Pietrowski called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Those Members present were Mr. Tim Bagby, Mr. Scott Campbell, Ms. Rukisha Crawford, Mrs. Laurie Emmer, Mr. Steve Faivre, Vice-Chairman John Frieders, Mr. Tim Hughes, Mr. Tracy Jones, Ms. Maureen Little, Mr. Jim Luebke, Mr. Roy Plote, Ms. Sandra Polanco, Mr. Chris Porterfield, Mr. Craig Roman, Ms. Linda Slabon, Mr. Paul Stoddard, Mr. Larry West, Mr. Jeff Whelan, and Chairman Mark Pietrowski, Jr. Those absent were Mrs. Karen Cribben, Ms. Dianne Leifheit, Ms. Terri Mann-Lamb, Mr. Jerry Osland, and Ms. Suzanne Willis. A quorum was established with nineteen Members present and five absent.

Others present included Gary Hanson, Derek Hiland, Nathan Schwartz, Pete Stefan, Greg Millburg, and Matthew Wells.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Mr. Hughes moved to approve the agenda as presented. Mr. Porterfield seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously by voice vote.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

It was moved by Mrs. Emmer, seconded by Mr. Faivre and it was moved unanimously to approve the minutes from the February 11, 2020 Committee of the Whole Meeting.

Ms. Dianne Leifheit arrived at 7:05 p.m.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments.

Chairman Pietrowski shared with the Board Members that it was Ms. Polanco’s last day as a County Board Member. Ms. Polanco has turned in her resignation from the County Board due to her and her family moving for work. The Chairman thanked Ms. Polanco for her many years of service to County Board District #5. The official Declaration of Vacancy will be done at the full County Board Meeting next week, he stated.

PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS 

County Highway Annual Report

County Engineer, Mr. Nathan F. Schwartz, P. E. presented the Annual Report of the DeKalb County Highway Department. A hardcopy of the report was distributed to all the Board Members. In addition, Mr. Schwartz, provided a PowerPoint presentation that depicted all of the projects that the County Highway Department were involved with in 2019. The full report can be found at: https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/hw-annrpt-2019.pdf

Reports from Committee Chairs

Mr. Faivre, Chairman of the Planning & Zoning Committee, shared the Committee did not meet so they have no action items. He shared there will be a Public Hearing on Thursday, March 19th for Mr. Blaine Vosburgh who is proposing to construct an accessory structure, in the form of a pole barn, on the property located at 9572 Wolf Road, Kingston, in unincorporated Kingston Township. Mr. Vosburgh would like to place the pole barn to the Northeast of his house; however, the proposed location would result in the pole barn being located in the front yard, between his house and Madison Street. In order to allow the proposed pole barn in this location, Variations must be granted from these requirements.

Mr. Plote, Chairman of the County Highway Committee, shared that the Committee had a very full meeting which consisted of 11 items that were forwarded to the full County Board. He added that the motions for the business items would combine many of the Resolutions together due to them being of the same nature. He briefly reviewed those items with the group. He also shared that the Committee approved an increase to the County Engineers DSATS Stipend. The details regarding that stipend are attached to the Highway Committee minutes. The Committee also received public comments from nearby residents of Plank Road regarding trying to make it a no passing zone and reducing the speed specifically between Moose Range Road and just east of Lukens Road in Sycamore Township. Lastly, Mr. Plote noted that Mr. Schwartz received compliments for his work with Kingston Township residents who live on Corson Drive.

In addition, Chairman Pietrowski complimented County Engineer Nathan Schwartz and Community Development Director Derek Hiland for all the work they do with DeKalb County Citizens. They have to deal with projects and issues that are not always the most popular amongst residents but the Department Heads always go the extra mile to work with residents to find a resolution that all can usually agree on.

Mrs. Emmer, Chair of the Economic Development Committee shared that the Committee did not meet.

Mr. Porterfield, Chairman of Health & Human Services Committee shared that the Committee received an invitation from State’s Attorney Rick Amato on his Alliance for Hope Training. Several Board Members were in attendance to that event earlier in the day and shared what they thought of the training so far. Mr. Porterfield additionally shared that the Committee met with DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing Center Administrator Steve Duchene where they got to know more about him and how everything at the Nursing Home was operating. The Committee also took a tour of the Nursing Home. Mr. Porterfield lastly reminded everyone that the Committee would be doing their Senior Service Tax Levy Hearings in the month of April where they would meet for two weeks to hear from the applicants provided services to County seniors.

Ms. Leifheit, Chair of the Law & Justice Committee, shared that the Committee also received information and an invite from State’s Attorney Rick Amato to his Alliance for Hope Training that was previously discussed under Health & Human Services. They also received a presentation on the Courthouse Reconfiguration Project as well as approved to allow the Courthouse Reconfiguration Project to proceed forward onto the Contract Documents Phase. The Sheriff’s Body Camera Program presentation was provided by the Sheriff and Lt. Burgh and staff. Following the report and discussion, the Committee moved to forward a Resolution to the full County Board approving the Body Camera Operational Plan outlined by the County Sheriff via the Finance Committee to identify the appropriate funding for the program, which will presented by the Finance Committee at the full Board Meeting.

Mr. Bagby, Chairman of the Finance Committee, shared that the Committee received an annual report from Information Management Office Director Sheila Santos. They also reviewed and forwarded a Resolution for the FY 2019 Year-End Budget Transfers and Appropriations. As noted by Ms. Leifheit, Mr. Bagby stated the Finance Committee discussed the funding for the Sheriff’s Body Cam Project. After review of the numbers with Mr. Hanson and Mr. Stefan, the Finance Committee forwarded a Resolution to approve the appropriation of $128,000 from the Opportunity Fund for the balance of the 2020 fiscal year, approve two staffing changes in the Sheriff’s Office to upgrade one Secretary B position to an Administrative Secretary position and to increase one part-time Secretary B position to that of a full-time 40 hour per week Secretary B position at an initial annual cost of $52,000, and further requests that when the Finance Committee compiles the 2021 and 2022 budgets that 67% and 33%, respectively, of the annual operating costs of the Body Camera project be subsidized by the Opportunity Fund with the balance from the General Fund.

Mr. Stoddard, Chairman of the Forest Preserve Operations Committee, shared the Committee met at the Natural Resource Center at Russell Woods in Genoa where they received a report from Peggy Doty, Extension Educator, Environmental and Energy Steward with the University of Illinois Extension. Mr. Stoddard also shared that Forest Preserve Superintendent Terry Hannan took him on a tour of the forest preserves in the southern part of the County. He gave a shout out to all of the Forest Preserve District staff for all the knowledge they possess and the work that they do to keep the preserves in such great condition.

County Administrator’s Report

County Administrator Gary Hanson shared that starting today and until further notice, the DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing Center has taken measures recommended by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to present the introduction of any respiratory virus into the Center (COVID-19). The Center is limiting visitation for essential purposes only. Those that do come into the Center will be getting their temperatures taken, including construction workers. Anyone with a high temperature will not be allowed into the Center.

Mr. Hanson continued that one of the offshoots of the virus is that the markets are going down. What that provides for the County’s standpoint is an opportunity to enter the bond market. The County needs to sell $13 million worth of bonds for the Rehab & Nursing Center Expansion Project. They are currently trying to expedite that but it will still be a 45-60 day process to get to the market. The bond sale may come to the May 2020 County Board Meeting but if situations change and situations come in place, it may be well worth their costs to hold a Special County Board Meeting, Mr. Hanson noted.

Mr. Hanson also shared that the County is in support of Project Ventus, the possible Knowledge- Based business on the south-side of Gurler Road in DeKalb. The City of DeKalb is taking the lead on this project but Mr. Hanson gave an example of how the County tries to help in any way possible and thanked Mr. Schwartz for his help in providing documents showing that Crego Road is a public road to help the project move along.

Chairman Pietrowski convened a meeting between the County and the City of DeKalb to see if there was a possibility of the City annexing Suburban Estates Apartments into the City limits because it is currently under the County’s jurisdiction. The County believes that the City has the resources in place to make sure that the landlord is doing the things they should for the residents and maintaining the property because the County does not have those resources. The County looked at writing their own Ordinance to try and do some of those things but the State of Illinois law does not give the County permission to do that. There are a lot of hurdles but the County is hopeful that there may be more discussion on this topic in the future with the City.

Lastly, Mr. Hanson shared that converting the County Code to be housed internally is about 99% done. There is one more chapter to complete. Once that is all done Administration is going to do some renumbering of chapters so it makes a little more sense in how it is organized. What is done is currently all updated and available on the County’s website.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved by Mr. Porterfield, seconded by Mr. Faivre and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:12 p.m.

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