DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Forest Preserve Operations Committee met Sept. 22.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

The DeKalb County Forest Preserve Operations Committee met virtually via Zoom. Chairman Stoddard called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. Those Members virtually present were Ms. Maureen Little, Ms. Terri Mann-Lamb, Mr. Chris Porterfield, Mr. Craig Roman, Vice-Chair Jeff Whelan, and Chairman Paul Stoddard. Mr. Tim Hughes was absent. A quorum was established with six Members present and one absent.

Others present via Zoom included Forest Preserve District Superintendent Terry Hannan, Pete Stefan, and Kathy Lampkins.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

It was moved by Mr. Porterfield and seconded by Ms. Mann-Lamb to approve the agenda as presented. Those voting yea were Ms. Little, Ms. Mann-Lamb, Mr. Porterfield, Mr. Roman, Vice-Chair Whelan, and Chairman Stoddard. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

It was moved by Mr. Whelan and seconded by Mr. Roman to approve the minutes from the August 25, 2020 Meeting. Those voting yea were Ms. Little, Ms. Mann-Lamb, Mr. Porterfield, Mr. Roman, Vice-Chair Whelan, and Chairman Stoddard. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments.

FY 2021 BUDGET

FY 2021 Budget Appeals, if any

There were no budget appeals.

Committees’ Questions & Review of FY 2021 Budget Requests

The Committee did not have any additional questions regarding the Forest Preserve District’s FY 2021 Budget.

Since there were no appeal or further questions surrounding the FY 2021 Budget, it was asked if the Committee would have any opposition to possibly approving the Budget in October. There were no objections from the Committee and there was unanimously consensus that they would vote as a full Commission on the FY 2021 Budget if asked to.

MONTHY REPORTS & ACTIVITIES

Mr. Hannan shared that he will forward on his formal monthly reports to the Committee in the next coming weeks but provided them with some verbal highlights.

The Great Western Trail Extension Project (approved by FP Commissioners) through Sycamore Forest Preserve and trail connections to Sycamore City, parks and schools will begin in October. The Forest Preserve District is a partner with grant sponsor Sycamore Park District on 80% ITEP engineering and construction grant for the GWT Extension Project.

Mr. Hannan applied for a $20,000 grant request from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation’s Pollinator Meadow Grant Program. The grant would help fund prairie seed, herbicide application and seeding in former turfgrass fairways and convert them to colorful prairie pollinator meadows for the Riverwood Forest Preserve. He should know in October if that grant will be awarded to the Forest Preserve District.

Mr. Hannan shared that the Afton South Prairie Wetland Bank finished up construction in September.

He also reported that at last month’s meeting, there was a public comment from a resident who has had troubles with trespassers along the Kishwaukee River. Mr. Hannan did have educations signs printed up and will be placing those along the river at Knute Olson and Russell Woods later in the week. He also is sharing the signage with the City of Genoa and Village of Kingston to encourage them to help educate the public on where the private and public areas of the Kishwaukee River are.

Mr. Hannan has mentioned multiple times over the years, he and Kingston resident Michael Haines have been working on creating a trail from Genoa to Kingston. After multiple attempts, yet again, it seems that one land owner is not interested in having a tail go through their property. The land is currently for sale so the hope is that they will continue to try in the future to help connect the Village of Kingston to Russell Woods, the Genoa-Kingston High School, and beyond.

The forest preserves continue to be very well used and appreciated this summer. Many people are being respectful and socially distancing properly.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved by Mr. Porterfield and seconded by Mr. Whelan to adjourn the Committee Meeting. Those Members voting yea were Ms. Little, Ms. Mann-Lamb, Mr. Porterfield, Mr. Roman, Mr. Whelan, and Chairman Stoddard. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote to adjourn the meeting at 6:16 p.m.

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/min20-fpsep.pdf