DeKalb Times

Dekalb County Committee of the Whole met Oct. 14.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

The Committee of the Whole of the DeKalb County Board virtually met via Zoom. Chairman Mark Pietrowski called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Those Members virtually present via Zoom and/or by phone were Mr. Tim Bagby, Mr. Scott Campbell, Ms. Rukisha Crawford, Mrs. Karen Cribben, Mrs. Laurie Emmer, Mr. Steve Faivre, Vice-Chairman John Frieders, Mr. Tim Hughes, Ms. Kiara Jones, Mr. Tracy Jones, Ms. Dianne Leifheit, Ms. Maureen Little, Mr. Jim Luebke, Ms. Terri Mann-Lamb, Mr. Roy Plote, Mr. Chris Porterfield, Mr. Craig Roman, Ms. Linda Slabon, Mr. Paul Stoddard, Mr. Larry West, Mr. Jeff Whelan, Ms. Suzanne Willis, and Chairman Mark Pietrowski, Jr. Mr. Jerry Osland was absent at the time of roll call. A quorum was established with twenty-three Members present and one absent.

Others present included Gary Hanson, Derek Hiland, Pete Stefan, Nathan Schwartz, Christine Johnson, Greg Millburg, Kathy Lampkins, Bridget Nodruft, and a couple other members of the public.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Ms. Crawford moved to approve the agenda as presented. Mr. Whelan seconded the motion. Those voting yea were Mr. Bagby, Mr. Campbell, Ms. Crawford, Mrs. Cribben, Mrs. Emmer, Mr. Faivre, Vice-Chair Frieders, Mr. Hughes, Ms. Jones, Mr. Jones, Ms. Leifheit, Ms. Little, Mr. Luebke, Ms. Mann-Lamb, Mr. Plote, Mr. Porterfield, Mr. Roman, Ms. Slabon, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. West, Mr. Whelan, Ms. Willis, and Chairman Pietrowski. All Members present voted yea. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Mr. Jones moved to approve the minutes from the September 9, 2020 Committee of the Whole Meeting. Ms. Mann-Lamb seconded the motion as presented. Those voting yea were Mr. Bagby, Mr. Campbell, Ms. Crawford, Mrs. Cribben, Mrs. Emmer, Mr. Faivre, Vice- Chair Frieders, Mr. Hughes, Ms. Jones, Mr. Jones, Ms. Leifheit, Ms. Little, Mr. Luebke, Ms. Mann-Lamb, Mr. Plote, Mr. Porterfield, Mr. Roman, Ms. Slabon, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. West, Mr. Whelan, Ms. Willis, and Chairman Pietrowski. All Members present voted yea. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments.

CHAIR’S COMMENTS

Chairman Pietrowski stated that as many may already know, DeKalb County Administrator Gary Hanson has announced that he will be retiring at the end of the year. Following this meeting, the Executive Committee will begin discussions on the recruitment process.

Mr. Jerry Osland joined the meeting. All twenty-four Members were now present.

PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS Reports from Committee Chairs

Mr. Faivre, Chairman of the Planning & Zoning Committee, shared the Committee will have three Ordinances and one Resolution for the full County Board to consider this month. The Planning & Zoning Committee will be meeting in special session prior to the full County Board Meeting next week to finalize wording for the Zoning Text Amendment related to the agricultural uses within the unincorporated portions of the County, also known as the 40-acre rule. Mr. Faivre brief reviewed the proposed changes that are incorporated within that Ordinance.

Mr. Plote, Chair of the County Highway Committee, shared that the Committee is recommending approval of two Resolutions. One Resolution is for Township Bridge Funds and the other for a jurisdictional transfer of a portion of Somonauk Road.

County Engineer Nathan Schwartz was virtually present and was able to answer a few highway- related questions that Board Members had in regards to the gas tax increase, another Plank Road speed study, and a recently road project that is taking place on Twombly Road in DeKalb.

Mrs. Emmer, Chair of the Economic Development Committee shared that the Committee had a brief meeting and had no items this month for consideration but they were joined by Chief Deputy Supervisor of Assessments Bridge Nodruft. Ms. Nodruft provided the Committee with an overview of the property assessment cycle.

It was additionally announced that the County has a vacancy on the Board of Review and are continually looking for Alternate Members. Ms. Nodruft is working diligently with the State to try and have a test more local, but at this time there is nothing scheduled.

Mr. Porterfield, Chairman of Health & Human Services Committee shared that the Committee met with DCCMHB Director Deanna Cada to review the Year-End Reports from the Senior Services Tax Levy annual allocations. They also got a first look at what the new online application format will look like for next year. The Committee had no actionable items.

Ms. Leifheit, Chair of the Law & Justice Committee, shared that the Committee did not meet.

Mr. Bagby, Chairman of the Finance Committee, shared that the Committee held the Public Hearing for the FY 2021 Budget, they are forwarding a property tax sale Resolution to the Board, they discussed a couple of future actionable items relating to the Voluntary Action Center of Northern Illinois, COVID-19 impact on County finances was reviewed, and they also forwarded an Ordinance to the full County Board to refinance the 2010A and 2010B Bond Issues.

DeKalb County Treasurer/Collector shared that out of 46,000 parcels, 413 as of today are delinquent. This is right on par with every other year. The Annual Tax Sale is coming up in the next week and at that sale there are usually about 350 parcels.

Mr. Stoddard, Chairman of the Forest Preserve Operations Committee, shared the FPD Superintendent updated the Committee on the various projects that the District is currently working on and that a lot of time and work is going into the newest RiverWood Forest Preserve located in Genoa, Illinois.

County Administrator’s Report

County Administrator Gary Hanson wanted everyone to be aware that in regards of the Bond Refinancing Ordinance, that bond sale will happen the morning of the Board Meeting, October 21st, so Administration will get the Board an updated Ordinance ASAP. The Finance Director will additionally review the numbers at the Board Meeting. He added that it was also confirmed that the County has maintained their Aa1 bond rating.

The GIS Division under IMO has been an iatrical part of the 911 system moving to the Next Generation platform. Last week at the E911 Board Meeting, it was reported that out of 133 different entities that had to submit mapping to the State Administrator, DeKalb County’s GIS data that was submitted was one of 12 that received an excellent rating.

Mr. Hanson reported that Dr. Kimberly Hart of NIU recently provided an Implicit Bias Training to all County Department Heads. Twenty out of 23 Department Heads participated and it was extremely well received. He hopes to schedule some additional training in the coming month for all County Staff and County Board Members. Chairman Pietrowski has additional asked if Mr. Hanson could work with Ms. Deanna Cada to provide this type of training for the whole community under a Town Hall type setting.

The Administration Office has been working for several months on updating the County Code and bringing it in-house to not only simplify the formatting but to also regain the control to update the data in a more timely and cost efficient matter. That project has now been completed and is available on the County’s website.

Mr. Hanson lastly mentioned that he is beginning to shift from looking at future projects to wrapping up many projects by the end of the year.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Mr. Porterfield moved to enter into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing Pending or Probable Litigation per 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11) at 7:56 p.m. Mr. Bagby seconded the motion. Those voting yea were Mr. Bagby, Mr. Campbell, Ms. Crawford, Mrs. Cribben, Mrs. Emmer, Mr. Faivre, Vice-Chair Frieders, Mr. Hughes, Ms. Jones, Mr. Jones, Ms. Leifheit, Ms. Little, Mr. Luebke, Ms. Mann-Lamb, Mr. Osland, Mr. Plote, Mr. Porterfield, Mr. Roman, Ms. Slabon, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. West, Mr. Whelan, Ms. Willis, and Chairman Pietrowski. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

The Committee entered back into their Open Meeting at 8:24 p.m., no action was taken.

ADJOURNMENT

Ms. Slabon moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:25 p.m. Mr. West seconded the motion. Those Members voting yea were Mr. Bagby, Mr. Campbell, Ms. Crawford, Mrs. Cribben, Mrs. Emmer, Mr. Faivre, Vice-Chair Frieders, Mr. Hughes, Ms. Jones, Mr. Jones, Ms. Leifheit, Ms. Little, Mr. Luebke, Ms. Mann-Lamb, Mr. Osland, Mr. Plote, Mr. Porterfield, Mr. Roman, Ms. Slabon, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. West, Mr. Whelan, Ms. Willis, and Chairman Pietrowski. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/min20-cowoct.pdf