DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Committee of the Whole Met April 14.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

The Committee of the Whole of the DeKalb County Board virtually met via Zoom. Chairman John Frieders 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. Mary Cozad, Mrs. Karen Cribben, Mr. Bill Cummings, Mr. Patrick Deutsch, Mrs. Laurie Emmer, Mr. Steve Faivre, Mrs. Kathy Lampkins, Ms. Dianne Leifheit, Ms. Maureen Little, Mr. Jim Luebke, Ms. Terri Mann-Lamb, Mr. Neill Mohammad, Mr. Roy Plote, Mr. Craig Roman, Ms. Linda Slabon, Mr. Larry West, Vice-Chair Suzanne Willis, and Chairman John Frieders. Those Members absent were Ms. Rukisha Crawford, Mr. Tim Hughes, Ms. Kiara Jones, and Mr. Jerry Osland. A quorum was established with twenty Members present and four absent at the time of roll call.

Others present included Brian Gregory, Derek Hiland, Nathan Schwartz, Becky Springer, David Berault, Jim Hutcheson, and Brad Belanger.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

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

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Ms. Cozad moved to approve the minutes from the March 10, 2021 Committee of the Whole Meeting. Mrs. Cribben seconded the motion as presented. Those voting yea were Mr. Bagby, Mr. Campbell, Ms. Cozad, Mrs. Cribben, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Deutsch, Mrs. Emmer, Mr. Faivre, Mrs. Lampkins, Ms. Leifheit, Ms. Little, Mr. Luebke, Ms. Mann Lamb, Mr. Mohammad, Mr. Plote, Mr. Roman, Ms. Slabon, Mr. West, Vice-Chair Willis, and Chairman Frieders. All Members present voted yea. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Mr. Brad Belanger of South Grove Township shared some information to the Board regarding the proposed legislation that could have some negative impact on DeKalb County and other Counties in the future. He further reviewed information about Senate Bill 1602 and how it would strip zoning authority from local government control and give it to the State. He also expressed concern that the State will continue to relinquish power from local levels of government.

Mr. Belanger thanked the County Board for their consideration of opposing Senate Bill 1602 and any other bills with similar language.

Mr. Jerry Osland arrived at 7:08. The roll now reflects twenty-one Members present and three absent.

CHAIR’S COMMENTS

Chairman Frieders reminded the Board Members that in May he would like to move the Committee of the Whole / Executive Committees as well at the full County Board Meeting towards a hybrid meeting model and encouraged Members to begin attending meetings in-person. The meetings will be physically held in the Legislative Center’s Gathertorium but the Zoom option will still be available to the public and to Board Members.

PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS

County Highway Annual Report

County Engineer Nathan F. Schwartz, P.E. joined the Committee and presented a PowerPoint presentation outlining and depicting his 2020 County Highway Annual Report.

Reports from Committee Chairs

Mr. Faivre, Chair of the Planning & Zoning Committee, reported that the Committee had no items and that they have a couple Public Hearings scheduled for May.

Mr. Plote, Chair of the County Highway Committee, shared that the Committee is recommending approval of seven Resolutions and one Ordinance. He briefly reviewed all of the business items. He also shared that during the pandemic many people didn’t drive their vehicles as much and MFT funds were way down. Those funds are starting to come back now.

Mrs. Emmer, Chair of the Economic Development Committee shared that the Committee did not meet this month and had nothing to report.

Mrs. Cribben, Vice-Chair of Health & Human Services Committee shared that the Committee held two meetings this month to conduct their annual Senior Services Tax Levy Allocation Hearings. Although the Hearings were complete, the Committee was not yet ready to decide on allocation distributions. At their second meeting of the month, they had a Public Hearing for the Voluntary Action Center’s 5311 Grant Application. The Committee forwarded a Resolution to the full Board recommending the approval of the FY 2022 5311 Grant Agreement.

Ms. Leifheit, Chair of the Law & Justice Committee, shared that the Committee received a report from State’s Attorney Rick Amato. The Courthouse has outfitted Courtroom 100 with all of the necessary precautions to beginning conducting trials again. The trials will be held via Zoom and will additionally be livestreamed through the County’s Website as well. Ms. Leifheit lastly shared that Chief Joyce Klein will be retiring in May after 40+ years of service to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.

Mr. Bagby, Chairman of the Finance Committee, shared that the Committee received background information on the American Rescue Plan Act and with that discussed a Memorandum of Understanding between the County and the Rehab & Nursing Center Operating Board for internal borrowing of funds for the Nursing Home. Since the pandemic, the Nursing Home has experienced a very significant decrease in census numbers which also equals a substantial loss of revenue.

Note: These minutes are not official until approved by the Committee of the Whole at a subsequent meeting. Please refer to the meeting minutes when these minutes are approved to obtain any changes to these minutes.

Mr. Roman, Chairman of the Forest Preserve Operations Committee, shared that the Committee had a hybrid meeting through Zoom and in-person at the Natural Resource Education Center at Russell Woods in Genoa, IL. They received updates on the entrance paving project at Russell Woods, the culvert replacement on the Great Western Trail and the Great Western Trail Extension. The Committee’s next meeting will be held as an in-person only meeting at Afton Forest Preserve.

County Administrator’s Report

County Administrator Brian Gregory provided a brief reiteration of what the American Rescue Act Plan is and explained that it is an ongoing subject he will be monitoring.

Mr. Gregory additionally briefly reviewed the new proposed timeline of the Courthouse Reconfiguration Project.

∙ 05/05/2021 Finance Committee Reviews Estimated Budgets

∙ 06/02/2021 Finance Committee Considers Resolution Approving Project

∙ 06/16/2021 Resolution is forwarded to County Board for Action

∙ July-October 2021 Phasing and staging plans/diagrams are finalized

∙ November 2021 The project is put out to bid

∙ January 2022 Bids are approved

∙ Feb/March 2022 Construction begins (takes 5-6 months)

Mr. Gregory briefly reviewed sales tax. With the lag, the latest numbers are from December 2020. If one was to look at December of 2020 compared to December of 2019, the County’s receipts are down 3.08% and it looks like that is the closest it has been to the prior year since the pandemic, which is a good sign.

He lastly thanked IMO for their work in preparing the Gathertorium to hold Hybrid County Board Meetings in order to get the Board in the direction of beginning to meet again in-person.

ADJOURNMENT

Mr. Luebke moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:24 p.m. Mr. Cummings seconded the motion. Those Members voting yea were Mr. Bagby, Mr. Campbell, Ms. Cozad, Mrs. Cribben, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Deutsch, Mrs. Emmer, Mr. Faivre, Mr. Hughes, Mrs. Lampkins, Ms. Leifheit, Ms. Little, Mr. Luebke, Ms. Mann-Lamb, Mr. Mohammad, Mr. Plote, Mr. Roman, Ms. Slabon, Mr. West, Vice-Chair Willis, and Chairman Frieders. All Members presented voted yea. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/min21-cowapr.pdf