DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Committee of the Whole met Aug. 11.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

The Committee of the Whole of the DeKalb County Board met in the Legislative Center’s  Gathertorium. Chairman John Frieders called the meeting to  order at 7:00 p.m. Those Members present were Mr. Tim Bagby, Mr. Scott Campbell, Ms. Mary  Cozad, Ms. Rukisha Crawford, Mr. Bill Cummings, Mr. Patrick Deutsch, Mrs. Laurie Emmer,  Mr. Steve Faivre, Ms. Kiara Jones, Mrs. Kathy Lampkins, Ms. Dianne Leifheit, Ms. Terri Mann Lamb, Mr. Neill Mohammad, Mr. Craig Roman, Vice-Chair Suzanne Willis, and Chairman John  Frieders. Those absent were Mrs. Karen Cribben, Mr. Tim Hughes, Ms. Maureen Little, Mr. Jim  Luebke, Mr. Jerry Osland, Mr. Roy Plote, Ms. Linda Slabon, and Mr. Larry West. A quorum was  established with sixteen Members present and eight absent.  

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA  

It was moved by Mr. Faivre, seconded by Ms. Mann-Lamb and it was carried unanimously  by voice vote to approve the agenda as presented.  

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES  

It was moved by Ms. Cozad, seconded by Mrs. Emmer and it was carried unanimously to  approve the minutes of the June 9, 2021 Committee of the Whole Meeting.  

Mr. Roy Plote arrived. There were now seventeen Members present and seven absent.  

PUBLIC COMMENTS  

Ms. Katherine Andraski, Franklin Township, addressed the Board regarding taking DeKalb  County’s prime farmland and turning it into an industrial electric generating plant by installing  solar farms. Ms. Andraski requested the Board to seriously consider limiting the number of acres  slated for industrial electric generating plants in DeKalb County.  

Mr. Jamie Walter, 5th generation farmer in DeKalb, Illinois, shared that he has land in the  proposed Red Maple solar project. He addressed the Board on how DeKalb County has always  been known for its agricultural innovations. He also described how he sees corn on his farm as  nothing more than a biological solar panel. Corn captures the sun, stores it in the form of energy  until it can be processed, and is released for use in cars (ethanol). He questioned what the  difference was between a solar panel module and a biological corn plant. They both are  converting the sun into energy and a solar panel module does it about 15-times more efficiently.  He lastly described how the land these proposed solar projects would be on would be leased and  how they would be protected by the panels and returned back to farmland after the life of the  projects.  

Mr. Larry Forsberg, South Grove Township, shared he recently communicated with Max  Armstrong (an American agriculture broadcaster from Chicago, Illinois). He shared that Max  said, “I personally think it’s a scourge when they (solar panels) are improperly placed. To locate them on some of the most productive farmland on the planet is a terrible misuse of our natural  resources. Now I am an outsider, and I have no vested interest. I fully understand that some  people would salivate over the rates that are being offered versus the farmland cash rental rates  that they can get. But as a member of society, Larry, I absolutely feel that these systems should  be confined to land that has little agricultural productivity. Instead, they seem to be placing them  where it is easiest to tie into the electrical grid.” Mr. Forsberg continued to share that he believes  that the County’s Elected Officials and Hearing Officer need to continue to do their research on  solar so they can make the most educated, scientific, and economic decisions for all of the  County.  

Mr. Kevin Adelman, Leeward, addressed the Board regarding the potential County-Wide acreage  limitation for Solar Energy Systems. He shared that based on the electrical infrastructure, there is  already a natural limit on the number of solar projects that there can be in one area.  

CHAIR’S COMMENTS  

Chairman Frieders announced that with the unanimous support of the Republican Precinct  Committeepersons, he will be recommending the appointment of Andrew Sullivan as DeKalb  County Sheriff to fill the unexpired term of Roger Scott until November 30, 2022.  

PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS  

 Reports from Committee Chairs  

Mr. Faivre, Chair of the Planning & Zoning Committee, reported that the Committee forwarded  an Ordinance to the full Board recommending the approval of a Zoning Map Amendment for  Arneson Oil in Sandwich.  

Mr. Plote, Chair of the County Highway Committee, shared that the Committee recommended  approval of six Resolutions. He briefly reviewed each of the action items. There were a few  Local Agency Agreements with the State, purchase of some new equipment, and the  establishment of two Class II Truck Routes.  

Mrs. Emmer, Chair of the Economic Development Committee shared that Chief County  Assessment Officer Bridget Nodurft came to the Committee requesting an incremental increase  in the fee that is collected to product a Commercial Data Report. Unfortunately, the Committee  could not come to an agreement on how to incrementally come to the desired $100.00 fee, so the  item was tabled until next meeting. Ms. Nodurft also provided the Committee with her 2020  Annual Report.  

Ms. Crawford, Chair of Health & Human Services Committee shared that the Committee  unanimously forwarded a Resolution to the full Board recommending the approval of a Pass Through Agreement with the Voluntary Action Center. This is an agreement that has been in  place for many years but is now being formalized for the State.  

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

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. Bagby, Chairman of the Finance Committee, shared that the Committee reviewed and  recommended the approval of a one-year Auditing Services Proposal from Sikich LLP. They also  forwarded a Resolution establishing an Audit Selection and Rotation Policy for the County. Sikich  was present and presented the Audit for the Fiscal Year ending December 31, 2020.  

Mr. Roman, Chairman of the Forest Preserve Operations Committee, shared that the Committee  met at the Chief Shabbona Forest Preserve where they received a report from the Shabbona  Pathway Committee. The Committee additionally forwarded a Resolution that was needed in  order to accept a $10,000 donation from ComEd’s Green Region Grant Program. The donation is  for the partnership for the Riverwood Forest Preserve Prairie Restoration Project.  

 County Administrator’s Report  

County Administrator Brian Gregory shared a few additional comments about the County’s FY  2020 Audit that was presented at the Finance Committee earlier in the month.  

Mr. Gregory shared that he is currently in the midst of the FY 2022 Budget Process. Staff begins  to get together their budget requests and Administration puts that into the form of a draft to  present to the Board. Each of the Committees will have an opportunity throughout the month of  late-September and October to review their respective Departments’ budget requests and ask any  questions they may have to better understand the budget as a whole. Mr. Gregory additionally  reviewed with the Board some efficiencies that he has implemented in this budget process and  how the overall look and feel brings more transparency and user-friendliness to the finished  product.  

Census data is anticipated to begin being released next week. From what has been said, Mr.  Gregory thought that very raw data will be released around the 16th of August and the numbers  will be formalized by the end of the month. This will begin the process of County Board  Redistricting is anticipated to take place in a couple months.  

Chairman Frieders added that Public Health Administrator Lisa Gonzalez will be attending the  August County Board Meeting to provide a situational update on the COVID-19 pandemic.  

ADJOURNMENT  

It was moved by Mr. Roman, seconded by Mrs. Emmer, and it was carried unanimously to  adjourn the meeting at 7:38 p.m.  

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/min21-cowaug.pdf