DeKalb County, Illinois

Minutes of the
Executive Committee

January 11, 2005

The Executive Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 @ 7:00p.m. at the Legislative Center’s Liberty Room. Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias called the meeting to order. Members present were Frank Van Buer, Julia Fauci, Roger Steimel, Pat LaVigne, Steve Slack, Robert Rosemier and Sue Leifheit. Mr. Metzger and Mr. Sands were absent. Others present were Ray Bockman, Gary Hanson, Eileen Dubin, Vince Faivre, Diane Strand, Greg Millburg and Anita Turner.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Moved by Ms. Leifheit, seconded by Mr. Steimel, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from December 2004.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Moved by Ms. Fauci, seconded by Mr. Van Buer, and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda.

APPOINTMENTS

Chairman Tobias recommended the following appointments:

DeKalb County Community

Mental Health Board: Ms. Julia Fullerton, reappointment for a term of 4 years, until 2/01/2009.

DeKalb County Rehab &

Nursing Center Operating

Board: All Reappointments

Mr. Blake Richter

Ms. Eileen Dubin

Mr. George Daugherty

Ms. Jeannette Heinisch

Mr. Nate Kloster

Ms. Ruth Anne Tobias

All reappointments for a one year term, until 02/01/2006.

Metropolitan Planning

Organization: Ms. Eileen Dubin for an indefinite term.

Moved by Mr. Van Buer, seconded by Mr. Slack, and it was carried unanimously to approve the appointments as presented by Chairman Tobias, and to forward them to the full board for approval.

Mr. Rosemier asked if the committee could get a heads-up notice about the upcoming appointments scheduled for the next month. Chairman Tobias said that it would be okay to do that.

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

Chairman Tobias said that it was decided at the public policy committee last year that they would wait until the new board members were seated in December 2004 before forwarding the resolution to the full board for adoption of the legislative agenda. Chairman Tobias said she decided to bring the items to this committee to review and forward to the full board for approval.

She reviewed the items on the legislative agenda list and the committee discussed whether or not to leave them on the list or not. Some of the highlighted items were the request from the Sheriff’s Department asking to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code to allow the Sheriff’s Office or County to be reimbursed for the costs of storing, processing and selling vehicles forfeited from convicted habitual drunk drivers in certain situations. Another item the Sheriff asked for was for cities and towns to share in the medical cost for inmates confined in the county jail due to an arrest in their jurisdiction. Another agenda item is to develop legislation to grant counties the right to initiate and put on a local ballot the Purchase of Development Rights program to further farmland preservation. Another item was for employees with a pattern of absenteeism who call in sick on the last day of employment - there should be no unemployment benefits awarded. In item #11 it is asking to support legislation to raise or index the Motor Fuel Tax to the price of fuel or generate local tax to cover decreasing MFT revenue. Mr. Bockman said that this is referring to the Gas Tax and that Kane County has one. Finally, item #12 is seeking support for state funding for the Public Defender’s office and the Jail, and other court system functions because of NIU’s presence in the county (this is similar to the increased funds that the State’s Attorney’s Office receives).

Some of the concerns that the committee discussed were, whether or not the purchase of development rights should be on the agenda? Chairman Tobias said that we could forward all of the legislative agenda items to the full board for approval and they could amend the resolution by removing one or more items.

Moved by Ms. Leifheit, seconded by Ms. LaVigne, and it was carried to forward this recommendation to the full board for approval. Mr. Steimel voted no because he did not support the gas tax item (#11).

APPROVAL OF THE COUNTY BOARD AGENDA

Mr. Ray Bockman, County Administrator, reviewed the county board agenda for the board meeting to be held on January 19, 2005.

Moved by Mr. Steimel, seconded by Ms. Leifheit, and it was carried unanimously to forward the county board agenda to the full board for approval.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Mr. Steimel, Chairman of the Planning & Zoning Committee, stated that his committee hosted the public hearing on the proposed zoning changes. It was well attended and there were many present who were concerned about the proposed wording change of “legal non-conforming parcels”. The committee asked Mr. Miller to ask legal counsel to research this wording change. Mr. Steimel stated that this proposed wording change would affect hundreds of homes in the county. He also said that there will be a hearing held this Thursday on the request from the Aurora Sportsmen Club.

Mr. Slack, Vice-Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, said that they reviewed the Public Infrastructure and Development Sub-Committee’s Report from last year. They also discussed committee goals and the possibility of adding on a Grant Acquisition position at the county and also hiring a lobbyist. There will also be a resolution coming to the board regarding the Industrial Incentive Agreement with the City of Sycamore. He mentioned that the Sycamore School District had approved a modified version of the agreement.

Ms. Fauci asked Mr. Bockman how many clawbacks were included in the agreement? Mr. Bockman said that there was a 10-year clawback.

Ms. Leifheit, Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee, reviewed what her committee discussed at the January 2005 meeting. She said that Mr. Matekaitis, DeKalb County State’s Attorney, informed them that his office had been awarded a grant that enabled him to hire two new staff members, one being a prosecutor and the other one is for an investigator.

Ms. Fauci, Chairman of the Forest Preserve Committee, said that they would be forwarding a resolution to the full board regarding a bid award for the skid-steer loader which is replacing a 29 year old one. She also said that they would be attending the hearing on the Aurora Sportmen’s Club to discuss a 15’ easement along Preserve Road and their concern for Waterman to grow further west. They also discussed the chronic wasting disease that deer get and that they received money for a wetland bank.

Mr. Rosemier, Chairman of the Health & Human Services Committee, said that they discussed the committees’ mission statement and goals. He said that Ms. Olson presented her reports that will be included with Health & Human Services minutes. Ms. Olson also reviewed the timeline for the Senior Tax Levy Hearing schedule. He encouraged department heads to bring to the committee’s attention their needs that they would like to see met. Mr. Rosemier will also talk to some of the clinics about the problem of doctors that are leaving the State of Illinois because of malpractice insurance rates. Finally, he mentioned that Ms. Olson suggested a few boards that could visit with the committee over the next year were: Senior Services, Networking for Families and the Housing Authority.

Before adjourning Chairman Tobias mentioned to the committee that she is looking for another person to send the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference scheduled for March. She asked that any board member could notify her if they are interested in attending.

ADJOURNMENT

Moved by Ms. Leifheit, seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

______________________________

Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias

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Mary C. Supple, Secretary