DeKalb County, Illinois

Minutes of the
Executive Committee

November 13, 2007

The Executive Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 7:00p.m. at the Administration Building’s Conference Room East. Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias called the meeting to order. Members present were Pat Vary, Eileen Dubin, Julia Fauci, Mike Haines, Bob Rosemier, and Roger Steimel. Ms. LaVigne and Mr. Osborne were absent. The committee asked Mr. Augsburger to sit in for Ms. LaVigne for the County Highway Committee and Mr. Hulseberg to sit in for Mr. Osborne for the Law and Justice Committee. Others present were Ray Bockman, Gary Hanson, Paul Stoddard, Katie Shott, Anita Turner, Jeff Metzger, Sr., Steve Walt, Mike Stuckert and Greg Millburg.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Mr. Steimel, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from October 2007.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Moved by Ms. Fauci, seconded by Mr. Rosemier, and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda as presented.

APPOINTMENTS

Lee Community Fire Protection District: Mr. Tim Brechon, to fill the unexpired term

of Robert Gochee, until 03/01/2009.

911 Emergency Telephone Systems

Board: Fire Chief Bill Riddle (City of Sycamore)

Fire Chief Lanson Russell (City of DeKalb)

Lt. Bill Feithen (City of DeKalb Police Dept.)

Police Chief Rick Olson (City of Sandwich)

All reappointments for terms of 4 years,

until 12/01/2011.

DeKalb County Nursing Home

Foundation Board: Ms. Joy Gullotta, appointment for a term of

3 years, until 12/01/2010.

Housing Authority of the County

Of DeKalb: Ms. Donna Caul, reappointment for a term

of 5 years, until 12/01/2012.

Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Mr. Haines, and it was carried unanimously to forward the appointment to the full board for approval.

Appointments expiring for DECEMBER 2007:

Workforce Investment Act Board – 2 positions

Board of Health – 4 positions

DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center Operating Board – 5 positions

APPROVAL OF THE COUNTY BOARD AGENDA

Mr. Ray Bockman, County Administrator, reviewed the County Board Agenda for the Board Meeting to be held on November 21, 2007. He noted to the there would be a presentation given by Mr. Fred Lantz on “Changes to Audit Standards” that evening at the beginning of the meeting.

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

EXEMPT PERSONNEL STEP PLAN

Mr. Bockman, DeKalb County Administrator, explained that two years ago the evaluation and compensation for exempt employees used to provide that those who qualified for a career step movement was to be tied to C.O.L.A. The Cost of Living was increasing and the board was uncomfortable with that just being an automatic number. Therefore they changed the policy so that annually this committee would decide the percentage of increase that the step plan would amount to. The recommendation tonight is that it be set at 1.5% for FY2008, which is consistent with what other members (non-union, non-exempt employees) are receiving in terms of Merit.

The committee asked Mr. Bockman, what determined the amount of 1.5%?

Mr. Bockman said a combination of factors, including the market conditions, what the cost of living was going to be, etc.

Mr. Bockman reminded the committee that if this committee approves the step plan this evening, it will be part of the budget, not as a separate resolution. It already is included in the budget, he stated.

Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Mr. Steimel, and it was carried unanimously to forward this recommendation to the full board for approval.

HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN UPDATE

Mr. Bockman passed out a copy of the Hazard Mitigation Plan for the County to the committee. He stated that the public meeting was held today at the Legislative Center in the Gathertorium. Most of the people present were the people who served on the committee. He encouraged the board members to take a look at the full plan on our website.

Mr. Bockman explained that the process from this point forward is that the plan has been filed with IEMA and FEMA simultaneously. While you are reviewing it over the next month or two so is IEMA and FEMA. We will not ask you to vote on it, said Mr. Bockman, until both IEMA and FEMA give us feedback. Realistically, we will be asked to adopt the plan in January 2008, he further explained. Once you adopt the plan the County will be covered. Those municipalities and towns that participated with us will be covered as they adopt their plans.

We are required to update this plan every five (5) years. We hope to update it annually so that the five-year update will be a lot easier to do. As you vote on this, your vote will precede any action on the application for the mitigation project on Evergreen Village. We may be reviewing both of these items simultaneously, Mr. Bockman said. We are technically eligible to receive mitigation once until the plan is approved.

We will be accepting public comment on the plan until November 30, 2007.

Mr. Bockman also passed out a Question and Answer sheet provided by Ms. Molly O’Toole, our consultant on the project, that the county board members could use if any of their constituents call them on this issue.

Before moving on to General Discussion, Mr. Metzger, Sr., announced that he would be holding a workshop this Saturday in Sandwich on Computer Technology for Older Adults. He will be holding the seminar with Best Buy to help older adults understand a computers. Best Buy will be offering free financing for a year for computer hardware where they will come to the home and set-up the equipment. The workshop will be held from 10:00am. to 12:00p.m. at Fox Valley Older Adults office.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Ms. Dubin, Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, said that they evaluated the Supervisor of Assessments last month. They will have their monthly meeting tomorrow evening that will have some big items on it.

The committee asked Ms. Dubin if she had any news on Mr. Roger Hopkins resignation and who will be taking his place?

Ms. Dubin said that she met this week with Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Doug Dashner, the Interim Director. They hope to hire a new person by January 2008.

The Corporate Board for the Economic Development Corporation makes the decision on who they hire to replace Mr. Hopkins, explained Mr. Bockman.

Mr. Rosemier, Chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, said that they heard from Ms. Karen Grush, Public Health Director, Ms. Marcy Zanellato of the Health Department and Mr. Dennis Miller, the Coroner and ESDA Director for DeKalb County regarding the County’s Emergency Preparedness Plan. They explained to the committee that they held a Mock Emergency situation at the Convocation Center and they felt it was quite effective. They discussed that the Convocation Center will be the primary site in case of an emergency situation for citizens to go to for dispensing medications and such. They are asking for more volunteers to come forward.

He said that Ms. Grush also brought forth an ordinance regarding various amendments to the DeKalb County Code regarding Animals (Chapter 10).

Mr. Bockman stated that basically the amendment involves changing a registration fee to a tag fee.

Ms. Fauci, Chairman of the Forest Preserve Committee, said that the Forest Preserve Committee passed their tax levy at the full 0.6%. They met with a Mr. Ed Woods with Illinois Parks Association Risk Services, because they are discussing their TORT fund and trying to get more in line with the Health Department’s. They are also looking at the IMRF, which has been under funded.

Mr. Augsburger, Vice-Chairman of the County Highway Committee, said that they discussed the bid award for a bridge project that is on the county board agenda this evening. They are looking into the future about charging for overweight permits and a possible new interchange on I-88 that may take place in the next 10 to 15 years near Hinckley Road.

Mr. Haines, Chairman of the Finance Committee, said that they discussed the FY2008 budget and tax levy and forwarded them to the full board for approval. The Plan for the Jail also included the Criminal Justice System with a commitment to stay on the Sycamore Campus for the next fifty years. The Plan addressed questions that people had and it does put aside money for the jail and operating costs without making any cuts to the budget. Please read the minutes from the Finance Committee and the information on the Plan.

Ms. Fauci, asked if mental health inmates could be separated, has there been any talk about this?

Mr. Haines said that at the last meeting Ms. Liz Carney, Director of the Mental Health Board, said that is was not far-fetched to look at future housing for mental health inmates.

Mr. Haines said that they also discussed the Pilot Spay and Neutering Program for the Health Department. It was agreed by the committee to allocate monies for the program in the budget, but not to be spent on it until the county board could come up with a plan.

Mr. Hulseberg, a Member of the Law and Justice Committee, said that they heard from Mr. Andersen who requested that they place Public Comment on their agenda from now on. He said that he had received an email from an alderman from the City of Sycamore who requested that the public be heard from the citizens that live around the Sycamore Campus and the recent escaped inmates issue.

They also heard from Ms. Stromborg on a Drug Court Update. She stated that they celebrated their one-year anniversary this fall.

Mr. Steimel, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Committee said that his committee discussed the small wind turbine request that is mentioned on the county board agenda.

Mr. Steimel also stated that the Stormwater Management Committee – Phase II, met last week and elected Mr. Paul Miller as the Chairman and Mr. Mark Biernacki as the Vice-Chairman. Their first item for discussion is for each member to draw-up a list of priorities.

Chairman Tobias announced that there will be an Art Faculty Art Show at NIU on December 8, 2007. She also announced a seminar on New Partners for Smart Growth that she was encouraging any county board member to attend. It will be held from February 7 through the 9^th, 2008. See Chairman Tobias if you are interested in attending.

Chairman Tobias also mentioned an email that she received regarding the new grading of DeKalb County schools and the awards that the local City of DeKalb schools received. The DeKalb Schools are very well pleased with their standings.

Chairman Tobias mentioned another item - that the State Treasurer holds an annual meeting for Smart Women Smart Money and Mary Supple, DeKalb County Coordinator, contacted them that we would not be able to attend, but would they be interested in holding their meeting here in DeKalb County next year? They stated, yes they would and that we will be examining this further to try and set up a one-day affair in the spring of 2008.

She then stated that she will be attending a meeting tomorrow on the Great Lakes Water Wars.

She said that she and Mr. Bockman have been discussing the Tribal Agreement and they hope to bring it to the full board at the end of this month with the county board members being able to review the agreement through the month of December. They would like to have a workshop on the same evening of the January 9, 2008 Executive Committee meeting with a Public Hearing to be held the very next evening on January 10th.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

It was moved by Pat Vary and seconded by Julia Fauci to go into executive session to discuss personnel issues. A roll call vote was taken all members voted aye.

It was moved by Robert Rosemier and seconded by Pat Vary to return to open session. A roll call vote was taken with all members voting aye.

It was moved by Pat Vary and seconded by Julia Fauci to grant the following Exceptional Performance recognitions for FY 2007: Gary Hanson $2,500 (also encouraged to resubmit geothermal project when energy savings are verified); Terry Hannan $2,000; Joan Berkes-Hanson $3,000; Paul Miller $2,500; and William Lorence $4,000. The motion was approved unanimously.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved by Roger Steimel and seconded by Eileen Dubin to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

______________________________

Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias

__________________________

Mary C. Supple, Secretary