Executive Minutes - October 12, 2004

DeKalb County, Illinois

Minutes of the
Executive Committee

October 12, 2004

The Executive Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Tuesday, October 12, 2004 @ 8:00 p.m. at the Administration Building’s Conference Room East. Chairman Dennis Sands called the meeting to order. Members present were Marlene Allen, Sue Leifheit, Jeff Metzger, John Wilson, Roger Steimel and Ruth Anne Tobias. Others present were Ray Bockman, Gary Hanson, Steve Slack, Greg Millburg, Pat LaVigne, Robert Rosemier, Julia Fauci, Eric Johnson and Eileen Dubin.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Chairman Sands said that there was a request from Board Member Bob Rosemier to make small changes to the minutes tonight. On page 3, first paragraph he wanted to change it to read “Open Space Ad Hoc…” and then cross out “system”. He also stated on the fourth line down to insert “sure is Mr. Acardo…..” and then strike out “an undergraduate is eligible to be able to sit on and Ad Hoc Committee because of not having the…” The last strike out would be the sixth line where “they” is and insert he. (See sheet attached to these minutes.)

Moved by Ms. Leifheit, seconded by Mr. Steimel, and it was carried to accept the minutes of the September 2004 meeting as amended.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Chairman Sands said that the agenda needed to include item #6A. Approval of the County Board Agenda. He also said that under the Executive Session the committee will be discussing the three staff members that are up for the exceptional performance and the evaluation of Mr. Bockman.

Moved by Mr. Metzger, seconded by Mr. Steimel, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended agenda.

APPOINTMENTS

Chairman Sands recommended the following appointments:

Housing Authority of DeKalb County: Ms. Mary Olson, reappointment for a term of 5 years, until 11/01/2009.

911 Emergency Telephone

System Board: Mr. Robert Rosemier, reappointment for a term of 2 years, until 11/01/2006.

Moved by Mr. Steimel, seconded by Ms. Allen, and it was carried

unanimously to approve the appointments as presented by Chairman Sands, and to forward them to the full board for approval.

Moved by Ms. Leifheit, seconded by Ms. Tobias, and it was carried unanimously to forward the resolution to the full board for approval.

AD HOC RULES REVIEW COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

Mr. Eric Johnson, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Rules Review Committee, said that he didn’t have the updated copy with him tonight but that there were some more changes to the draft rules - to what was included in the committee mailing. He stated that these draft recommendations to the county board rules were reviewed by the State’s Attorney and he, in turn, sent changes back to the committee to make to the proposal. The corrections will be made and sent out with the county board packet.

Mr. Johnson further explained that when going into closed sessions, we have to comply with state laws and will change the wording to include “the conduct of an executive or closed session and the taking and maintenance of minutes of such sessions shall be in accordance with all applicable state statutes.”

Mr. Johnson said that when the chairman and vice-chairman are not present, “the chairmen of one of the county board standing committees shall preside over the meeting….this person shall be the chairman of the administrative services committee, planning and regulations” and so on.

His committee also agreed that the chairman shall vote last from now on, too.

On page 4 it was discussed that the Vice-Chairman of the Board can be Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee. The Vice-Chairman of the Board can also be a Chairman of a standing committee. Mr. Johnson further stated that a person can be Vice-Chairman of the Board without being a Chairman of a standing committee, too.

After further discussion Ms. Leifheit said that she would like to see the final proposal of changes and then bring them back to this committee for the recommendation to send on to the full board for approval. Mr. Johnson said that he would include the final proposal in this month’s packet for the full board to see.

The committee also discussed the change in the voting at a county board meeting. What is being suggested is that wherever the board ends up at the last board meeting for voting members, that the next person would begin the voting on items at the next county board meeting. For example, if Ms. Fauci ended up being the last person to vote on an item at the September meeting, then at the October county board meeting Ms. Fullerton would be the first person to begin voting at the roll call vote in the next meeting. This voting system would also be used at special county board meetings and workshops. (Please see page 2 of the final proposal attached to these minutes.)

Mr. Metzger asked if these rules apply to the Forest Preserve Committee too? The committee said yes, that it does, they would think so.

The committee also discussed the change on page 3 about the Chairmen of standing committees that are responsible to ensure committee minutes are run in accordance with all applicable rules…….. Ms. Leifheit said that she doesn’t “dog” the secretary to get the minutes done, do we want that responsibility? Mr. Johnson said that what the committee was thinking that there will be times when a secretary can’t make the meeting and at that time the chairman would be responsible to have the minutes and reports go out on time.

The questions that were raised this evening will be included in the final draft of the Ad Hoc Rules Review Recommendations.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Mr. Metzger, Chairman of the Forest Preserve Committee, said that they will be meeting in Sannuak Forest Preserve this month. He said that the Ad Hoc Open Space Study Committee is meeting Thursday, October 21, 2004 @ 7:00p.m. at the Administration Building Conference Room East. He said that the resolution for the FY2005 Budget to be Placed On File would be included in the packet this month.

Mr. Steimel, Chairman of the Planning and Regulations Committee, said that the committee was recommending the denial of the Watne Rezoning item. They were finalizing the changes to the Zoning Ordinance and they will be holding a public hearing on it.

Ms. Leifheit, Chairman of the Administrative Services Committee, said that they will be forwarding the FY2005 Budget to the full board to be placed on file for public inspection.

Mr. Wilson, Chairman of the Public Infrastructure and Development Committee said that under Ordinance 2004-33 they are suggesting a revision of an ordinance that has been on the books for 25 years. The combined efforts by the County, the Sheriff and County Engineer for road postings and weight limits helped with the revisions. It would lift the 54,000-pound restriction to 73,280 pounds on all roads but 3. Those roads would be certain sections on Perry Road, West Suydam Road and Shabbona Road. Mr. Wilson also explained that the resolution to the state legislators came about after the county was informed that the State Police would consider current overweight permits being issued for divisible loads by the County Engineer as null and void. The County Engineer asked for an opinion from the State’s Attorney on this issue. The proposed draft resolution included in the packet would request that Springfield review this situation and allow the County Engineers to issue overweight permits for divisible loads on county roads when appropriate.

Mr. Wilson also said that the Highway Department will be paying off their loan and that the current budget will be adjusted to reflect that payoff.

Ms. Tobias, Chairman of the Public Policy Committee, said that they are reviewing the legislative agenda items and that they would not be bringing the agenda to the full board until the new board members are seated in December. She also said that they are recommending the Industrial Hemp resolution to the full board for approval that would allow secured research to be done by the University of Illinois.

Ms. Allen, Chairman of the Public Services Committee, said that her committee discussed the National Incident Management System (NIMS) resolution from the ESDA Department and were also forwarding the annual extension of the board of review.

APPROVAL OF THE COUNTY BOARD AGENDA

Mr. Bockman, County Administrator, reviewed the county board agenda for the board meeting to be held on October 20, 2004.

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.

Mr. Hanson asked if there should be resolutions for the G.I.S. Fee Increase and the Law Library Increase? Ms. Leifheit said that she felt the fee increases were approved with the budget and that a resolution was not needed. The committee agreed with her.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

Moved by Mr. Wilson, seconded by Ms. Tobias, and it was carried unanimously per a roll call vote to move into executive session to discuss personnel.

Moved by Mr. Metzger, seconded by Mr. Steimel, and it was carried unanimously per a roll call vote to return to open session @ 9:30p.m.

Moved by Mr. Wilson, seconded by Mr. Steimel, and it was carried unanimously to recommend the bonuses for the 3 department heads for exceptional performance. Those individuals and amounts were Mr. Hanson for $5,900, Mr. Miller for $4,700 and Mr. Hannan for $5,200.

Moved by Mr. Wilson, seconded by Mr. Steimel, and it was carried unanimously to increase Mr. Bockman’s salary as follows: 1.9% COLA and 1.9% merit increase.

ADJOURNMENT

Moved by Ms. Leifheit, seconded by Mr. Metzger, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 9:35p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

_________________________________

Chairman Dennis R. Sands

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Mary C. Supple, Secretary