Citizens' Community Enhancement Commission

Regular Meeting

DeKalb, IL · February 16, 2016

Minutes

MINUTES MEETING OF THE CITIZENS’ COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT COMMISSION CITY OF DEKALB February 16, 2016 The Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission (CCEC) of the City of DeKalb, Illinois held a regular meeting on Tuesday, February 16, 2016 in the Haish Conference Room of the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois. In response to unknown attendance of Chair Susan Johnson, Management Analyst Jared Heyn requested attendees select a temporary chair to oversee the meeting. Motion was made by Mike Mooney to select Cohen Barnes as Temporary Chair, motion was seconded by Camyle Tate. Motion carried on voice vote. The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m. ROLL CALL Roll was recorded by Deputy City Clerk Tammey Higgins, and the following members of the Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission were present: Susan Johnson (arrived at 4:07 p.m.), Cohen Barnes, Bob Boey, Mike Mooney, Camyle Tate, and Deborah Booth. Absent were Brad Hoey, Brad Pietens, and Lisa Small. Also present were: Management Analyst Jared Heyn and Deputy City Clerk Tammey Higgins. In addition, Alex Nerad, Executive Director of the Egyptian Theatre, was present. Discussion occurred relating to the arrival of Chair Johnson; she deferred to Temporary Chair Barnes continuing position through the meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION Mr. Mooney moved to approve the Agenda; seconded by Ms. Tate. Motion carried on voice vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION Mr. Boey moved to approve the minutes for November, 2015; seconded by Mr. Mooney. Motion carried on voice vote. BUSINESS 1. America’s Best Communities Update Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission February 16, 2016 Page 2 of 3 Temporary Chair Barnes provided attendees with an update on the America’s Best Communities (ABC) Competition. He also asked attendees to consider how the Commission could “plug” into the ABC task and move forward. He referenced Mr. Alex Nerad’s involvement with the Arts, Culture and Entertainment Corridor (ACE) initiative which was going before City Council at the February 22, 2016 Council Meeting. He advised that Mr. Nerad would provide attendees with additional information relating to ACE later in the meeting. Temporary Chair Barnes then passed out a summary sheet of the ABC effort and provided a refresher on the beginning of this competition with the establishment of the DeKalb Revitalization Plan and the current status of the effort. He shared that the City had progressed to being one of the top 15 candidates and that selected members would be traveling to Durham, North Carolina to submit a ten-minute presentation on April 27, 2016, and a question response period of five minutes. Temporary Chair Barnes further advised that the top 8 candidates will receive $100,000 to further fund their community initiatives. He shared that participants were “moving the ball forward as fast and hard as they can” to impress the judges. Attendee discussion occurred throughout addressing concerns and clarifications relating to information provided. Temporary Chair Barnes advised that the teams working on the seven projects listed on the summary sheet were beginning to weave tighter. Mr. Mooney clarified that each of the seven projects has a champion to coordinate the efforts. Temporary Chair Barnes then proceeded to address the seven projects. With the exception of No. 1 (ACE Corridor), he provided background information on each item, examples of approaches being considered by each team, and additional informational commentary. He provided comments on No. 6 (Branding and Marketing) from the aspect of being the head of the team. Stickers of the #ProudlyDeKalb.com logo were provided to attendees. Discussion and commentary on each project occurred. Mr. Nerad provided background on the project he headed, No. 1 ACE Corridor. He commented on existence of 40 different types of venues located in DeKalb. He stated that a request to adopt the ACE Corridor was being submitted to the City Council on February 22, 2016. He advised attendees that DeKalb was not recognized for having these types of resources and that companies looking to relocate operations took this type of resource into consideration for their employee base. Discussion followed encompassing different aspects of the ACE Corridor, the identification of the three primary entities (City, County, and NIU), and the current focus of the project team. Additional discussion ensued encompassing possibility of winning competition; underlying aspect that action not really about seven things, more about actually transforming how community interacts; clarification on #ProudlyDeKalb; further effects of components of each project. Temporary Chair Barnes appealed to attendees to consider the competition as a call to action, how to become engaged, write to the Mayor to encourage support, work with the Arts Council, and provide direction which has some weight to it. Chair Johnson called for a motion for the Commission to submit a letter to the Mayor and Council in support of the ACE Corridor consideration. Temporary Chair Barnes so motioned and was seconded by Ms. Tate. Motion carried on voice vote. Chair Johnson was to provide a letter to staff for submittal to Council at the February 22, 2016 Council meeting. Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission February 16, 2016 Page 3 of 3 Mr. Nerad and Mr. Boey excused themselves from the meeting at 5:10 p.m. Continued discussion regarding multiple ideas relating to the ABC effort continued. Temporary Chair Barnes stated that there were 30 days until the next meeting of the CCEC and challenged attendees to share what they had done during that time, he urged them to go online for information, follow what activities were happening, and engage in anything that appealed to them personally. He also advised attendees that a Town Hall meeting concerning the ABC effort was scheduled for March 24th at the Egyptian Theatre. 2. Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission Involvement in #ProudlyDeKalb Initiative Discussion intertwined in Item 1. above. 3. Discuss Arts, Culture, and Entertainment (ACE) Corridor Participation Discussion intertwined in Item 1. above. 4. Project Liquid Sunshine Update No action taken. ADJOURNMENT MOTION Mr. Mooney moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Ms. Tate. Motion carried on voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m. ____________________________________ TAMMEY HIGGINS, DEPUTY CLERK Approved by Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission Approved March 21, 2016

Agenda

Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission Regular Meeting Agenda February 16, 2016 4:00 p.m. DeKalb Municipal Building PLEASE NOTE LOCATION Haish Conference Room, Second Floor Our mission statement: We will listen to the community to identify, develop and test initiatives to improve the quality of life. We will develop public/private partnerships to implement sustainable initiatives. CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF AGENDA (ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS) APPROVAL OF MINUTES - November 2015 regular meeting BUSINESS - America’s Best Communities Update - CCEC Involvement in #ProudlyDeKalb initiative - Discuss Arts, Culture, and Entertainment (ACE) Corridor Participation - Project Liquid Sunshine Update ADJOURNMENT Assistive services will be provided upon request MINUTES MEETING OF THE CITIZENS’ COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT COMMISSION CITY OF DEKALB November 16, 2015 The Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission (CCEC) of the City of DeKalb, Illinois held a regular meeting on Monday, November 16, 2015 in the Ellwood Conference Room of the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois. The meeting was called to order at 4:25 p.m. ROLL CALL Roll was recorded by Deputy City Clerk Tammey Higgins, and the following members of the Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission were present: Bob Boey, Brad Hoey, Mike Mooney, Brad Pietens, and Deborah Booth. Absent was Chair Susan Johnson, Cohen Barnes, Lisa Small, and Camyle Tate. Also present were: Management Analyst Lauren Stott, Management Analyst Jerad Heyn and Deputy City Clerk Tammey Higgins. Additional attendees were: Sam Rorrie and Khalil Haddad, NIU students. APPROVAL OF TEMPORARY CHAIR As Chair Johnson was not in attendance, Ms. Stott requested a motion to vote for a temporary chair for the meeting. Mr. Boey nominated Mr. Pietens; seconded by Mr. Mooney. Mr. Pietens declined and nominated Mr. Hoey; seconded by Mr. Boey. Motion carried on voice vote for Mr. Hoey to act as temporary chair for the meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION Mr. Boey moved to approve the Agenda; seconded by Mr. Pietens. Motion carried on voice vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION Mr. Pietens moved to approve the minutes for October 19, 2015; seconded by Mr. Boey. Motion carried on voice vote. BUSINESS 1. Staffing Update Ms. Stott introduced Management Analyst Jerad Heyn as the new liaison for the CCEC and provided a brief summary of his background. She advised members that she would continue Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission November 16, 2015 Page 2 of 3 to assist with ongoing projects as Mr. Heyn became more familiar with the projects. Mr. Heyn took the opportunity to inform attendees that Ms. Jennifer Diedrich, City staff member, had advised him that the OC Imageworks commercial relating to the upcoming IHSA event would be shown at the November 23, 2015 Council meeting and would also be broadcast on Comcast. Mr. Hoey provided additional background relating to the commercial and advised attendees that the commercial was scheduled to air 25 times. Additional background information was provided to the NIU students. 2. Strategic Plan Draft Review Update Ms. Stott provided general background regarding the Strategic Plan Draft and advised attendees that the Strategic Plan Draft would be presented to at the November 23, 2015 Council meeting. She stated that City staff were requesting input from all City boards, commissions, and committees regarding the Strategic Plan Draft. She provided attendees with the review timeline: November 18, 2015 – draft available; November 18, 2015 – December 4, 2015 – public comment period. She further advised attendees that they could consider the options of either having a special meeting to review their comments or provide independent recommendations. After a short discussion, it was the consensus of the attendees that independent recommendations would be more efficient. 3. Adopt-A-Hydrant Program Discussion Ms. Stott advised attendees that Mr. Barnes had requested this item be included on the agenda. She then provided a general background on the history of this program and advised that the Public Works Dept. had not been in favor of the project. Ms. Stott commented that the members could go forward with putting a proposal together and submitting same to Council for their consideration. Ms. Booth inquired as to nature of Public Works objections. Mr. Heyn advised that safety concerns were the primary reason; visual distraction being an important concern. Discussion ensued relating to safety concerns and potential locations. Ms. Stott again advised attendees that if the CCEC felt strongly about this project, they should go forward. Further discussion followed relating to other community applications and their experiences, utility box project history. The City of Geneva’s program was referenced and Mr. Hoey committed to obtaining additional information relating to that project. Mr. Pietens requested that this item be kept on the agenda for discussion when Ms. Johnson and Mr. Barnes were in attendance. Mr. Hoey is to track the item with liaison staff. 4. Yards of Distinction Update Ms. Stott requested input relating to the Yards of Distinction nominations. Mr. Pietens advised he had one nomination. It was discussed to have the nomination recognized at the November 23, 2015 Council meeting. Discussion following on prior decision to maintain both the Yards of Distinction and Lights of Distinction programs viable through the end of the year. An item of discussion related to releasing a press release on the programs. Ms. Stott advised attendees that an updated form had been included at the back of their packets. 5. Project Liquid Sunshine Update Ms. Stott provided a brief description of the OC Imageworks project which entailed designs on sidewalks with water-resistant paint. The designs would be visible whenever a rain event Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission November 16, 2015 Page 3 of 3 occurred. Discussion included a springtime timeline with future updates to come. Attendees were asked to consider potential target areas which included high profile traffic areas, Lucinda, Normal, downtown area and also special events such as Homecoming, Cornfest, etc. 6. DAAHA Historical Marker Update Ms. Stott provided background information relating to the Historical Marker installation at the Memorial Park on First and Route 38. Due to concerns by Veteran group, the marker is to be relocated to a different location. Current location is the gazebo area located at DeKalb Square (Fourth and Route 38). She asked attendees if they had any knowledge of any special interest groups that would have a concern for the placement of the marker at that location. Mr. Pietens commented that the new potential site was actually geographically located closer to the creation site of the flying ear of corn design that the initial location. Ms. Stott again asked attendees to provide her with any information they may have on the potential site. ADJOURNMENT MOTION Mr. Boey moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Ms. Booth. Motion carried on voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m. ____________________________________ TAMMEY HIGGINS, DEPUTY CLERK