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From: jgwins24@netzero.net
Category: In My Humble Opinion
Date: 20 Dec 2000
Time: 22:26:14
Remote Name: 4.54.200.203
A group of concerned citizes attended the Dekalb County Board meeting on Dec 20th. The following is a copy of our proposal for the area surrounding the Dekalb County Government “campus” in Sycamore as presented at the meeting. We feel the citizens of Dekalb County should be aware of the land acquisitions being made and the closing of a street in Sycamore, your tax dollars are paying for these acquisitions. Our items in our proposal address the needs of the growing County and at the same time reduce the tax burden that would otherwise be placed on the tax paying public. We welcome your comments and questions. Our group would be very interested in a public discussion of the County's plans for further development of the area.
The recent activity of the Dekalb County Government in the area surrounding the Courthouse and Administration building has caused a major uproar among residents in the area and the taxpayers of Dekalb County. To address some of these concerns and to address the needs of the growing county we would like to make the following proposal to the Dekalb County Board.
We ask that the Dekalb County Board take the following actions: 1) Be upfront and honest with the neighborhood residents and the taxpayers of the entire county about the future plans for the Dekalb County Government Complex. We understand the need to provide adequate government services, but feel blindsided by the rapid pace of recent activity in the area (closing Exchange Street and the rapid acquisition of property). 2) Work with the State of Illinois and the City of Sycamore to get a left turn light at Rt. 23 and Rt. 64. We further ask that the County, because of the increase in traffic at the intersection due to the closing of Exchange Street, provide the funding necessary for the installation of the light. This will make the intersection safer and reduce the amount of traffic traveling through heavily populated residential areas on Sycamore Street when Exchange is closed. 3) Do not close East Exchange Street until the left turn light is installed and operational. A good faith action on the County’s part, being that “good neighbor” we’ve been told you want to be. 4) Configure the area in such a manner that the pathway can continue to be used as an alternate route for Rt. 64 in case of Emergency and for the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival Parade. There is no other practical route for the traffic during these times. 5) Ask the City of Sycamore for a variance on the ordinance that mandates the number of parking spaces needed for the square footage of your buildings. We have all noticed that your current parking lot is never full, the requirement is obviously excessive for your needs. This will reduce the number of homes that you will need to purchase, protect the salability and property values of surrounding homes, and save hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. 6) Ask the City of Sycamore to reconfigure the current parallel parking on Maple Street, west of the courthouse, to diagonal parking to increase the number of parking spaces available around the Courthouse itself. This will reduce the need for jurors or Courthouse workers to cross Rt. 23. 7) Determine which functions of County Government can be located “off campus”. This will enable you to locate these functions in other locations that are much less expensive to acquire land and build facilities to fulfill those functions. 8) Develop a long range plan for Dekalb County Government facilities including location, time-table for development and estimated cost projections. Keep the public involved in and informed about these plans.