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Hiawatha at Westminster 1 p.m. today
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Altered Irongate plan gets hearing By CHRIS BURROWS cburrows@shawmedia.com DeKALB – City Council members are expected to consider a revamped proposal for the 1,200-unit Irongate subdivision. Over the past several weeks, the DeKalb Park District and DeKalb School District 428 have worked with the project’s developer, ShoDeen, to revise the proposal so both entities can support
it. On Monday, the City Council will review the changes and discuss the annexation agreement the project needs to move forward. “When it was before the City Council previously, the park district had indicated that they wanted to re-engage the developer and talk about some of the locations of the parks and sizes of the parks,” DeKalb’s Principal Planner Derek Hiland said. “It appears that both parties have
If you go n What: DeKalb City Council meeting n When: 6 p.m. Monday n Where: DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 S. Fourth St. been satisfied.” To make room for more parks, the proposal now includes 31 fewer housing units and two church sites instead of three on 458 acres of land
located between Bethany and Dresser roads near DeKalb High School. About 11 acres have been set aside for a possible elementary school. Park commissioners approved the latest revision with a 4-1 vote Sept. 12. “The plan they have, if it goes through, will have more parks in one area than anywhere else in the city,” Park Board President Phil Young said. “I’m excited that, if they do approve this, it’s
could. Annexation agreements require six “yes” votes to proceed. On July 22, when the council last voted directly on the issue, the vote was split, 4-4. Mayor John Rey and Aldermen Bill Finucane, Bob Snow and Ron Naylor voted in favor of the agreement. Aldermen David Jacobson, Kristen Lash, Dave Baker and Monica O’Leary voted no.
going to be really nice for the citizens.” The plan now includes the provision that no townhomes will be built until 350 single-family homes – up from 300 – have been constructed. The plan also stipulates that the townhomes may not be leased. City Council members won’t be required to take action on the proposal and its accompanying annexation agreement Monday, but they
ENHANCEDREADINESS
See IRONGATE, page A7
GOP: Avoid shutdown, hit ‘Obamacare’ By DAVID ESPO The Associated Press
Photos by Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Firefighter paramedics Noah Millard (front) and Dave DeLille scrub the brand new fire engine Sept. 6 at DeKalb Fire Station 1.
DeKalb Fire Department adds new equipment, personnel By CHRIS BURROWS cburrows@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Don Faulhaber can’t keep the smile from his face when he thinks about his first day as a DeKalb firefighter. Lately, the 18-year veteran who started as a paramedic and moved up the ranks to fire captain and vehicle maintenance coordinator has been peppered with reminders. “When you get new guys, it makes you think about your first day and how excited you were, the nervous energy and all that stuff,” he said. “It’s infectious, and it affects everybody. You need stuff like that to prop you up once in a while.” Between welcoming and training new recruits and helping to design, prepare and put to work new equipment, Faulhaber sees a department that had been doing more with less for the past several years starting to turn around. “Baby steps,” he said. After years of budget cuts, overtime and worn equipment, the DeKalb Fire Department looks to be coming out of a rebuilding period. Renovation projects, new heavy equipment and increased staffing levels have firefighters such as Faulhaber confident that the department can meet the needs of a bustling city. “The city has invested heavily in public safety over the last few years,” Fire Chief Eric Hicks said. “They’ve done the police
WASHINGTON – Charting a collision course with the White House, the Republican-controlled House approved legislation Friday to wipe out the 3-year-old health care law that President Barack Obama has vowed to preserve – and simultaneously prevent a partial government shutdown that neither party claims to want. “The American people don’t want the government shut down, and they don’t want ‘Obamacare,’ ” Speaker John Boehner said as members of his rank and file cheered at a celebratory rally in the Capitol moments after the 230-189 vote. He stood at a lectern bearing a slogan that read, “#Senate must act.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it will – but not the way Boehner and his tea party-heavy Republican contingent want. Assured of enough Senate votes to keep the government open and the health care law in existence, the Nevada Democrat accused Republicans of attempting “to take an entire law hostage simply to appease the tea party anarchists.” Behind the rhetoric lay the likelihood of another in a series of complex, inside-the-Beltway brinkmanship episodes as conservative House Republicans and Obama struggle to imprint widely differing views on the U.S. government. In addition to the threat of a partial shutdown a week from Monday, administration officials say that without passage of legislation to allow more federal borrowing, the nation faces the risk of a first-ever default sometime in the second half of next month. House Republicans intend to vote to raise the nation’s debt limit next week to prevent that from happening. But they have said they will include a one-year delay in Obamacare in the measure to reinforce their determination to eradicate the program. The same bill will include provisions to reduce deficits and stay the administration’s environmental agenda as the GOP seeks gains for its own priorities. Raising the cost of Medicare for financially better-off beneficiaries is one likely provision to be added, according to numerous officials. So, too, is a ban on federal regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.
See BUDGET, page A7
Millard (left) and DeLille load a ladder into a compartment in the back of the brand new fire engine. The new fire engine will inherit equipment from the fire engine it’s replacing. station, they’ve done the fire station addition, they’re purchasing new equipment. Those are the kinds of things that you need to operate efficient public safety.”
See FIRE, page A7
Voice your opinion Which area of DeKalb government needs more funding? Let us know at Daily-Chronicle.com.
AP photo
Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Republican members of the House of Representatives rally Friday at the Capitol in Washington after passing a bill that would fund the government for three months while crippling the health care law that was the signature accomplishment of President Barack Obama’s first term.
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