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Febru a r y 16 , 2015 • $1 .0 0
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Decision on website has its critics Some question DeKalb’s hiring of out-of-town contractor for redesign By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – City of DeKalb leaders are defending their decision to expedite a website redesign project as some residents and business owners question the process and the out-of-town contractor the city selected. DeKalb aldermen Feb. 9 waived competitive bidding and awarded a contract for more than $50,000 to Kansas-based CivicPlus to redesign the city’s website by June 11, the deadline set by the U.S. Justice Department for the city to bring its website into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. “That may seem like a lot of time to some people,” City Manager Anne Marie Gaura said. “But it’s not.” Some have questioned why the city didn’t jump start the redesign when, according to the signed settlement agreement, the Justice Department first contacted the city in July 2013. City Attorney Dean Frieders said the city was contacted mid-2013, but it wasn’t until the settlement was reached in January that the city was told the website needed to be fixed. The city will pay Civic Plus more than $51,000 in the first year of the contract and about $6,800 every year for three years after, with a website redesign included in the fourth year of the contract. Gaura said the city had planned to solicit bids for the project, but given the time constraints, the city looked at the extensive vetting process
Yorkville and Batavia had just completed for their website redesigns. Both places, after reviewing multiple bids, awarded contracts to CivicPlus, Gaura said. Gaura also worked with CivicPlus, which has 1,800 government websites, when she worked in Montgomery. Armor Technologies owner David Galica said his company has never completed a city website, but he estimated he could be done before the June 11 deadline for around $20,000, the amount the city had originally budgeted for the project. “It is not only insulting,” Galica said. “But it just shows me the people who run the town don’t have financial responsibility.” Which local vendors actually would have bid on or been qualified for the project isn’t clear to DeKalb-based Balcom-Vetillo Design owner Mike Balcom-Vetillo, because the city didn’t put out specifications for a bid on the project. He said his company has worked for clients such as Kane County and the Department of Agriculture, although he’s not sure how those projects compare to the city of DeKalb’s. He added that time is probably the worst parameter to base a project on, but even given the city’s time constraints, Balcom-Vetillo said city staff could have consulted with local vendors before choosing CivicPlus. “I completely understand why they ended up out of town,” he said. “But I think they missed a step.”
Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Genoa Mayor Mark Vicary (left) and City of Genoa Planning and Development Consultant Joseph Misurelli stand Thursday near the Prairie Ridge Point Center strip mall near the Piggly Wiggly in Genoa, the spot the city was eyeing for Genoa’s Amtrak station. Vicary, Misurelli and other city administrators went down to Springfield to speak with Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office about reconsidering Genoa, now that construction in Huntley has been halted.
NONSTOP EFFORTS Genoa leaders continue to push for Amtrak route through town Voice your opinion
By ADAM POULISSE
Comparing the plans
apoulisse@shawmedia.com GENOA – Efforts to get an Amtrak stop in the city resembles the story of the little engine that could: City officials keep chugging along, hoping the passenger rail service one day makes a stop in Genoa, causing a boon for the community. In a letter to the governor last month, Genoa Mayor Mark Vicary pleaded that Gov. Bruce Rauner derail plans by former Gov. Pat Quinn to restart Amtrak service from Rockford to Chicago, but not include Genoa and Freeport. Rauner put all major new Illinois Department of Transportation construction projects on hold indefinitely, but representatives from the governor’s office and Genoa recently met in Springfield to discuss delay-
A 2010 study, the most recent conducted, showed the route through Genoa performed better on all the benchmarks the study considered. Then-Gov. Pat Quinn announced in April that an agreement had been reached for the other route. Belvidere route Travel time 5:25 Estimated annual ridership 54,988 Estimated annual revenue $1.2 million 2010 upgrade cost $62.3 million Number of crossings 176
Genoa route 5:10 76,357 $1.6 million $26.2 million 143
Source: IDOT’s 2010 Review and Update of Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque Feasibility Study ing the project further for more research. “We live to fight another day,” Vicary said. “Maybe the sensible approach is to do nothing and wait until the state has money to invest in the infrastructure.” Last April, Quinn announced the $233 million
state capital investment project for Amtrak service between Rockford and Chicago via Union Pacific Railroad that would include stops in Elgin, Huntley and Belvidere. State officials said they had negotiated unsuccessfully for years with Montre-
Would you use an Amtrak station in Genoa if a route and station were established there? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle. com. al-based Canadian National to use that company’s tracks for the route through Genoa and Freeport before pursuing the other route. The state spent about $3 million on engineering for the project before Rauner put all major new Illinois Department of Transportation projects on hold, department spokesman Guy Tridgell said Friday. In 2007, IDOT considered four possible routes – three of which included stops in Genoa – and narrowed them
See AMTRAK, page A8
Rauner grapples with this year, next year’s budget problems By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Bruce Rauner will lay out his plan Wednesday to confront an unprecedented fiscal crisis exacerbated by the recent expiration of the state’s temporary income tax increase, a multi-billion-dollar revenue loss that could foreshadow big spending cuts and test his campaign pledge to not raise taxes. By law, Rauner must develop a budget based on currently available funds. But the loss of the additional income tax revenue last month leaves a gaping hole for the remainder of this fiscal year and next year. Rauner has been tight-lipped about his plan, but the Republican offered some hints in his State of the State address this month and at recent stops around Illinois. Here’s a look at the situation:
THE IMMEDIATE CRISIS A roughly $2 billion revenue gap is expected by the end of the fiscal year in June because the $35.7 billion
is negotiating with legislative leaders. “I’ve got to reallocate money from nonessential government services and move it over into essential services,” Rauner told students at Lanphier High School in Springfield on Tuesday. Some lawmakers suggest that that one way Rauner could plug some holes in the state’s general revenue fund – such as for the day care program – is by taking money from Illinois’ roughly 500 special funds, which together have a balance of close to $3 billion. These special funds, established through lobbying efforts of special interest groups over the years, maintain reserves by drawing in money from state services and fees. They include funds for tanning permits, radiation protection and bottled water. Democratic state Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Senate appropriations chair, called management of special funds government services and move it over into essential services, such as education. EXPANDED POWERS “vastly different from other areas of budget lawmakers passed last spring Rauner’s request not to address any Rauner, who has pledged to man- the state budget.” didn’t allocate enough money for ex- “substantive” issues until his Janu- age the state’s budget crisis without “We should be able to have access penses and a decision on extending Il- ary inauguration. As a result, the tax raising taxes, has asked lawmakers to these dollars,” Kotowski said. “We linois’ income tax increase wasn’t tak- increase rolled back on Jan. 1, from 5 for broad powers to move money en up in the fall as lawmakers heeded percent to 3.75 percent for individuals, around within the current budget, and See BUDGET, page A8 and from 7 percent to 5.25 percent for corporations. Some state programs and services are rapidly running out of funds. A state-subsidized day care program needs roughly $300 million more to continue helping low-income parents through June. The departments of Corrections and Revenue also are running low on cash, as is the account used to pay court reporters. Richard Dye, an economist at the University of Illinois’ Institute for Government and Public Affairs, called the state of this year’s budget “worse than ever.” “The revenue and spending for this year were overly aggressive and no necessary changes were made to AP photo restore balance,” Dye said. “What has Gov. Bruce Rauner speaks to students during a visit Tuesday to Lanphier High School emerged is a cash flow crisis, a payin Springfield. Rauner told students he needs to reallocate money from nonessential ment crisis.”
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