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June 15 , 2015 • $ 1.00
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DAILY CHRONICLE
Kaneland softball takes third in Class 3A with a 7-1 win / B1 HIGH
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3M plans expansion in DeKalb Project Black Bear may not bring increase in jobs to county, officials say By BRETT ROWLAND browland@shawmedia.com DeKALB – St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M plans to build a 987,000-square-foot distribution center adjacent to its existing facility in DeKalb’s Park 88, but the project isn’t expected to bring hundreds of new jobs to the area. The $40 million expansion, which had been code-named Project Black Bear, could be partially offset by up to $4 million in property tax incentives from local taxing bodies, including the city of DeKalb, DeKalb County and DeKalb School District 428, among others.
3M is proposing to move 250 employees from its Barber Greene Road and Wirsing Drive facilities to create an interconnected campus in Park 88, according to a June 11 memo from DeKalb City Manager Anne Marie Gaura to five other local taxing bodies. “It hasn’t been determined if there will be an increase in net jobs,” DeKalb County Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Paul Borek said. Even so, Borek said he was pleased that “3M is adding a significant expansion and making a longer commitment to DeKalb.”
3M’s new building would generate about $1.2 a year in property tax revenue for local taxing bodies after the incentives expire, he said. 3M could vacate its Barber Greene Road and Wirsing Drive facilities by August 2016, when its leases expire, County Board Chairman Mark Pietrowski Jr. said. He said the vacant buildings could be an opportunity to attract new businesses and jobs to the area. Although Pietrowski had hoped Project Black Bear would bring a significant number of new jobs to the county, he said 3M’s decision to expand in DeKalb meant
Charges brought in fatal collision
the company wouldn’t move its operations to Atlanta, Georgia. He said the Park 88 facility would be 3M’s largest building in the world with the exception of its corporate headquarters. “There are still more positives than negatives on this,” Pietrowski said. “There is still the possibility of creating some new jobs, we don’t lose jobs, we gain tax revenue and we get a longer commitment from a good company.” Because DeKalb County doesn’t have a speculative building market, Borek said having “flexible, contemporary buildings available for sale or lease” would be an im-
portant selling point for companies looking to locate in the area. Local taxing bodies were initially told the unnamed company’s new facility would employ about 300 people. When the DeKalb City Council and the DeKalb County Board approved resolutions earlier this year signaling their intent to work with the company and provide financial assistance in the form of property tax abatements, they weren’t told the name of the company or that the company would be shuttering existing DeKalb-area facilities. However, elected officials were told the company also was
considering expansion in another state and that tax abatement was critical to selecting DeKalb. “The past practice of the taxing districts, in administering the current [Intergovernmental Property Tax Abatement Agreement], has been to require certification of job creation on a site-by-site basis,” Gaura’s letter said. “The [agreement] does not contemplate certification that other jobs will be maintained at other locations around the country, or at other locations within the city of DeKalb.” The DeKalb City Council
See EXPANSION, page A5
STREET MAINTENANCE AND RECONSTRUCTION
By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com SOMONAUK – A Sandwich man faces two counts of aggravated driving under the influence after a head-on collision in Somonauk on Saturday killed a North Aurora man and sent his wife to the hospital. About 2:50 p.m. Saturday, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office and the Somonauk Fire Department responded to a crash on Route 34, east of County Line Road, Thomas J. according to a Bruen news release. Thomas J. Bruen, 26, of the 300 block of Mallard Lane, Sandwich, was charged with improper lane usage and two counts of an aggravated DUI, according to the release. Bruen was traveling west on Route 34 in a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta when he crossed the center lane and struck a 2001 Buick Regal head-on, according to the release. Robert T. Crowley, the 71-year-old driver of the Buick, of the 100 block of Lilac Lane, North Aurora, was pronounced dead at the scene by the DeKalb County Coroner’s Office. He had been driving with his wife Barbara T. Crowley, 68, who was taken to Valley West Hospital for injuries, according to the release. Both Robert and Barbara Crowley were wearing seat belts at the time of the collision. Crowley was taken to a different hospital Saturday, and her condition was unavailable as of Sunday, according to DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Gary Dumdie. Bruen was taken to Valley West Hospital for minor injuries before being taken to the DeKalb County Jail, the news release said.
See CRASH, page A5
Photos by Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
State Street between Dietz Avenue and the General Election Plant in DeKalb is the worst-rated road in the city at a pavement index of 34. The city of DeKalb would have to pay $9 million a year to maintain roads in their current condition.
DeKalb’s road network analyzed
City finds more than half of roads are in failing or prefailing condition By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – More than half of the city’s roads are in failing or prefailing condition, and it would cost $9 million a year to maintain them, according to DeKalb city engineer John Laskowski. The city analyzed DeKalb’s road network using infrastructure management services (IMS), which allowed staff to use software and assign each road in town a pavement index number. A rating of 59 or below indicates a failing condition. Streets with indexes between 60 and 79 are considered prefailing. If a street is at an index of 80
or above, it is considered acceptable, Laskowski said. “Our average street is at 78, which means we are just under satisfactory condition of the roadways,” Laskowski said. The projected road maintenance costs would keep the streets at that level of service and include a variety of different projects. “That could include anything from ripping the entire pavement off the street and starting brand-new to resurfacing. … Usually the deeper the problem, the most costly it is going to be,” Laskowski said.
See ROADS, page A5
Varsity Boulevard between Regent Drive and Annie Glidden Road in DeKalb is considered a prefailing rated road at a pavement index of 78.
LOCAL NEWS
LOCAL NEWS
LOCAL NEWS
New sport
Talks wrapping up In the hot seat
DeKalb golf course to begin offering footgolf to patrons / A3
D-424 board closing discussions on union deal at upcoming hearing / A3
Sycamore City Council to vote on fire union contract today / A3
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