DeKALB – At its first meeting of the year, the DeKalb City Council addressed community members affected by the Hillcrest apartment fires and those who assisted residents in the aftermath.
The fire took place on Dec. 22 and displaced residents in three buildings at 1024 Hillcrest Road.
“We needed to find some hotel rooms,” Mayor Cohen Barnes said while speaking about the relief effort. “We reached out to Vicky (general manager of the Red Roof Inn). I wanted to make sure the residents were able to get housing that night and Vicky said ‘I don’t care about what the circumstance is, I don’t care who they are, I don’t care what they need, I’m giving everyone keys and rooms.’ That was it.”
Barnes commended the DeKalb Fire Department and collective community for their efforts to aid the residents who were displaced by the fire.
FEAR OF UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION
Several DeKalb residents gave public comments expressing fear of the upcoming presidential administration.
Angelica Mendoza, assistant director of the Undocumented Student Center at NIU, said she has volunteered with immigrant rights organizations since 2010.
“As we face a second Trump administration I am reminded of the fear, anxiety and grief that our undocumented immigrant community endured during his first term as president,” Mendoza said. “Despite these resurfacing sentiments, I remain hopeful for the DeKalb community.”
DeKalb resident Jeannine Szostak said she has lived in DeKalb for over 20 years and wants to bring attention to the fear of the upcoming administration.
“My own daughter was afraid to come here tonight because she’s afraid her voice doesn’t count anymore,” Szostak said. “That’s why I’m here.”
ROUNDABOUT CONSTRUCTION
The City Council approved a contract with Wills Burke and Kelsey Associates to perform design engineering services for an intersection reconstruction project of North First Street and Sycamore Road.
The location for the roundabout will be south of the entrances of the Clinton Rosette Middle School and across from the Ellwood House Museum.
City Manager Bill Nicklas said that whenever the City Manager’s office is contemplating a project with considerable federal or state-level involvement, the QBS (Qualifications-Based Selection) method of pre-qualifying engineering services has to be followed.
He explains why they chose WBK Associates.
“This is to engage a firm who meets those QBS requirements, WBK Associates, which we worked with in the past to perform the design engineering services from the intersection. The construction project that would impact North First Street and Sycamore Road,” Nicklas said.
City Engineer Zac Gill said the majority of funding will be provided by federal agencies
“This is from the Highway Safety Improvement Program,” Gill said. “This is federal money that’s administered by the state DOT (Department of Transportation). This isn’t money we could get somewhere else, this isn’t all in one big pot, this is because we have a qualifying project, in their determination that I asked them to review. That is a 90:10 match for every aspect of the project.”
Of the budget, 90% for the project will be funded by the federal and state government and 10% will be funded by the local government.
Gill said the roundabout was suggested as a solution to unsafe roadway use because of poor design.
“We went back with five years of crash data, supplied that to the people who make the decisions, and they said this was a qualifying project and that the roundabout was a very highly supported solution to this,” Gill said.
Gill also gave the estimated timeline on the project.
“I expect this to be at least a two-year process. The earliest I see this coming to fruition, as in being open to the public, is December of ‘27,” Gill said.
Gill gave further details about the proposed design.
“What I’d envisioned for Augusta and Pine as an intersection with North First is the now inner through lane becoming a dedicated left turn lane.”
Roll call was taken after discussion of the resolution and all but John Walker, 7th Ward alderman, were present. The resolution passed unanimously. Of the $420,000 required in costs, $42,000 will be funded by the local government of DeKalb.
