After investigating the possibilities of a DeKalb city emergency 911 service, the city council decided it would favor a countywide service instead because it would provide wider coverage.

Rowever, the council moved cautiously to this conclusion because members said they would not have control of where DeKalb residents’ dollars would be spent for a countywide system.

At Monday’s special meeting, 2nd Ward Alderman Michael Welsh said his major concern is that this would create “another quasi-governmental body spending money that I don’t think is controlled by anybody.”

The body Welsh referred to would be an Emergency Transportation Board, which would consist of nine members controlling the 911 service. He said he would support the countywide system if a binding agreement could be made between the city and county regarding where the dollars are going.

However, Police Chief Don Berke said three of the nine members would be appointed based on city council recommendation, thus providing some city control of the board.

This was the basic consensus among the city council and some staff members, leading to the final decision favoring the county system contingent on the drafting of a binding agreement between the city and the county.

The DeKalb County Board voted June 21 to put a 911 referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot at a cost of 84 cents per month, which city officials predict will pass.

According to state statute, if the city passed its own referendum for 911 in addition to the county’s, then residents would have to pay 64 cents for the city 911 in addition to the county fee.

City Manager Mark Stevens said this is because the statute was drafted with the intention of a regional 911 as opposed to local.

The city now must work with the county on a binding agreement that will ensure “equitable distribution of surcharge proceeds.”

At the regular meeting Monday, the council also granted a special use permit for the construction of a car wash on 904 S. Fourth St.

The council also authorized the sale of two lots from the Wurlitzer property on Gurler Road. Developer Jim Mason plans to build speculative industrial buildings on the two lots, which will create jobs for DeKalb and bring economic development to the city, Mason said at a June 12 meeting.

A recycling report was given by DeKalb County Disposal regarding a pilot program in the city. DCD owner Cal Tigchelaar said the program began June 1, and DCD has collected large quantities of recyclable goods.

He proposed future programs that might decrease trash pickup to once a week for regular trash and for recyclables.

He said another idea might be for residents to purchase trash bins for recyclables, rather than pay trash pickup fees.

One year from July the state will mandate a landscape waste law that requires grass and other landscape waste to be separated from other garbage, Tigchelaar said.