Agenda Item:
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Consideration of a Resolution Amending and Restating an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory for Membership in Crime Laboratory Services
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Staff Contact: Andrew Perley, Interim Public Safety Director
Purpose and Actions Requested: Staff requests Village Board consideration of a resolution authorizing an amended and restated Intergovernmental Agreement for membership in the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory
Budget Impact: Budgeted
Budget Fund: 100-400-300-50705
Strategic Priority Addressed: Community Resilience, Economic Vitality
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
The Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory (“NIRCL” or “Crime Lab”) was formed in 1968 and provides forensic services to member agencies. The Village of Glencoe has been a member of the Crime Lab since 1989. Forensic services include analysis in such things as drug chemistry, fingerprints, DNA, toxicology, firearms and forensic biology among other areas of analysis as needed.
The Crime Lab is governed by member agencies and supported primarily by annual membership dues which are assessed based on the member’s service population. There are currently 63 member agencies with the Crime Lab. The Crime Lab is accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 international standards by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) for forensic testing. The accreditation requires the documentation and implementation of international standards regarding technical procedures, quality assurance standards and managerial operations.
The Crime Lab is presenting member agencies with a proposed Amended and Restated Intergovernmental Agreement (“IGA”) and proposing a relocation of the NIRCL facility.
The current IGA dates from 2018 and Members have executed the existing agreement at various times. The Village of Glencoe last renewed the IGA in 2024. As a result, the membership is not necessarily operating under documents that were executed at the same time or that reflect the current circumstances and needs of NIRCL.
NIRCL is therefore undertaking a comprehensive update of its governing agreement so that its Members are brought under a single, current Amended and Restated IGA.
The proposed Amended and Restated IGA also provides the contractual framework necessary to address the proposed relocation of the NIRCL facility and the obligations of Members relating to that project.
The proposed document is intended to provide a clean, current agreement applicable to all NIRCL Members rather than continuing to rely upon an agreement that Members have executed at different times over a period of years.
The 2018 IGA establishes the basic relationship between NIRCL and its Members, including the provision of forensic services, annual assessments and other fees, administration and operations, termination and amendment procedures. However, the circumstances under which NIRCL operates have evolved since that agreement was adopted.
The proposed Amended and Restated IGA is intended to:
1. Bring the membership under one current agreement. Members have entered into the existing IGA at various times. The amended and restated document provides an opportunity for all Members to affirmatively approve and execute the same current agreement.
2. Update the agreement to reflect NIRCL's current operations and circumstances. The new agreement modernizes and clarifies the existing contractual relationship between NIRCL and its participating Members.
3. Address the proposed relocation project. The existing IGA does not contain the detailed provisions necessary to address the proposed relocation of the NIRCL facility, including Member approval, project costs, allocation of those costs, continuing obligations and related matters.
4. Establish a clear approval and execution process for all Members. Rather than requiring all participating governments to sign one lengthy signature page, each Member will approve the documents through its own Corporate Authorities and execute an individual counterpart signature page. The individual counterparts will collectively constitute the Members' execution of the IGA and approval of the applicable NIRCL documents.
5. Confirm governmental authorization. Each participating municipality will be required to represent that its Corporate Authorities have authorized execution of the Amended and Restated IGA at a legally convened meeting and that the individual signing representative is authorized to execute the document on behalf of the municipality.
This process is intended to provide a clear and uniform record that each participating governmental entity has reviewed and approved the current agreement.
In addition to updating the IGA, NIRCL is proposing to relocate its laboratory operations from its existing facility in Mundelein to approximately 15,700 square feet of space in the new Lake Forest Police Department Headquarters at 1925 West Field Court, Lake Forest, Illinois.
The proposed relocation has been reviewed by NIRCL as a long-term facility decision and is intended to provide a substantially improved and more stable home for the regional crime laboratory.
The proposed new facility is a new, state-of-the-art public safety facility. The available space can be configured and equipped specifically for NIRCL's forensic laboratory operations, including the laboratory's operational, security, safety and accreditation requirements.
The relocation therefore presents an opportunity for NIRCL to establish its operations in a modern facility designed to meet its needs for many years into the future.
There are several significant reasons supporting the proposed relocation.
1. The Lake Forest facility provides a modern, state-of-the-art location. The proposed Lake Forest location is part of a new police headquarters facility and provides NIRCL with an opportunity to establish its laboratory operations in a modern, purpose-built public safety environment.
The facility can accommodate the laboratory's specialized needs and provides the type of long-term physical environment that is difficult to obtain in an older leased facility.
The relocation would therefore provide NIRCL with a facility better suited to its operational, security, safety and accreditation requirements.
2. The proposed arrangement provides NIRCL with a long-term home. One of the principal advantages of the proposed relocation is that it would provide NIRCL with a stable, long-term location for its operations.
The existing facility has presented continuing issues concerning the landlord and the existing lease arrangement. Remaining at the current location would require NIRCL to continue dealing with those issues rather than establishing a more stable long-term facility arrangement.
The Lake Forest opportunity provides NIRCL with the ability to address the facility issue proactively rather than waiting until the existing lease expires and then being required to locate and construct or build out another facility under potentially less favorable circumstances.
3. The financing opportunity is particularly attractive. The proposed Lake Forest arrangement also provides an extremely attractive financing opportunity for the Members.
The ability to secure a long-term facility arrangement at the proposed financing rate significantly improves the economic attractiveness of the relocation project. NIRCL would be able to address its long-term facility requirements under financing terms that may not be available if the project is delayed.
For that reason, the relocation decision should be viewed not simply as a decision to move from one building to another, but as an opportunity to establish a long-term facility arrangement under favorable financial terms.
4. Delaying the move could increase the cost. NIRCL also must consider what happens if it remains at the existing location until the current lease ends.
At that point, NIRCL would still need to relocate its personnel, equipment, evidence and laboratory operations. It would also need to identify another suitable facility and incur the construction, design, buildout and other costs necessary to make that facility suitable for an accredited regional crime laboratory.
The expectation is that waiting until the end of the existing lease and moving to an alternative location would result in greater relocation and construction costs than taking advantage of the current Lake Forest opportunity.
Accordingly, the proposed relocation is intended to avoid the risk of simply postponing the same facility problem while potentially increasing the ultimate cost to the Members.
The proposed documents also establish the process by which the 63 Members approve their respective obligations concerning the Relocation Project. The project costs are proposed to be allocated among the Members pursuant to the population-based methodology approved by NIRCL. Each Member's resulting allocation constitutes that Member's share of the Relocation Project costs.
The proposed Resolution separately identifies the types of costs that may constitute Project Costs, including construction and buildout, architectural and engineering services, project management, equipment, furnishings, security and technology, relocation expenses, costs associated with the existing facility, financing costs and other costs properly incurred in connection with the project.
The purpose of addressing these matters expressly in the Resolution and Amended and Restated IGA is to provide each Member with a clear understanding of the nature of the project and the contractual basis for its financial participation.
An important component of the proposed documents is that a Member's obligations concerning the Relocation Project will not simply disappear if that Member subsequently withdraws from NIRCL.
Because NIRCL must be able to rely upon Member commitments when entering construction, financing, lease, professional service and other contractual arrangements, a Member's obligations relating to Project Costs remain enforceable until that Member has satisfied its obligations concerning the project. This provision is intended to protect all participating Members and NIRCL from a situation in which NIRCL undertakes substantial contractual obligations based upon Member commitments and a Member subsequently withdraws to avoid its previously approved share of those obligations.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Village Board approve a Resolution authorizing an amended and restated Intergovernmental Agreement between the Village of Glencoe and the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory. This would authorize the upfront payment in the amount listed in Exhibit 1 ($27,087) for the Village of Glencoe which includes a 10% contingency and existing lease resolution fee payable upon receipt of invoice payable upon receipt of invoice. The cost of this has been included in the CY 2027 budget proposal from the Public Safety Department.
MOTION
Move to approve a Resolution authorizing an amended and restated Intergovernmental Agreement between the Village of Glencoe and the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Memorandum from the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory
2. Amended and Restated Intergovernmental Agreement
3. Resolution