A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday December 7, 2006 at 6:00pm in the Conference Room of the DeKalb County Highway Department, DeKalb, Illinois.  

Chair LaVigne called the meeting to order at 6:00pm.  Committee members present were, Vice-Chair Augsburger, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Gudmunson, Mr. Walt and Mr. Whelan.   Also present were Mr. William Lorence-County Engineer, Wayne Davey-Support Services Manager, Highway Department, Mr. James Quinn, Operations Manager, Highway Department, Mr. Ray Bockman, County Administrator, Mr. Kenneth Andersen, DeKalb County Board Member, and several members from the St. John Lutheran Church, Sycamore, Illinois. 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Mr. Anderson and seconded by Mr. Whelan to approve the minutes of the regular November 2, 2006 meeting.  The motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Mr. Anderson to approve the agenda and Mr. Whelan seconded this motion.  Discussion followed to amend the agenda by adding a new item 4.1 – Discussion of Collective Bargaining Agreement:  The motion carried unanimously to approve the agenda as amended.    

PUBLIC COMMENT:   Chair LaVigne welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked if anyone from the public wished to address the Committee.  Mr. John Chyson, 409 John Marshall Lane, Sycamore, Illinois spoke on behalf of St. John Lutheran Church.  Mr. Chyson requested to be placed on the agenda for the January 4, 2007 meeting for the purpose of requesting directional signs within the County’s right-of-way directing traffic to the St. John Lutheran Church.  Mr. Chyson and members of St. John’s were thanked for coming to the meeting and were informed that their request would be considered and discussed at the January meeting.

RESOLUTION FOR BID AWARD-NEW TANDEM CAB AND CHASSIS:

Mr. Lorence stated that the Highway Department opened bids for the replacement of one tandem at 10:00am December 5, 2006.  Two bids were received and Chicago International Trucks of Melrose Park, Illinois submitted the low bid meeting specifications.  The price of the cab and chassis, after trade in of $22,000.00 was $53,500.00.  Additional options and warranties requested bring the total price to award to $56,525.00.  Mr. Lorence recommended award to Chicago International.  Mr. Gudmunson asked if this was a 2007 truck with the new emission controls and Mr. Lorence indicated that it was.  Mr. Gudmunson inquired if a separate fuel tank would be required for the low sulfur fuel and he was informed that the Highway Department is currently burning the low sulfur fuel so no additional separate storage would be needed. A motion was made by Mr. Gudmunson and seconded by Vice-Chair Augsburger to forward the resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.        

ORDINANCE FOR ALTERED SPEED ZONE FOR SOMONAUK ROAD BETWEEN CAROL AVE AND PLEASANT STREET: 

During our November meeting Chief Russ Stokes of the Town of Cortland requested a speed study be conducted on Somonauk Road between Carol Ave and Pleasant Street to see if an altered speed zone could be established.  After conducting a speed study and traffic and engineering study at that location, information collected suggested that an altered speed limit of 45 mph could be supported and defended.  Therefore, an ordinance was prepared and presented to the Committee for further consideration.  In addition to the altered speed zone the purposed ordinance corrects the current listing of altered speed zones on Peace Road in the DeKalb County Code.  One section of Peace Road from Illinois 23 South to Fox Bend was listed with two different speed zones.  After a brief discussion Mr. Anderson made a motion and Mr. Whelan seconded the motion to forward the proposed ordinance for an altered speed zone to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

CHAIR’S COMMENTS:           Chair LaVigne welcomed the new members to the Committee and looks forward to working with everyone in the coming year.

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS: 

The Transportation Improvement Progress Report was provided to the Committee for their review.  Mr. Lorence highlighted the Peace Road widening project stands at 74% completed and last month saw $1.23 million dollars of asphalt laid on it.  The South County Line Road Bridge is not a DeKalb County project but a LaSalle County project.  DeKalb County is required to participate in the cost of this bridge along with LaSalle and the Village of Somonauk based on evaluation formulas.  However, DeKalb County’s cost will not be greater than ten percent of the overall cost.  The Cherry Valley Bridge design stands at 70% completed and the Chicago Road Bridge and the Suydam Road bridge projects will not begin until next spring due to the availability of the steel and the late arrival of the pre-cast box.

Mr. Lorence pointed out that the Committee has our 2006-2007 Snow Removal Policy in their packages tonight along with a handout explaining the Highway Department duties and responsibilities as well as contact information.  The handout also contains a Funding Reference Sheet that breaks down and explains how the Highway Department is funded and how funds are expended.  Mr. Lorence explained the funding in detail to the Committee.

Mr. Lorence introduced his managers to the Committee and explained their areas of responsibility.  Mr. James Quinn, Operations Manager and Mr. Wayne Davey Support Services Manager were present.  Mr. Gary Sale, Engineering Manager was attending the Illinois Bituminous Paving Conference at the University of Illinois.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR LOCAL 150 AND THE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:

The Committee, by consensus, agreed to discuss this matter in open session and not vote to enter into executive session.   The Committee was presented an executive summary of a tentative agreement between Local 150 and the Highway Department.  The agreement is scheduled to be voted on December 20, 2006 and if ratified will be presented to the full County Board on December 20, 2006 for an up or down vote.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: 

Mr. Whelan inquired if Bethany Road in front of the Hospital will be widened to four lanes in the future.  Mr. Lorence indicated that was a City of DeKalb road and that there are plans to widen it at some point in time.  Mr. Whelan also stated he continues to receive complaints about the speed of vehicles and conditions on/of Plank Road. 

Mr. Gudmunson inquired if there was any way to stagger starting times for plow operators so that if a storm hits at night they could stay out later and keep the roads open for citizens who have to travel at night.  Mr. Lorence indicated we have a plow driver at the Department all night when necessary during a storm.  Staggering start times for plow drivers during a storm would result in two areas of difficultly.  First, when it snows all roads need to cleared as soon as possible.  By staggering start times some routes would not be cleaned as quickly as possible, resulting in numerous complaints from those not plowed out.  Also by starting later, that would put our plows off the road during the morning hours when the traveling public is attempting to get to work.  Second, we would also run into problems with depriving plow operators the opportunity for overtime, which could run into a fair labor standards issue.  Mr. Lorence assured the Committee that the Highway Department is constantly reviewing our procedures in an attempt to provide services to the traveling public at the very best cost to the taxpayers.

ADJOURNMENT:

Chair LaVigne inquired if there was anything else that needed to be brought before the Committee and hearing none asked for a motion to adjourn.  A motion was made by Mr. Anderson to adjourn and Mr. Whelan seconded this motion.  The motion passed unanimously and the December 7, 2006 meeting was adjourned at 7:26p.m. 

Respectfully Submitted

Pat LaVigne

Chair