The regular monthly meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday, February 2, 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 Faivre, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Gudmunson, Mr. Osborne and Mr. Whelan.   Also present were County Engineer William Lorence, Wayne Davey, Highway Department Support Services Manager, Mr. Greg Millburg, Farm Bureau and Mr. James Quinn, Highway Department Operations Manager. 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Vice-Chair Faivre and seconded by Mr. Anderson to approve the minutes of January 5, 2006.  The motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously.
 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Mr. Osborne to approve the agenda and Mr. Whelan seconded this motion.  The motion carried unanimously to approve the agenda as presented.    

PUBLIC COMMENT:   None.

BID AWARD FOR SNOW PLOW, FRAME, HYDRAULIC SYSTEM, DUMP BOX, SPREADER, AND PREWET SYSTEM FOR TWO STERLING TANDEMS:

Mr. Lorence explained that bids were received on January 31, 2006 to outfit two new tandems approved by the Committee in January.  Two bids were received, one from Bonnell Industries for $129,901.00 and one from Monroe Truck Sales for $124,914.00.  Mr. Lorence recommended that the Committee recommend Monroe Truck Sales be awarded the bid as low bidder meeting specifications.  The Committee requested more information concerning the feasibility and cost effectiveness of rebuilding the equipment instead of purchasing new equipment.   Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that the equipment leaving would not be compatible with the new trucks approved last month.  The old dump boxes are not the required size to allow for placement on the new trucks.  The wheelbase and frame length were modified approximately ten years ago to allow for the trucks to work with other equipment more efficiently.  The Committee was presented communications from Bonnell Industries and Mark’s Machine Shop stating that it was not economically feasible to rebuild the old equipment and neither Company would attempt to do the rebuilding.  The Committee requested the Department contact Sauber Manufacturing Company and see if that Company would be interested in rebuilding the box to make it serviceable and compatible with the new tandem chassis.  Mr. Lorence indicated the Department would be happy to do that.  Mr. Whelan made a motion to table this award recommendation until information is received from Sauber’s.  Vice-Chair Faivre seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously to table this item until March’s meeting.
 

RESOLUTION FOR BID AWARD:

 FOR 2006 SEAL COAT PROJECTS: 

Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that the Highway Department requested bids for the 2006 County-wide Seal Coat Projects.  Two bids were received, one from Road Oil Service in Granville, Illinois and one from Steffen’s 3-D Construction from El Paso, Illinois.  Mr. Lorence recommended the Committee recommend awarding the project to Road Oil Service who submitted the low bid meeting specifications in the amount of $826,465.01.  A motion was made by Vice-Chair Faivre and seconded by Mr. Anderson to forward the proposed bid award to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

FOR 2006 AGGREGATE SPREAD ON ROAD PROJECTS:

Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that the Highway Department requested bids for the Road District aggregate projects for 2006.  Three bids were received for each section and Macklin, Inc. from Rochelle, Illinois was the low bidder meeting specifications for both the Paw Paw Road District and Shabbona Road District projects. The low bid for Paw Paw Road District was $71,825.00 and the low bid for Shabbona Road District was $43,120.00.  Mr. Lorence recommended to the Committee that the Committee recommend award to the low bidder.  A motion was made by Mr. Whelan and seconded by Mr. Osborne to forward the proposed bid award to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

MFT RESOLUTION FOR COUNTY SEAL COAT PROJECTS:

Mr. Lorence presented the MFT Resolution to the Committee in the amount of $136,500.00 to allow for the expenditure of MFT funds to be used for 60% of the County’s cost for the 2006 Seal Coat project.  Before the County can expend MFT Funds an approved MFT Resolution must be passed by the full County Board.  A motion was made by Vice-Chair Faivre and seconded by Mr. Anderson to forward the proposed MFT Resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

MFT RESOLUTION FOR CLOSE-OUT OF HIGHWAY BUILDING PROJECT:

Mr. Lorence presented an MFT Resolution to the Committee in the amount of $997.90.  This MFT Resolution is required to close out Section: 01-00l19-08-MG which pertained to the parking lot of the Highway Department.  All funds have been paid to the contractor for that project and this resolution is required in order to close out this section with IDOT in Dixon, Illinois.  A motion was made by Mr. Whelan and seconded by Mr. Osborne to forward the proposed MFT Resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.
 

ORDINANCE FOR ALTERED SPEED ZONE FOR DRESSER ROAD FROM WILDFLOWER LANE WEST TO GLIDDEN ROAD:

The City of DeKalb has conducted an engineering and speed study along Dresser Road and has determined that it is appropriate to lower the speed limit to 50 MPH on Dresser Road from Wildflower Lane west to Glidden Road.  Mr. Lorence presented the Committee with an Ordinance for an Altered speed zone for the above section of roadway that belongs to DeKalb Road District but which the County has jurisdiction over for speed zones.  Also contained in the proposed Ordinance are codification clarifications for Coltonville Road, Peace Road and Somonauk Road.  These clarifications eliminated dual speed zones for the same sections of roadways.  A motion was made by Mr. Anderson and seconded by Mr. Gudmunson to forward the proposed Ordinance to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.
 

CHAIR’S COMMENTS:   Chair LaVigne had no comments for the Committee.
 

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS:

Mr. Lorence provided his progress report to the Committee.    Those projects noted in red are the ones that have been updated since the Committee’s last report.  The Malta Road project is scheduled for an April 28, 2006 letting.  All of the Road Districts hot mix projects and the County wide striping project will be let February 28, 2006.  The Chicago Road and Suydam Road bridge projects will be completed during the 2006 construction year.

            Mr. Lorence informed the Committee that the Jewel Corporation would be meeting with the Committee at their March meeting.  They will be requesting additional access to Peace Road for their proposed construction project located in the southwest corner of Peace Road and Illinois Route 23.  There was further discussion concerning a right in off of Peace Road into the proposed site and the Committee was concerned as to whom and what authority was Jewel granted a right in.  Mr. Lorence stated that in his capacity as County Engineer he has the authority to grant egress points off of County Roads and he has indicated to Jewel that the County would be willing to grant such an egress.  He has viewed the intergovernmental agreement identifying access points along the Peace/Plank Road Corridor as meaning the County must approve access onto Peace Road, but the County Engineer has the authority to grant egress points off of this road to allow the safe movement of traffic.  Mr. Lorence indicated that if this was an incorrect interpretation of his authority to do so then maybe that issue needed to be addressed by the Committee.  The Committee indicated that they would review that issue at a later date.
 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Mr. Gudmunson passed on concerns received from his constituents concerning roads not being plowed during the last snowstorm.  He indicated that he had complaints for Somonauk Road from Hinckley to Sandwich not being plowed at all.  Mr. Lorence indicated that the plows were out until 11:00pm that night and were operating on their assigned routes.  The Department did have two snowplows needing assistance on their assigned routes that required the reassignment of two snowplow trucks.  Somonauk Road was one of the routes that the plow was reassigned from to provide assistance.  Once the problem was corrected the snowplow driver was placed back on his assigned route.  Mr. Gudmunson further stated that the plows had really dug into the shoulders in places and had made a mess of the ditches and had thrown gravel into fields.  He requested the drivers be told to slow down and readjust their shoes on their plows/wings especially when the ground is not frozen to help eliminate these concerns.  Mr. Lorence indicated these were ongoing concerns that are continually addressed with the operators. 

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 Vice-Chair Faivre to adjourn and this motion was seconded by Mr. Whelan.  The motion passed unanimously and the February 2, 2006 meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m. 

Respectfully Submitted

Pat LaVigne

Chair