A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday April 5, 2007 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.  Chair LaVigne welcomed new Committee and Board member Mr. Paul Stoddard and introduced committee members to him.  Committee members present were, Vice-Chair Augsburger, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Gudmunson, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. Stuckert and Mr. Walt.  Also present were Mr. Lorence, County Engineer, Wayne Davey-Support Services Manager, Highway Department and Gregg Millburg, Farm Bureau.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Vice-Chair Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Anderson to approve the minutes of the regular March 1, 2007 meeting.  The motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Mr. Stoddard to approve the agenda and Vice-Chair Augsburger seconded this motion.  The motion carried unanimously to approve the agenda as presented.

PUBLIC COMMENT:  There was no public comment. 

RESOLUTION TO REAPPOINT THE COUNTY ENGINEER:

The Highway Committee recommended to the full County Board during their February meeting that DeKalb County seek the consent of the Illinois Department of Transportation to reappoint Mr. Lorence, the current County Engineer, for an additional six-year term effective June 23, 2007.  The full County Board approved this recommendation on February 21, 2007.  On March 7, 2007 the Illinois Department of Transportation gave DeKalb County their consent to reappoint Mr. Lorence as County Engineer.  The next step in this process would be for the Committee to recommend to the full County Board to now reappoint Mr. Lorence as County Engineer.  A motion was made by Vice-Chair Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Walt to forward the resolution to the full County Board recommending the reappointment of Mr. Lorence for approval.  The motion carried unanimously.        

RESOLUTION TO AWARD THE 2007 ROAD DISTRICT HOT MIX PROJECTS:

Mr. Lorence explained the County conducted a Bid Letting on April 3, 2007 at 10:00am in the conference room of the Highway Department to receive bids for the Road District’s 2007 hot-mix projects.  Nine projects were let for bids with the Committee only required to review and recommend award on seven projects.  Two projects are Township funded projects and their respective Road District Commissioner will award those.  No MFT funds will be used for those projects, only Township funds, so there is no action required by the full County Board.  

Aurora Blacktop submitted the low bid in two projects.  They are Shabbona Grove Road in Clinton Road District for $113,944.00 under Section 07-02000-00-GM and Fawn Drive and North Street in Somonauk Road District for $91,361.00 under Section 07-15000-00-GM.  Curran Contracting submitted the low bid for various roads in Sycamore Road District for $162,360.10 under Section 07-18000-00-GM.  Peter Baker and Sons submitted the low bids on four projects; they were Gurler Road in Cortland Road District for $25,662.00 under Section 07-03000-01; Pearl Street in Franklin Road District for $72,123.50 under Section 07-05000-01-GM; Pine and Ridge Roads in Genoa Road District for $51,794.00 under Section 07-06000-01-GM; and Rebecca Road in Kingston Road District for $53,412.00 under Section 07-07000-00-GM. 

Discussion followed concerning the different prices used for the County Engineer’s estimate for these projects.  Mr. Lorence stated that a base price is determined then depending on the location of the project and consideration of the closest hot-mix plant to the project, prices are adjusted accordingly.  Therefore, the unit prices will not be the same for the County Engineer’s estimate for all projects.  Mr. Lorence recommended that the projects be recommended for award.  A motion was made by Mr. Anderson and seconded by Vice-Chair Augsburger to forward the resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.        

EMINENT DOMAIN ISSUES:

This item was tabled at the Highway Committee’s March meeting.  A motion was made by Mr. Anderson and seconded by Mr. Stoddard to bring this item back to the table.  The motion carried unanimously.        

Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that his Department is continuing to work on acquiring additional right-of-way along Glidden Road to aid the traveling public in recovery efforts when their vehicles leave the roadway.  At the March meeting the Committee was informed that the negotiator was at an impasse with five property owners.  Prior to the March meeting, 30-day notification letters were sent to the five property owners stating that eminent domain proceedings could be utilized to obtain the needed property should that need be necessary.   Since receiving these letters four property owners have contact either their attorney’s, the County Engineer or the negotiator and it is felt that an agreeable solution can be reached in those cases.  One property still remains at an impasse due to the complication on trying to determine proper ownership of the land in question.  After discussion and much concern that eminent domain proceeding should be used only as a last resort a motion was made by Mr. Anderson and seconded by Vice-Chair Augsburger to recommend the authorization of eminent domain for one piece of property, parcel 20, currently under a life time right of A. Anderson.  The motion carried with six yes votes and Mr. Stuckert voting no.  

CHAIR’S COMMENTS:           Chair LaVigne stated she had received a request from Mr. Stuckert to discuss the intersection of Cherry Valley Road and Pearl Street in Kirkland, Illinois.  Mr. Stuckert stated he had received a call from Mr. Joe Wiegand who had discussions with the Fire Chief of the Village of Kirkland concerning the increased number of accidents at the above location.  Mr. Wiegand requested the Committee look into this concern.  The Committee was informed by the County Engineer that a search of the data base maintained by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and review of accident reports maintained by the Highway Department found four accidents identified as happening at that intersection since 2003.  Three however, have happened within the last six months.  These three were attributed to inadequate driving experience, driver not paying attention and the intersection “sneaked up” on him and one driver did not brake at all while entering this four-way stop intersection.   The County Engineer indicated that the Highway department would continue to monitor this location to see if additional action is warranted if accidents keep occurring.    Rumble strips are in place and it is a four-way stop condition. 

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS: 

The Transportation Improvement Progress Report was provided to the Committee for their review.  The highlighted projects were discussed.  Progress is being made on right-of-way acquisition for the Shabbona Road Bridge, Cherry Valley Road Bridge and Glidden Road.  Work continues on the traffic signals for the Peace Road widening project and the design engineering is underway for the North Grove Bridge project.  All other projects are pretty much at a stand still due to the weather.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:  None

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 Vice-Chair Augsburger to adjourn and Mr. Stuckert seconded this motion.  The motion passed unanimously and the April 5, 2007 meeting was adjourned at 6:50p.m. 

Respectfully Submitted

Pat LaVigne

Chair