A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday August 2, 2007 at 6:00pm in the Conference Room of the DeKalb County Highway Department, DeKalb, Illinois.  

Chairperson LaVigne called the meeting to order at 6:00pm.  Committee members present were, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. Stuckert and Mr. Walt.  Also present were Mr. Lorence, County Engineer and Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Mr. Stuckert and seconded by Mr. Anderson to approve the minutes of the regular June 7, 2007 meeting.  The motion to approve the minutes passed with Mr. Stoddard abstaining. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

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

PUBLIC COMMENT:  There was no public comment. 

 AWARD RESOLUTION FOR 07-12000-01-GM:  PIERCE ROAD DISTRICT SOR AGGREGATE PROJECT:

Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that Road District Commissioner for Pierce Road District has requested an additional MFT project this year.  Due to the condition of his aggregate roads the Road Commissioner needs to place aggregate on them.  Two bids were received with Elmer Larson, LLC from Sycamore submitting the lowest bid meeting specifications.  Mr. Lorence recommended approval of the award to Elmer Larson.  A motion was made by Mr. Anderson and seconded by Mr. Stoddard to forward the award resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.   The motion carried unanimously.

CHAIR’S COMMENTS:          

Chair LaVigne stated she received some concerns about westbound Plank Road after a vehicle leaves Kane County and enters into DeKalb County.  The concern is that the road becomes dark and DeKalb County’s roads do not have the center reflectors on the road and the paint is not as reflective. 

DeKalb County repaints its centerline and edge lines every year.  Depending on the snow removal season the glass beads that cause the reflectivity will last longer some years than others.  Unless Kane County repaints their lines more than once a year we believe the same contractor paints Kane County and DeKalb County around the same time of year.  Kane County also has more revenue to work with and can afford to do extra things.  Once the reflective markers are placed on the road they become a maintenance item that must be maintained.  Our current staff continues to have a full plate of routine road maintenance.  The County Engineer will continue to review this problem and see if something different can be done to help this situation.  Plank Road will have center rumbles installed this year and painted over.  This may help the reflective beads stay on the surface longer and increase reflectivity, even in wet weather.  Time will tell.

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS: 

The Transportation Improvement Progress Report was provided to the Committee for their review.  The highlighted projects were discussed.  Peace Road surface course is 70% complete and work continues on the traffic signals for Peace Road from last years project.  The renewal of the State’s ACE permits has been received and the Shabbona Road Bridge project will be scheduled for a September 4, 2007 letting with hopes to have that bridge completed yet this year.  Our Cherry Valley Road Bridge has acquired all the needed right-of-way and will be let this fall.   Most of our capital projects will continue to be our bridge projects.

The 2008 Budget has been submitted.  There are no surprises in the budget other than expenditures exceeding revenue.  All Fund Balances will remain in the black however some bridge projects may have to be pushed back until funding can be secured.  The demand for bridge funds remain high due to this fund fronting the Township Bridge Program and being reimbursed at approximately $167,000.00 per year from the State.  There is hope that the State will increase this fund to allow more funds to flow to the Townships to replace bridges.   One additional position has been requested in this budget and that is one of Assistant County Engineer.  Both the County Engineer and the Engineering Manager will retire in 2013 and take over 70 years of experience with them.  This would be devastating for the Engineering Division.  With the addition of this position the County would have time to evaluate a possible replacement for either the County Engineer or the Engineering Manager.

The Sheriff has requested to allow parking on Shabbona Road in the Village of Shabbona during non-school hours.  The County Engineer has informed the Sheriff that if he wants that to happen he will have to submit a change to the current ordnance to allow that.  The Committee may see this item again and the County Engineer wanted them to be aware of this situation.

The Committee was briefed on the proposed construction of a round-a-bout on Somonauk Road and Cortland Center Road (Pleasant Street).  The Town of Cortland is very excited about this possibility and this project will be funded by Cortland and developers.  The County will not share in the cost of construction of this project.  This proposed round-a-bout will allow for a lower speed limit through this area and greatly reduce the conflict points and be safer for pedestrians.  Mr. Lorence stated he was in favor of this project and if the Committee wanted him to do something different to let him know.  There were no objections to this project from the Committee.  Comments were made that it seemed to be a good idea if kept to one lane and if it was designed correctly it will work fine, but if not it will be a nightmare.

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 Mr. Anderson to adjourn and Mr. Stoddard seconded this motion.  The motion passed unanimously and the August 2, 2007 meeting was adjourned at 6:48p.m. 

Respectfully Submitted

Patricia LaVigne

Chairperson