A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday November 8, 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, Vice-Chair Augsburger, Mr. Gudmunson, Mr. Stoddard, and Mr. Walt.  Also present were Mr. Bill Lorence, County Engineer, Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager, Ms. Kate Schott, Daily Chronicle and Mr. Noah Carmichael, Fehr-Graham & Associates, LLC.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Mr. Stoddard and seconded by Mr. Walt to approve the minutes of the regular September 6, 2007 meeting.  The motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Mr. Anderson 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. 

AWARD RESOLUTION FOR A BRIDGE REPLACEMENT ON ESMOND ROAD OVER OWENS CREEK: 

Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that bids were taken for the scheduled replacement of a single span steel “I”-beam bridge with concrete deck including necessary roadway approaches on Esmond Road over Owens Creek identified as section number 05-16116-00-BR.  Two bids were received for this project with the low bid meeting specifications being submitted for four hundred twenty-seven thousand dollars ($427,000.00).  Mr. Lorence explained the Engineer’s estimate for this project was exceeded by over 25% but that he was recommending award to the lowest bidder.  Both bids received were very comparable and it would appear that the Engineer’s estimate was low in this case.  The low bid was submitted by Sjostrom and Sons, Inc., from Rockford, Illinois and Mr. Lorence recommended the low bid be recommended to the full County Board.  A motion was made by Mr. Walt and seconded by Mr. Anderson to forward the award resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

CHAIR’S COMMENTS:            Chairperson LaVigne stated she had no comments at this time.

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS: 

The Transportation Improvement Progress Report for October and November was provided to the Committee for their review.  The highlighted projects on the November report were discussed.  Shabbona Road bridge project is 40% completed and the Esmond Road Bridge was let this week.  Cherry Valley Road Bridge is scheduled to be letting November 16^th and progress is being made on next year’s bridge projects for Suydam Road, Five Points Road and North Grove Road.  Next year’s projects will primarily consist of all bridge projects as the County is contemplating only one minor road project for 2008, Perry Road from Waterman Road to IL Route 23. 

Mr. Lorence introduced Mr. Noah Carmichael from Fehr-Graham & Associates, LLC.  Fehr-Graham was representing the Town of Cortland.  The Town of Cortland had requested that Fehr-Graham approach the County with the idea of an I-88 interchange to be located west of the current Hinckley Road and running northerly to Illinois Route 64.  This proposed interchange would not encompass the existing Airport Road but would require the building of a completely new roadway at the Town of Cortland and Cortland Road District’s Expense.  Mr. Carmichael indicated this project was 10 to15 years away and the Town of Cortland was hoping to convince DeKalb County to participate in this project and to consider the interchange in their Comprehensive Transportation plan.  The Committee inquired how this project would be paid for and Mr. Carmichael indicated that no funding solutions had been identified as of yet but was hopeful everyone involved would be willing to participate to some degree.  Mr. Carmichael thanked the Committee for their time. 

Mr. Lorence presented a talking paper to the Committee concerning container shipping on the County Roadway system that the Committee was briefed on during the September meeting.  Mr. Lorence requested the Committee review the paper and talk to members of the Community that this issue might affect.  At the beginning of the year Mr. Lorence will revisit this topic with the Committee to see what the thoughts of Committee members were with this subject.  Mr. Lorence feels the Committee should be out front on this issue before our roads start to show signs of deterioration due to overweight loads being allowed to travel.

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. Anderson seconded this motion.  The motion passed unanimously and the November 8, 2007 meeting was adjourned at 6:42p.m. 

Respectfully Submitted

Patricia LaVigne

Chairperson