A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday August 7, 2008 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-Chairperson Augsburger, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. Stuckert and Mr. Walt.  Also present were Mr. Bill Lorence, County Engineer and Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager.  Mr. Joel Maurer, Mr. Tom Cleveland, and Mr. Rick Monas from the City of DeKalb, Mr. Dave Weber and Mr. Ken Hodgen from Wendler Engineering and Mr. Phillip Renwall and Mr. Edward Kling from M&E, LLC Development Corporation were also represented.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Mr. Anderson and seconded by Mr. Walt to approve the minutes of the regular June 5, 2008 meeting.  The motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

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

PUBLIC COMMENT:  There were no public comments at this time. 

PUBLIC HEARING:  PETITION TO CHANGE TWO STREET NAMES IN ELVA, DEKALB COUNTY: 

Chairperson LaVigne called the Public Hearing to order at 6:02pm to hear concerns and comments for the purpose of renaming 1^st Street to Walker Drive and 2^nd Street to Concidine Drive in Elva, DeKalb County, Illinois.  There was no one present to speak at the hearing and Chairperson LaVigne closed the public hearing at 6:03pm.  Mr. Lorence stated DeKalb County had received a petition from Mr. Gary E. Lothson, Esquire containing the signatures of 12 citizens of Elva requesting the changes.  Mr. Lorence informed the Committee he was unaware of any objections to this change and this change would pose no cost to the County.  A motion was made by Mr. Walt and seconded by Vice-Chair Augsburger to forward a resolution to the full County Board recommending approval of the requested street name changes.  The motion carried unanimously. 

CITY OF DEKALB PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR:  PEACE ROAD ACCESS

Mr. Monas, City of DeKalb Public Works Director, addressed the Committee seeking approval to amend the current Peace Road Access Agreement between the City of DeKalb and the County of DeKalb.  The current agreement limits the number of access points to be allowed to Peace Road and was entered into during March of 1994.  The City of DeKalb is seeking to develop a portion of vacant property located within the DeKalb Taylor Airport Complex.  That development would consist of a gas/service station with twelve fueling positions, a convenience market and a car wash; a 10,000 square foot commercial retail building which will be partitioned into separate businesses including a fast food restaurant with drive-thru window and a 6,000 square foot, high turn over, sit down restaurant.  The Airport was built with a majority of Federal Funds and as such has a requirement to be self-supporting over a period of time.  This development would go a long way to achieving that goal.  However, in order to secure commitments from national commercial establishments there is a requirement for a right-in and right-out on Peace Road approximately 320 feet south of Pleasant Street.  Without this limited access the current development would not move forward.  This limited access would replace the currently allowed secondary access just north of the railroad overpass.  Mr. Monas stated the requested access was deemed to be safer for the traveling public at the proposed location than the one currently allowed.  The Committee inquired into what the farmer would do to access the farmland.  Mr. Cleveland stated they would come in off of Pleasant Street and cross the Airport.  The FAA has no objection to allow that as long as they are escorted when crossing the taxiways and runways.  Mr. Cleveland stated that the Airport has done this in the past and would continue to do so without any problems.  Wendler Engineering has completed the traffic impact study for this location and the proposed development as designed would handle the projected traffic in this area.  Committee members were concerned about safety especially traffic exiting onto Peace Road utilizing the right out and attempting to make an immediate left onto Pleasant Street.  Wendler Engineering and M&E, LLC stated that studies have shown that the majority of the traveling public coming out of this development, going west, would utilize the Pleasant Street exit and thereby use the traffic signals for that movement.  The Committee asked if the County approved the right-in but not the right-out would that be a satisfactory compromise to allow the development to continue.  M&E LLC stated that without both the right-in and the right-out the deal would be dead.  Committee members inquired if there was anyway to prevent the left hand turning movement from the right-out on Peace Road.  Discussion followed concerning signage, extending the raised median or some other means to restrict a left-hand turning movement from the right-out onto Peace Road. 

Mr. Maurer stated Peace Road at that location is scheduled to be widened to four lanes during the fall of 2010.

Mr. Monas requested that the City be allowed to take the Committee’s comments and concerns and see if there would be an alternative solution that would better serve the needs of the City and meet the concerns of the County.  Chairperson LaVigne stated they were most welcome to do that and the Committee looked forward to future discussions on this proposal.  Mr. Monas thanked the Committee and stated they would request to be placed back on the Committee’s agenda at a later date.

AWARD RESOLUTIONS FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF ONE TRACTOR-LOADER-BACKHOE:  

Mr. Lorence informed the Committee that three bids were received for the replacement of one tractor-loader-backhoe that was scheduled in our 2008 Budget.  The low bidder meeting specifications was Patten Construction Products of Elmhurst, Illinois.  The low bid meeting specifications was $71,900.00 and was for the purchase of a CAT 430 Unit. Mr. Lorence recommended forwarding this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  A motion was made by Mr. Stoddard and seconded by Mr. Anderson to forward the resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING FOR SECTION 08-00076-00-BR, COLTONVILLE ROAD BRIDGE AND SECTION 06-00216-00-BR, OLD STATE ROAD BRIDGE: 

Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that the County would need to replace the Coltonville Road and Old State Road bridges in the coming years.  Because these bridges will require major funding sources to complete it is in the County’s best interest to have final plans prepared and ready to move forward.  The County will be requesting Major Bridge Funds for the completion of both of these projects.  In order to request funding, plans and proposals will need to be completed.  The County will continue to request these funds annually if not successful on our initial request.  A motion was made by Vice-Chair Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Anderson to forward both resolutions to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

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

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS: 

The Transportation Improvement Progress Report for July was provided to the Committee for their review.  The highlighted projects on the report were discussed. The Bethany Road South extension in DeKalb Road District is moving forward and is approximately 22% complete.  Design engineering on the Perry Road Bridge and Suydam Road Bridge is now complete.  The Esmond Road Bridge is open as well as Perry Road.  Perry Road was done under less than 21 days and hopefully did not disrupt the traveling public very much.  The Cherry Valley Road Bridge is approximately 71% complete with a target completion date of November 1^st.  If the weather cooperates that bridge should be opened prior to that date. 

The 2009 Budget submission was presented to the Committee.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:  Mr. Anderson has some concerns about roads in his District that are being completely destroyed by Enbridge as they bring the pipeline through DeKalb County.  Mr. Lorence indicated that the roads in question were Township Roads and the Road Commissioners need to insure Enbridge is not doing damage to their roads.  The Road Commissioners have invited Enbridge to their August meeting to discuss some of these incidents.  Hopefully some of these issues can be resolved at that time. 

ADJOURNMENT:

Chairperson 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. Walt to adjourn and Mr. Stoddard seconded this motion. The motion passed unanimously and the August 7, 2008 meeting was adjourned at 7:02p.m. 

Respectfully Submitted

Patricia LaVigne

Chairperson