A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday June 5, 2008 at 6:00pm in the Conference Room of the DeKalb County Highway Department, DeKalb, Illinois.  

Vice-Chair Augsburger called the meeting to order at 6:05pm.  Committee members present were, Vice-Chairperson Augsburger, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Gudmunson, Mr. Stoddard and Mr. Walt.  Also present were Mr. Bill Lorence, County Engineer and Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Mr. Anderson and seconded by Mr. Walt to approve the minutes of the regular May 1, 2008 meeting.  The motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Mr. Stoddard to approve the agenda and Mr. Gudmunson seconded this motion.  Discussion followed and it was suggested that the agenda be amended to add a new item 4 as follows:  Revised MFT Resolution for Section 08-00000-00-GM.  The motion carried unanimously to approve the agenda as amended.

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

AWARD RESOLUTIONS FOR SECTION 08-19000-01-GM, AGGREGATE SPREAD ON ROAD FOR VICTOR ROAD DISTRICT:   

Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that bids were opened for Victor Road District for aggregate.  Two bids were received and Macklin, Inc. from Rochelle, Illinois submitted the low bid meeting specifications.  The low bid was $10.83 per ton of aggregate, delivered and spread on road, for a total bid of $41,154.00.   Mr. Lorence recommended forwarding this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  A motion was made by Mr. Walt and seconded by Mr. Stoddard to forward the resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

AWARD RESOLUTIONS FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF ONE UTILITY TRACTOR:  

Mr. Lorence informed the Committe that four bids were received for the replacement of one utility tractor that was scheduled in our 2008 Budget.  The low bidder was Johnson Tractor from Rochelle, Illinois.  The low bid meeting specifications was $12,425.00 and was for the purchase of a M8540HD12 Kubota.  The County purchased a similar tractor in 2006 and is very pleased with the performance.    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 TO ENTER INTO AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF SYCAMORE FOR ADVANCE TRAFFIC WARNING DEVICE ON PEACE ROAD APPROACHING FRANTUM ROAD: 

The City of Sycamore requested the placement of advance warning devices to warn traffic of possible emergency vehicles exiting on Peace Road at the Frantum Road intersection.  The City has recently built an additional Fire Station on Frantum and that Station was opened on June 2, 2008.  The City felt that more notice than just a standard fire station ahead sign was required and they requested special LED equipped signs replace the standard signs.  The County Engineer had no objects to this request as long as the City of Sycamore agreed to maintain these signs after they were erected.  The signs are somewhat expensive at a cost of over $1,000.00 each.   Mr. Lorence recommended forwarding this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  A motion was made by Mr. Anderson and seconded by Mr. Walt to forward the resolution to the full County Board recommending approval and authorizing the Chairperson to enter into this agreement.  The motion carried unanimously.

REVISED MFT RESOLUTION FOR SECTION 08-00000-00-GM:

Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that back in December the County Board authorized $765,740.00 in MFT funds to be used for salary and equipment.  This revised resolution would authorize the addition of $24,000.00 to be utilized from MFT for salaries for additional summer part-time help.  The Department normally hires 4-6 part-time employees for the summer months to assist the County with vegetation control, and flagging duties.  This year the State has directed Counties to perform traffic counts and unlike past years, will not provide personnel to do the counts.  In addition to the traffic counts additional projects will be proceeding with County forces that will require additional flaggers as the County will be working on Glidden Road, Perry Road and crack filling projects.  A portion of this amount will go toward overtime that was expended during the snow removal season.  Mr. Lorence recommended forwarding this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  A motion was made by Mr. Stoddard and seconded by Mr. Gudmunson to forward the resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

CHAIR’S COMMENTS:           Vice Chairperson Augsburger had no comment at this time.

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS: 

The Transportation Improvement Progress Report for May 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 has just barely gotten started.  Some equipment is being staged and they are waiting on the weather to cooperate.  Design engineering on the Perry Road Bridge and Suydam Road Bridge is nearing completion.  The Glidden Road widening project is underway.  The Esmond Road bridge project is nearing completion and the roadway is scheduled to be paved the week of June 9^th, weather permitting.  The Cherry Valley Road Bridge is underway with a completion date of July 29, 2008.  The North Grove Road Bridge will still hopefully be let this year but there is very little chance that any construction will begin until 2009.  The State has determined that a Wetland Review is now required for this site. 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:  Mr. Anderson inquired if Road Districts in LaSalle County were getting some sort of monetary compensation for allowing Enbridge to travel their roads during the construction of the underground pipeline.  Mr. Lorence had meet with District Three County Engineers earlier in the week and as far as District Three knew no Road Districts were being compensated other than normal permit fees or bonding of roadways.  There was apparently some information that certain Road Districts were getting new road graders from Enbridge for the use of their roads.  None of the County Engineers were aware of this, if it is in fact true.

ADJOURNMENT:

Vice -Chair Augsburger 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. Anderson seconded this motion. The motion passed unanimously and the June 5, 2008 meeting was adjourned at 6:28p.m. 

Respectfully Submitted

Jerry Augsburger

Vice Chairperson