DRAFT

HIGHWAY COMMITTEE

May 1, 2008

A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday May 1, 2008 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.  Committee members present were, Vice-Chairperson Augsburger, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Stuckert and Mr. Walt.  Also present were Mr. Bill Lorence, County Engineer, Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager and Mr. Tom Zucker, Director, TransVac Services, a non-profit organization.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Mr. Walt and seconded by Vice-Chairperson Augsburger to approve the minutes of the regular April 3, 2008 meeting.  The motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Mr. Anderson to approve the agenda and Mr. Walt seconded this motion.  Discussion followed and it was suggested that the agenda be amended to add a new item 2 as follows:  2a:  Resolution authorizing application for Public Transportation Financial Assistance Grant and Acceptance of a Special Warranty for Small Urban and Rural Program.  2b:  Resolution for application for Public Transportation Capital Assistance Grant.   The motion carried unanimously to approve the agenda as amended.

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

RESOLUTIONS FOR LOCAL AGENCY AGREEMENTS FOR FEDERAL PARTICIPATION FOR SECTION 01-09114-00-BR (North Grove Road) AND SECTION 06-00002-01-BR (Suydam Road):   

Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that the above referenced sections are in the design stages and DeKalb County would be utilizing several different types of funding streams to complete these projects.  In order to secure Federal Funding for these projects a signed agreement must be on file with the Illinois Department of Transportation.  For Section 01-09114-00-BR, Federal, State, County and Road District funds will be used.  The estimated cost of this bridge is $880,000.00 with local reimbursement (County and Road District) estimated at a total amount of $70,250.00.  Section 06-00002-01-BR is a County only project with the estimated cost of that project set at $870,000.00 with the County’s share estimated to be $240,000.00.  Mr. Lorence recommended approval of these Agreements and the authorization of the County Board Chairperson to sign.  A motion was made by Vice Chairperson Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Anderson to forward the agreements to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously. 

RESOLUTIONS AUTHORIZING THE APPLICATION FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE SPECIAL WARRANTY FOR SMALL URBAN AND RURAL PROGRAM:  

The FY-09 5311 Grant is a grant for operating funding for TransVac.  This is required to be submitted through a Government agency and is a pass through grant.  That means that all funds are passed through the County to TransVac.  Like the funding, all responsibility and liability is passed from the County to TransVac as well.  TransVac match is 50%.  This grant is used to provide transportation for residents of DeKalb County outside of the MPO area of DeKalb, Sycamore, and Cortland.  TransVac uses soft/hard matches for their share and have always had no problem in meeting their share.  The County’s cost for this service is provided through the senior levy and provides the necessary match to be eligible for these funds.  The Warranty is required of the County and it simply states that public funds will not be used to provide TransVac with an unfair advantage in operating in this area with other agencies providing the same type of service to the public on a private bases.  The Greyhound bus line is the only other Company providing transportation services in DeKalb County and they have no interest in providing the type of service that TransVac is providing.  A motion was made by Mr. Walt and seconded by Vice-Chair Augsburger to forward these resolutions to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

RESOLUTIONS AUTHORIZING THE APPLICATION FOR AND EXECUTION OF A PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CAPITAL ASSISTANCE GRANT: 

Mr. Zucker explained the application for the IDOT Consolidated Vehicle Procurement Program and that this application must be submitted through a governmental agency as well.  This would allow for TransVac to procure vehicles from the State at a shared cost of 80/20.   All future maintenance cost becomes the responsibility of TransVac and would not be the responsibility of the County.  When the County is eligible to apply for this assistance TransVac request the maximum number of vehicle it is authorized for, realizing that it is unlikely all would be approved.  TransVac has two approved vehicles from last year’s program but has yet to take delivery of them.  The State is indicating that maybe they would arrive by the end of this calendar year.  Replacement vehicles are usually behind and not in the number that are requested but every vehicle helps.  TransVac currently has a fleet of 40 vehicles with 27 vehicles running at peek times.  The remaining vehicles are spares and some are used for parts only.  A motion was made by Vice-Chair Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Stuckert to forward the resolution 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 April 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 been let and will have a May start.  Design engineering on the Perry Road Bridge and Suydam Road Bridge is nearing completion.  These bridges will hopefully get built this year.  The Glidden Road right-of-way project is moving ahead slowly.  The County is scheduled to be in court on June 10, 2008 to determine ownership of the Anderson property.  The Esmond Road bridge project is underway and is approximately 36% completed.

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 Vice Chairperson Augsburger seconded this motion. The motion passed unanimously and the May 1, 2008 meeting was adjourned at 6:33p.m. 

Respectfully Submitted

Patricia LaVigne

Chairperson