DRAFT

HIGHWAY COMMITTEE

June 2, 2011

A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board was held on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 6:00pm in the Conference Room of the DeKalb County Highway Department, DeKalb, Illinois.  

Chairman Gudmunson called the meeting to order at 6:00pm.  Committee members present were Vice-Chair Augsburger, Mr. Brown, Mr. Cribben, Mr. Deverell and Mr. Foster.   Others present were County Board Chairman Larry Anderson, Board Member Mr. Ken Andersen, Jill O’Brian, Labor Attorney, William Lorence, County Engineer, Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager, Jim Quinn, Operations Manager, from the Highway Department, Mr. Nathan Schwartz, new County Engineer effective June 25, 2011 and Mr. Greg Millburg of DeKalb Farm Bureau.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Vice-Chair Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Foster to approve the minutes of the regular May 5, 2011 meeting.  The motion to approve the minutes as presented carried unanimously. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Vice-Chair Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Foster to approve the agenda as presented.   Discussion followed concerning the addition of one item, new item 1 – Agreement for Grade Crossing Improvement on Lee Road @ Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Crossing.  The motion to approve the agenda as amended carried unanimously. 

PUBLIC COMMENT:   There was no public comment; however Mr. Gudmunson introduced Mr. Schwartz to the Committee.

RESOLUTION #R2011-43, AGREEMENT FOR GRADE CROSSING IMPROVEMENT ON LEE ROAD @ BNSF CROSSING:

Mr. Lorence explained that the Highway Department received an agreement from the Illinois Department of Transportation for the improvement of the railroad crossing on Lee Road in Lee, Illinois.  This improvement would consist of installing new signals and the installation of gates at this location.  The crossing would be closed for approximately one week and there would be no cost to the County.  The County would be involved only to the extent of supplying barricades for the road closure.  BNSF has been upgrading all their crossings on this route and they continue to work westward.  Viking Avenue in downtown Lee is also scheduled to be upgraded.  A motion was made by Mr. Foster and seconded by Mr. Deverell to forward this resolution to the full County Board recommending award.  The motion carried unanimously. 

CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS:  Chairman Gudmunson congratulated the County Engineer and thanked him for his 16 years of service with DeKalb County and wished him all the best in retirement.   The Highway Department will hold an open house for Mr. Lorence on June 24^th from 1:00pm – 3:00pm in the Conference Room of the Highway Department.

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS: 

Jill O’Brian, Labor Attorney from Laner Muchin Dombrow Becker Levin & Tominberg, Ltd in Chicago, Illinois was present.  Ms. O’Brian is DeKalb County’s labor attorney for negotiations with the 150 Operating Engineers.  A motion was made by Mr. Foster and seconded by Mr. Augsburger to enter into Executive Session per Chapter 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2).  Roll Call vote was held with Vice-Chair Augsburger, Mr. Brown, Mr. Cribben, Mr. Deverell, Mr. Foster and Chairman Gudmunson all voting yes.  There were zero no votes and the Highway Committee meeting moved into Executive session at 6:25pm.

The Highway Committee Meeting returned from Executive Session at 7:10pm.

Mr. Lorence continued with his Transportation Improvement Progress Report for May and the highlighted projects on the report were discussed.  The Old State Road Bridge project is scheduled to begin on July 11, 2011.   The other projects highlighted include East County Line Road, Suydam Road Bridge, Waterman Road, Coltonville Road Bridge, Five Points Road Bridge, Gurler Road Bridge and East County Line Road Bridge.  The Gurler Road Bridge will be let June 7, 2011 and the Committee will hold a special meeting prior to the regular Board Meeting on June 15^th to recommend an award.  Due to the Keslinger Road Bridge still being closed the Road Commissioner requested this project be moved forward as soon as possible in hopes we get this bridge built and the road re-opened prior to harvest.  This is a DeKalb Road District project and they are utilizing MFT funds thereby necessitating County Board approval/award.  The Coltonville Road Bridge project has received all project sign-off letters from surrounding property owners and now moves forward to the project development stage.   No difficulties have arisen that need to be addressed at this time for our pending projects.  The Keslinger Road Bridge remains under negotiation and no forward progress appears to have been made since last month.

There has been some discussion concerning high speed rail going through the northern part of DeKalb County and rumors that some roads will be closed.  Mr. Lorence stated the railroad has been working with individual Road Commissioners and as far as he knows no roads have been scheduled to be closed.  These are not high speed trains going through as the speed is only up to 85 mph.  All crossings will be required to have signals and gates prior to operation which has been scheduled for 2012, funding permitted.  There may be some roads in the City of Genoa that might be affected, but those issues would fall under the authority of the City.  None of the County’s roads are affected by this project as all County roads currently have signals and gates at their crossings.

As mentioned earlier the Committee will need to meet 30 minutes prior to the regular County Board Meeting to recommend award for the Gurler Road Bridge project.  We will meet in the Freedom Room in the Legislative Center at 7:00pm.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: 

Mr. Andersen inquired into the stakes on Somonauk Road south of Route 38 to the Landfill.  Mr. Lorence stated that Waste Management still has one item outstanding before final approval of the expansion by the State Pollution Control Board and that issue is to widen shoulders.  The lath is marking the existing right-of-way and Waste Management is doing a survey to see if shoulders can be widened within the existing right-of-way

 ADJOURNMENT:

Chair Gudmunson inquired if there was anything else that needed to be brought before the Committee and hearing none requested a motion to adjourn.  A motion was made by Vice-Chair Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Deverell.  The motion passed unanimously and the June 2, 2011 meeting was adjourned at 7:25pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

John Gudmunson

Chairperson