DRAFT

HIGHWAY COMMITTEE

September 1, 2011

A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board was held on Thursday, September 1, 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. Cribben, Mr. Deverell and Mr. Foster.   Others present were Mr. Nathan Schwartz, County Engineer, Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager from the Highway Department, Mr. Greg Millburg of DeKalb County Farm Bureau and Mr. Jeff Engelhardt from the Daily Chronicle.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Mr. Deverell and seconded by Vice Chairman Augsburger to approve the minutes of the regular August 4, 2011 meeting.  The motion to approve the minutes as presented carried unanimously. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Mr. Cribben and seconded by Mr. Foster to approve the agenda as presented.    The motion to approve the agenda as presented carried unanimously. 

PUBLIC COMMENT:   There were no public comments. 

AWARD RESOLUTION #R2011-53, FOR SECTION 11-18122-00-FP, SYCAMORE ROAD DISTRICT, WHIPPLE ROAD HOT-MIX PROJECT:

Mr. Schwartz explained to the Committee that the reason this project in coming so late in the construction year to the Committee is that this project was originally scheduled as a seal coat project.  Due to the problems encountered with the awarded seal coat contract this year the Road Commissioner cancelled all of his roads scheduled to be seal coated and decided to hot-mix Whipple Road.  Whipple Road was a seal coat road that Sycamore Road District re-claimed (tuned back into gravel) to place a double seal on it this year.  In thinking the County and Townships were not going to have any seal coating done this year, the other alternative available to Sycamore was to hot-mix this road.  This project should be able to be completed by the end of October, depending on the weather.  The County held a bid letting on August 30, 2011 at 10:00am for this project and received three bids meeting specifications.  The low bid was Curran Contracting from DeKalb in the amount of $106,265.00 and Mr. Schwartz recommended award to that Company.  A motion was made by Vice-Chair Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Cribben to forward this award resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously. 

CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS:  Chairman Gudmunson stated he had no comments at this time.

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS: 

Mr. Schwartz presented his Transportation Improvement Progress Report for the month of August to the Committee. The projects listed continue to move forward and those making noticeable progress this month were:  East County Line Road Bridge – this project is a Kane County project and will be funded in part with Federal Bridge Funds scheduled for 2013.  Kane County is now in the process of obtaining the required additional right-of-way for this project.  The Gurler Road Bridge project is still in the pour stage and the Contractor is currently working on the west barrel.  This bridge is scheduled to be opened during the first or second week of October and stands at approximately 60% complete.  The Old State Road Bridge is at approximately 75% complete.  The beams are set and the Contractor is now working on the deck.  Our Perry Road resurface project is 100% complete.  Mr. Deverell inquired into the construction of the Hortense Road Bridge in Kirkland and why it is progressing so slowly.  Mr. Schwartz indicated it probably would not move to construction until 2013.  The Village has not as of yet secured an engineering agreement with a firm to begin the process.  The County will be involved with this project to ensure that any funds allocated to this project will be spent appropriately, but other than that this Department does not know the reason for the delay.  

Mr. Schwartz presented an update to the Committee on the County wide Seal Coat program for this year.  On August 15, 2011, this Department was informed by IDOT that due to the lateness of the seal coat year, DeKalb County could begin to make other arrangements with our second low bidder to see if our roads could be seal coated this year.  On that date, DeKalb County sent a letter to our awarded Contractor stating we would cancel our contract with that contractor.  On August 18, 2011 the Third District Appellate Court vacated and reversed the circuit court’s August 8, 2011, order denying Road Oil, Incorporated’s petition for a temporary restraining order.  On August 19, 2011 this Department corresponded with Road Oil once again rescinding our letter of August 15, 2011 if the Contractor could immediately begin seal coat operations in DeKalb County.  The Contractor was able to begin work on August 22, 2011 and as of tonight has completed seal coating operations in DeKalb County.  The original seal coat contract called for a total of 54.9 miles (18.2 County - 36.7 Road Districts) of seal coat.  The County ended up with 16.2 miles completed and the Road Districts had approximately 26 miles completed for a total of 42.2 miles completed.  As a matter of clarification to the Committee, last month we reported that the contract had a completion date of September 15, 2011, when in fact it is September 1, 2011.

The Keslinger Road Bridge is moving forward and the County will now re-open negotiations with Enbridge/Welded Construction to see if a settlement can be reached prior to pursuing legal action.  Mr. Foster wanted to know how we are “moving forward”. – are we moving forward with negotiations-legal action-or actually repairing the road.  It has been three year since this incident and the Keslinger Road Bridge is still closed. 

Mr. Foster indicated that County residents are comparing this to a car accident and you would fix the car first and then worry about who was going to pay for the damages.  Mr. Schwartz indicated one of the reasons this has not been done at this point is that the Keslinger Road Bridge will be a $1 million dollar bridge and it belongs to the Road District.  Afton Road District does not have a million dollars to move forward with this project without funding assistance from other sources.  This bridge has been placed in the Major Bridge Fund schedule and should funding be approved for this project construction could begin within 3-5 years.  Mr. Schwartz indicated that is not a satisfactory answer and he will continue to do what he can to acquire the needed funding and move this project along as quickly as he possibly can.  For now, the County is moving forward by re-entering negotiations with Enbridge/Welded Construction to see if a settlement can be arrived at out of court. 

Mr. Schwartz presented the 2012 Budget recommendation to the Committee for their review.  After they have time to look it over Mr. Schwartz encouraged any member with questions to please call or stop by the Department and speak with either himself or Wayne.   Highlights of the budgets were touched on.  The Highway Department is not submitting a balanced budget in four of its five budget submissions.  This Department saves up funds and spends down as projects get cleared for construction and equipment is needed to be replaced.  With our request to pull from our fund balance, at the end of 2012 all fund balances will remain healthy.  Obviously this can not continue for an extended period of time, but it is hopeful the economy will show signs of recovery in the next couple of years.  The County is programming approximately $2.2 million in construction projects for next year and these projects include hot-mix resurfacing, seal coating, bridges, and striping.  Three of the Department budgets are supported with property tax levies; one is support by fees charged for engineering and one supported through the Motor Fuel Tax collections by the State of Illinois.  We have programmed approximately $550,000 for salaries, $500,000 for winter maintenance (salt), and $400,000 for equipment replacement from our Motor Fuel Tax for the coming year.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:   Mr. Cribben commented on the County’s adopt-a-highway program.  He notices as he drives through the County that some adopted roads look in better shape than others.  A suggestion was made that maybe some sort of recognition could be given to those Groups/Individuals who are making a concerted effort to keep their portion of the road way clean.

Mr. Schwartz stated that the dirt pile at the Nursing home is finally being removed.  If Committee members see that activity happening, this Department is moving the dirt to future construction sites for pending County projects.  This should improve the ground’s appearance surrounding the Nursing Home.

 ADJOURNMENT:

Chair Gudmunson asked if there was anything further that needed to be discussed and hearing none asked for a motion to adjourn.  A motion was made by Vice-Chair Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Cribben to adjourn.  The motion passed unanimously and the September 1, 2011 meeting was adjourned at 7:10pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

John Gudmunson

Chairperson