DRAFT

HIGHWAY COMMITTEE

January 5, 2012

A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board was held on Thursday, January 5, 2012 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 Mr. Nathan Schwartz, County Engineer, Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager from the Highway Department, Mr. John Huber, DeKalb Road District Commissioner and Mr. Tice Cole, Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Vice Chairman Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Deverell to approve the minutes of the regular December 1, 2011 meeting.  The motion to approve the minutes as presented carried unanimously. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

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

PUBLIC COMMENT:   None

MFT RESOLUTION #R2012-01 – SALARY AND EQUIPMENT:

Mr. Davey explained to the Committee that at the beginning of each year the County Board must authorize the expenditure of Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) funds.  Each year the Highway Department utilizes a portion of the County’s MFT funds for part of the salary of our Maintainers while actually performing labor duties on the roadways.  In additional to salary the County rents our equipment and transfers those funds from the MFT Budget to the Highway Budget to cover the cost of purchasing new equipment.  That is normally a $400,000 transfer; however the County Board did not approve any equipment purchases for FY-2012.  The MFT resolution is requesting the expenditure of $649,000.00 from MFT broken down as – salary $400,000; payroll taxes, ect., overtime and seasonal salaries at $149,000; and $100,000 for equipment/emergencies that might arise due to unpredicted weather and/or equipment needs.  Any unused funds will roll back over to the MFT Account at the end of the year.  Vice Chair Augsburger made a motion and Mr. Cribben seconded it to forward this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion passed unanimously. 

MFT RESOLUTION #R2012-02 – WINTER MAINTENANCE MATERIALS:

Mr. Davey explained this resolution is similar to the first resolution presented except it provides for the expenditure of MFT funds for the purchase of salt for our winter season.  This resolution will cover the entire calendar year of 2012 and is for the amount of $500,000.  This is the same amount that was requested for calendar year 2011 and the County Engineer feels that amount is adequate.  Any unused funds will be placed back into the County’s MFT account at the end of year.  If any additional funds are needed for this product the County Board will need to approve any increase.  Mr. Foster made a motion to forward this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval and that motion was seconded by Vice Chairman Augsburger.  The motion passed unanimously. 

MFT RESOLUTION #R2012-03 – FOR SECTION 06-00216-00-BR OLD STATE ROAD BRIDGE:

The Committee was informed that the Old State Road Bridge has been completed and the Department is working on final payment to the Contractor.  The original MFT resolution for this project was based on the Engineer’s estimate prior to the project being let.  The project was awarded for $67,000 more than the Engineer’s estimate; however the final cost was $26,000 less than the awarded amount.  In order to utilize additional MFT funds to make final payment the County Board will need to approve the expenditure.  Mr. Davey recommended the Committee approve this request in the amount of $141,742, which is an additional $27,255 over the original resolution request.  Mr. Foster made a motion to forward this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval and that motion was seconded by Mr. Cribben.  The motion passed unanimously. 

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

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS: 

Mr. Schwartz presented his Transportation Improvement Progress Report for the month of December to the Committee. The projects listed show little movement as we continue into the winter season.  This is the time the Department continues working on surveying and design work for the projects all Road Districts are planning for 2012.  The Hortense Street Bridge has received approval from IDOT to keep the timber piles in place and just replace the deck.  Design work will begin in the near future for this project.  Our Peace Road resurface project has been extended to Bethany Road from Wirsing Parkway.  This is a requirement that when utilizing Federal funds for a project the project length must fall between two logical termini.  That means the roadway being resurfaced must start and end at a Federal Aid Route which Wirsing Parkway was not.  This will add an additional $200,000 to our estimate; however the funding for this project will be provided from DeKalb-Sycamore Area Transportation Study (DSATS) STU funds.  In order to utilize these funds the project will be pushed back until 2015. 

With the fog seal placed on Peace Road during 2011 this should not be a problem.  The Keslinger Road Bridge  is scheduled to be before a judge on or about January 12, 2012 to begin court proceedings to determine who is responsible for the replacement of this destroyed bridge.  The Committee will be updated as to any progress being made.  Waterman Road is being budgeted as a complete rebuild of the County section from Perry Road to Duffy Road, a five mile section.  The first step is to obtain a survey to see exactly how much right-of-way came with this road.  As many of the Committee members might know Waterman Road was the old State Route 23 and was built as a narrow concrete road.  The County has been in IDOT District 1, then transferred to District 2 and finally to District 3 since obtaining Waterman Road from the State of Illinois.  Road records are to be transferred to the appropriate District that the County is assigned.  There appears to be a void in the right-of-way records for Waterman Road and the State can not provide any accurate information as to the amount of right-of-way associated with Waterman Road.  Since being turned over to the County the road has been widened to allow for two paved driving lanes.  With the concrete in place in the middle of this road it continues to cause problems during the freeze thaw cycles.  To correct this problem the road will be ground, the concrete broken up, new base laid down, an overlay placed and ditches appropriately formed to allow acceptable shoulders and drainage of the roadbed.  The County’s estimate for this project is $1,000,000 and five years for completion.  Mr. Gudmunson asked the County Engineer to look and see if this project could be moved up and completed sooner.  Mr. Schwartz wants to utilize County forces to complete the dirt work after appropriate right-of-way is obtained and then contract out concrete rubblizing and resurfacing.  Mr. Gudmunson stated he would inquire to see if there was any way to obtain additional funding from the General Fund to move this project forward earlier than currently planned.  Gurler Road Bridge is showing 100% complete.  During the construction phase of this project the County obtained a construction easement for the DeKalb Road District to allow for construction equipment to be moved around the project.  It was agreed to with one of the landowners that upon completion of this project the landowner would sign a permanent easement for just the bare minimum amount of land needed for the actual structure to be constructed on his land.  The project is at the point where the permanent easement needs to be obtained to close this project out.  However, the landowner is stating he will not sign the permanent easement due to his dissatisfaction with the completed project.  Concerns are that trees were damaged and not taken care of; the bridge is not level on the approaches, and the road was damaged outside of the construction area by the contractor and not repaired.  The landowner further had concerns that the Temporary Construction Easement and the Stipulated Agreement for the Grant of a Permanent Easement was not notarized properly.  The DeKalb Road District Commissioner has agreed to repair the approaches after the bridge settles for a time and to trim the damaged trees.  Consultation with the State’s Attorney has indicated all documentation was completed under good intent with no indication of any deceptive practices being displayed.  The County Engineer will inform the landowner of the County’s and Road District’s intent going forward to address the landowner’s concerns and the status of this project. 

Mr. Schwartz stated the Department has collected data from approximately 13 Road Districts concerning labor cost.  The Department is still trying to develop a way to show this data that would provide for a similar comparison of labor to actual work performed on respective roadways.  Mr. Gudmunson asked Mr. Foster to assist the Department if requested in preparing such a report.  Mr. Davey will contact Mr. Foster and discuss this assignment further.  Mr. Gudmunson stated the Department contracts out much of the road maintenance now.  With labor costs continuing to rise the County needs to find a new way of doing business with exploring more part-time employees rather than full-time employees.  Mr. Gudmunson further stated the roads are suffering and MFT funds should be utilized for road repairs and not salaries.

The County Engineer provided an update to the Committee on ComEd's proposed transmission line upgrade project going through DeKalb County.  This transmission line supplies power to the east coast and the lines need to be raised to allow proper clearance from vehicles traveling under them, especially agriculture equipment.  These towers will be separated from the base and have an additional section placed to raise the tower.  Not every tower will be raised, but more than likely every other tower will be fitted with an extension.  Mr. Schwartz has met with ComEd and the Road Commissioners involved in this project to establish authorized routes these overweight vehicles could possibly use during this project.  These lines are located just north and parallel to US Route 30, approximately 3 miles north of Shabbona, running west to east.  Unfortunately, this project is controlled by the Company responsible for the entire length of this transmission of power.  The time frame given to shut the power to these lines has been established to be February to March.  This time frame falls right in line with the normal period that DeKalb County and the Road Districts have their roads posted for the spring freeze thaw cycle.  Overweight loads have the potential to cause considerable damage to roads if traveled overweight at that time of the year.  ComEd has assured the County and Road Districts that any road damaged is to be fixed by the appropriate jurisdiction and billed to ComEd.  The County Engineer is working with ComEd to prepare an agreement protecting the County and Road Districts.   

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. Deverell to adjourn.  The motion passed unanimously and the January 5, 2012 meeting was adjourned at 7:29pm.

                                                                        Respectfully Submitted,

                                                                        John Gudmunson

                                                                        Chairperson