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Minutes of the DeKalb County Highway Committee
June 6, 2013
6 pm.

PRINTABLE DOCUMENT (.pdf)

 

 

A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board was held on Thursday, June 6, 2013 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 Mr. Deverell, Mr. Frieders, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Jones, Mr. O'Barski and Vice Chair Pietrowski. Others present were Mr. Nathan Schwartz, County Engineer, Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager, Jim Quinn, Operations Manager and Greg Millburg, Farm Bureau.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Vice Chair Pietrowski and seconded by Mr. O'Barski to approve the minutes of the regular May 2, 2013 meeting. The motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously.

 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Jones to approve the agenda as presented. The motion passed unanimously.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT: None

 

RESOLUTION OF INDEBTEDNESS #R2013-43 FOR BASE LINE ROAD BRIDGE 08-18121-00-BR, ANTICIPATION OF TOWNSHIP BRIDGE FUNDS:

Mr. Davey explained to the Committee that Township Bridge Funds would be used to cover part of the cost of this project. Because the balance in the Township Bridge Fund is not sufficient to cover the programed portion of this cost the County will cover this cost from the County Bridge Fund and receive reimbursement from the State of Illinois through the annual allocation process. This is a joint Township Road and both Sycamore Road District and Kingston Road District will participate in this project scheduled to begin on July 8, 2013 with an anticipated completion date during the first week of September 2013. A motion was made by Vice Chair Pietrowski and seconded by Mr. O'Barski to forward the resolution to the full Board recommending approval. The motion passed unanimously.

 

MFT RESOLUTION #R2013-44, FOR WEST COUNTY LINE ROAD RESURFACE PROJECT:

Lee County is resurfacing West County Line Road between Perry Road to just north of the railroad tracks in the Village of Lee. In years past DeKalb County and Lee County would share maintenance responsibilities for this road from Perry to US Route 30.

 

During the 1990s an agreement was entered into stating Lee County would be responsible for the four miles from Perry Road to Lee Road, excluding any portion under the responsibility of the Village of Lee. DeKalb County would be responsible for the portion from Lee Road south to US Route 30.

 

Contained in that agreement was the provision that when either County would perform major maintenance, i.e. resurfacing, then each County would participate in an agreed prorated cost of those projects. DeKalb County's prorated cost for this current project has been estimated at approximately $92,000 and we will be using MFT Funds as well as Matching Funds. In order for MFT Funds to be used the County Board must authorize appropriation of such funds. MFT funds in the amount of $47,135.00 are being programed for this project. A motion was made by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. Frieders to forward the resolution to the full Board recommending approval. The motion passed unanimously. As a matter of interest once Lee County and DeKalb County have contributed an equal amount to the other County's road projects for West County Line Road, Mr. Schwartz has secured an agreement to end the current arrangement and each County will then be responsible for their own cost on their section of this road.

 

AWARD RESOLUTION #R2013-45 -- FOR 2013 PAVEMENT MARKING PROJECT:

Bids were opened today for the 2013 County wide striping project. Two bids were received with the low bid being submitted by America's Parking Remarking, Inc. from St. Louis, Missouri. The bids were separated by 0.15% ($376.50) and discussion was held about giving preference to the Illinois Company. Mr. Schwartz stated this is something being reviewed at the State level as well but it involves many issues. At the present time DeKalb County awards to the lowest bidder meeting specifications and that would be America's Parking Remarking. Both Companies have worked in DeKalb County before and both do an acceptable job. A motion was made by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. O'Barski to forward the resolution to the full Board recommending approval. The motion passed unanimously.

 

CHAIRMAN'S COMMENTS: Chairman Gudmunson asked the Committee if the July Meeting should be cancelled or rescheduled.

 

Mr. Schwartz indicated there was no pressing business at this time that would need to be acted on during July. A motion was made by Mr. Deverell and seconded by Mr. Frieders to cancel July's Highway Committee Meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

 

COUNTY ENGINEER'S COMMENTS:

Mr. Schwartz reviewed the Transportation Improvement Progress Report for the month of May with the Committee. Base Line Road Bridge is scheduled to start construction on July 8, 2013 and will take approximately two months to complete. Bethany Road Bridge is completed. Five Points Road Bridge and Perry Road resurface projects are scheduled for a June 14th letting in Springfield. East County Line Road is moving forward in conjunction with Kane County's project to replace the Bridge. We will be upgrading that road to a truck route as well as widening the intersection at Illinois Route 64 during this project. Negotiations continue with the Keslinger Road Bridge. The State's Attorney's Office continues to work on one piece of property for the Glidden

Road shoulder widening project. The land is in a trust and moved through several generations making the process of determining ownership very time consuming. Mr. Jones asked what was involved when the County acquires property from landowners. Mr. Schwartz explained the steps the County takes beginning with a letter of introduction, explanation of the project the property is intended for, the conducting of an appraisal if necessary, providing an offer to the property owner and any negotiations that might be required.

 

Township hot-mix projects are currently underway with work scheduled for Somonauk, Sandwich and Afton Road Districts within the next two weeks. No word on when the Seal Coat Project will begin but we are planning on the end of June to the middle of July for a start time.

 

The Peace Road Safety is underway with the Highway Department gathering data for traffic counts and speed studies along portions of Plank and Peace Roads. Currently the Department is approximately half way through the locations being looked at.

During this study the combination of no passing zones on Plank Road just north of the new school will be reviewed.

 

Mr. Schwartz discussed with the Committee how our bid process flows when we prepare specifications for equipment. Committee members were concerned they were told the new plow truck was to have a Cummings engine in it when in fact it has an International engine. The specs were written for either a Cummings or International engine and the low bid included an international engine. The Department apologized for this misinformation and will have specifications if desired at future meetings for their review should they have any questions or concerns about equipment purchases.

 

Mr. Schwartz stated he was still reviewing the study recently received for the feasibility of extending the Metro Rail out to DeKalb.

 

So far the report indicates that ridership would not support the cost of operations and the County would have to levy a tax to be sent to the CTA should that happen. The cost of such a project at the present time would appear to be cost prohibited.

 

The County is looking into ways to make cleaning/maintenance of drainage areas less confusing and restrictive for those operations within a flood plain. McHenry County and Kane County are working on similar clarifications from FEMA that would allow certain spoils to be replaced within the flood plain. Currently the requirement is to allow this work to take place outside of the flood plain only. Mr. Schwartz is working on this issue with Planning and Zoning and will be preparing a presentation to the Storm Water Management Committee highlighting the progress made and where the process is hopefully heading.

 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: None

 

 

ADJOURNMENT:

Chairman 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 Mr. Deverell and seconded by Mr. O'Barski to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously and the June 6, 2013 meeting was adjourned at 7:54pm.