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A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board was held on Thursday, May 2, 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 and Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Vice Chair Pietrowski to approve the minutes of the regular April 4, 2013 meeting. The motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

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

PUBLIC COMMENT: None

AWARD RESOLUTION FOR #R2013-33, HOT-MIX PROJECTS FOR CLINTON AND SQUAW GROVE ROAD DISTRICTS AND MALTA ROAD IN DEKALB COUNTY:

Mr. Schwartz indicated the County received bids for three hot-mix resurfacing projects on May 2, 2013 at 10:00am in the Conference Room of the Highway Department. Curran Contracting Company submitted the sole bid meeting specifications for Waterman Road in Clinton Road District in the amount of $141,457; Geneva Construction Company submitted the low bid meeting specifications for Governor Beveridge Highway and Bastian Road in Squaw Grove Road District in the amount of $314,766; and Martin and Company Excavating submitted the low bid meeting specifications for the County's Malta Road project in the amount of $626,101.48. All three Companies are very reputable and Mr. Schwartz recommended awarding to the low bidders. Mr. Jones made a motion and Mr. Frieders seconded it to forward the resolution to the full County Board recommending approval. The motion passed unanimously.

RESOLUTION #R2013-34 -- MFT RESOLUTION FOR 2013 PAVEMENT MARKING PROJECT:

Mr. Schwartz explained to the Committee that the County would be using MFT funds to pay for a portion of this year's pavement marking project. The County provides centerline and edgeline on all of its 191 miles of roads. In order for the County to spend MFT funds the County Board must authorize the expenditure. It has been estimated that $98,782.00 of MFT funds will be utilized on this project and Mr. Schwartz recommended approval of this resolution. 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.

AWARD RESOLUTION #R2013-35 -- 2013 DRAINAGE PIPE PROJECT:

In the past the County has purchased drainage material (culverts, bands, end sections, etc.) as the need arose throughout the County. This year the Road Districts were requested to provide the County with a list of their drainage pipe needs for 2013 and the County did the same. Compiling the list it was felt the County would receive a better price if it were to buy a large quantity. Bids were requested and when opened it was obvious that the County received much better prices this year than in the past two years.

A savings of approximately 5-10% was realized on regular sized pipes and close to 20% savings on the oversized pipes. Two bids were received and the low bid meeting specifications was submitted by Contech Engineered Solutions in the amount of $46,932.12.

Mr. Schwartz recommended approval of the award. A motion was made by Vice Chair Pietrowski and seconded by Mr. Deverell to forward the resolution to the full Board recommending approval. The motion passed unanimously.

CHAIRMAN'S COMMENTS: None

COUNTY ENGINEER'S COMMENTS:

Vice-Chair Pietrowski stated now that the elections were over it might be a good time to begin an information gathering committee to see if there is a possibility to extend rail service from Elburn to DeKalb. Mr. Schwartz indicated that he had received a report on the feasibility of that just this past week and has not had a chance to review it thoroughly yet. A summary of the report from those involved at the time indicated a dedicated line would be required with a cost far exceeding what ridership would support. Once the study is reviewed, details would be available. The study was done several years ago and Mr. Schwartz stated he would share the report with the Committee for their information.

Mr. Schwartz reviewed the Transportation Improvement Progress Report for the month of April 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 will be closed Monday, May 6, 2013 for approximately one week to finish the deck and pave the approaches. Five Points Road Bridge has all the land donated and deeds have been recorded. The Glidden Road shoulder project is at 90% complete – this is the small project the County received earmark funds for the completion of final plats. The Malta Road project will be awarded by the full County Board this month and Perry Road is scheduled for a June letting at Springfield.

Negotiations continue with the Keslinger Road Bridge. Both sides are still at the table.

At the Peace Road Safety meeting held at the City of Sycamore, it was decided to conduct an in-house study on all of Peace Road. The County Engineer will be conducting the study to see if we can find any common threads to accidents and see what action could be taken to get those prevented. The study will be extended to a portion of Plank Road to the new school as well. The study will cover a wide range of information and will take time to complete. The County Engineer will provide monthly updates to the Committee.

The Highway Department has upgraded one of our copiers to allow for scanning as well as faxing through the network. The cost to print on the new copier is considerably less than our current printer. The Janitorial contract was also recently awarded to a new vendor, G & K Services out of Rockford.

There is no information to share concerning the 150 negotiations as their first meeting is scheduled for the week of May 6th.

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. Jones and seconded by Mr. O'Barski to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously and the May 2, 2013 meeting was adjourned at 6:52pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

John Gudmunson
Chairperson