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Note: These minutes are not official until approved by the Highway
Committee at a subsequent meeting. Please refer to the meeting minutes
when these minutes are approved to obtain any changes to these minutes.

A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board was held on Thursday, September 5, 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. O'Barski and Vice Chair Pietrowski. Mr. Jones was absent. 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 Mr. O'Barski to approve the minutes of the regular August 1, 2013 meeting. The motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:
Motion made by Mr. O'Barski and seconded by Mr. Johnson to approve the agenda as presented. The motion passed unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None

CHAIRMAN'S COMMENTS:

Chairman Gudmunson stated there had been a recent accident at the intersection of Somonauk Road and Suydam Road. Residents have stated their concern to him about this intersection being a dangerous one and could something be done to reduce the number of accidents there. Mr. Schwartz stated he is in the process of reviewing accident history at County intersections to identify ones that might need additional attention. Mr. Schwartz stated he would look at the history of this intersection in the near future.

COUNTY ENGINEER'S COMMENTS:

The Committee requested an update on the status of the Keslinger Road Bridge and wanted to know if the County had set a date to end negotiations and move forward in the courts to put this matter to rest and get the bridge replaced. Mr. Schwartz informed the Committee that progress was still being made at the negotiating table and to his Highway Committee Minutes knowledge the County had not determined a specific date to stop negotiating and proceed to court. The State's Attorney's Office will be contacted to see if a date has been set.

Mr. Schwartz informed the Committee that the County has been removed from the Whitfield lawsuit that resulted from an accident in Sycamore Township at the intersection of Lingren and Darnell Roads. As a bit of background, three parties were named in this lawsuit – ComEd, for the utility pole that was hit causing the injuries, Sycamore Township, for placing a Yield sign at this intersection without the approval of the County Engineer, and the County, for the design of the relocation of the intersection. The County Engineer will continue to be involved as this case moves forward but the County should no longer be in jeopardy of having to pay any type of a cash settlement.

At the end of August the County was informed that a bridge on Pritchard Road, between Phillips Road and Scott Road in Squaw Grove Road District, was being ordered closed by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). This bridge had been on the County's watch list and was waiting on IDOT to perform a more extensive inspection. Due to staffing shortages at IDOT, the wait for these inspections can take over a year to complete. The bridge was being ordered closed due to several of the timber piles supporting the bridge deck having a determined amount of failure. An additional bridge on Lee Road in Squaw Grove Road District was also ordered to be posted for a weight not to exceed 21 tons. In addition to these bridges in Squaw Grove Road District, Paw Paw Road District also had two bridges on South Paw Paw Road ordered posted for 19 tons and 22 tons. Mr. Schwartz stated the County inspects all bridges in the County and Road Districts every two years with in-house staff. When the County determines additional inspections are required they are requested through IDOT. The additional testing equipment needed to perform these test are expensive to purchase and maintain, so the County relies on IDOT for this service. The Committee inquired if the County were to purchase the equipment needed could we loan it out to other County's and charge a fee for that. Mr. Schwartz indicated that would be feasible provided the County had the personnel trained to use the equipment and if other Counties had any interest in using our equipment. To hire a consultant to perform these additional inspections on a more timely bases would prove costly and unaffordable by most Road Districts. The County Engineer is planning on having the Pritchard Road Bridge repaired and the road open as quickly as possible, hopefully by the first of the year. The Committee expressed concern over the fact that if the County knew this bridge was bad why was it not fixed before having to close it. Mr. Schwartz explained the process the County utilizes for these inspections and the steps involved prior to repairing structures and the cost associated with them.

The Transportation Improvement Progress Report for the month of August was reviewed with the Committee. Mr. Schwartz stated Base Line Road Bridge is 95% complete. Paving should be done next week and the road open to through traffic at that time, weather permitting. Five Points Road Bridge will begin with tree removal beginning on the 16th of September followed by relocation of utility poles. That work is expected to take approximately three weeks. The determination was made to begin this project this fall and hopefully get the construction out of the water prior to the spring rains. Perry Road resurfacing is at 85% complete and is on schedule to be open by September 13th. The Malta Road resurface project is 100% complete.

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. Johnson and seconded by Mr. O'Barski to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously and the September 5, 2013 meeting was adjourned at 7:17pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

John Gudmunson
Chairperson