DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Highway Committee met April 2.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

A virtual public meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board was held beginning at 6:00pm in the Conference Room of the DeKalb County Highway Department, located at 1826 Barber Greene Road, DeKalb, Illinois 60115.

Chairman Plote called the meeting to order at 6:02pm and called for the roll. Committee members present were Ms. Emmer, Mr. Luebke, Mr. Pietrowski, Mr. West and Vice Chair Willis. Mr. Osland was absent. The County Engineer, Mr. Nathan Schwartz, County Administrator, Mr. Gary Hanson, Support Services Manager, Mr. Wayne Davey, and two guests were also present by video.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

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

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Vice Chair Willis moved and Mr. West seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the March 5, 2020 regular meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Two citizens spoke reiterating their comments and concerns about the driving conditions of Plank Road, specifically between Moose Range Road and just east of Lukens Road. Their concerns are the speed of the vehicles, drivers not obeying the rules of the road by passing at intersections, and vehicles passing when vehicle(s) in front of them are making a turning movement that requires them to cross a lane of traffic. It was commented that the additional signage in this area appeared to be making a difference and they thanked the County Engineer for those improvements. It was requested that the County Engineer utilize his engineering judgment to install the double no passing zone. That zone should be installed now and the 45 mph speed limit could be addressed at a later time if needed. Also it was requested the raised reflectors not be installed on this portion of roadway until after the final decision was made concerning the double no passing zone through Gerry Lane. One additional suggestion was made to place a rumble strip down the center of the roadway at this location to alert drivers they were crossing the centerline. Chairman Plote thanked everyone for their comments and taking the time to participate in the Committee meeting.

ENGINEERING AGREEMENTS:

Mr. Schwartz presented two resolutions (#R2020-27 and #R2020-28) for engineering agreements for consideration. The first agreement is for the removal and replacement of a County structure on Suydam Road in Paw Paw Township. This is a larger than normal bridge and has several potential obstacles that might have to be dealt with. These obstacles include but are not limited to wet land mitigation, endangered species and the bridge being in the middle of a curve. After going through the Qualification Based Selection (QBS) process, Ciorba Group Inc. from Chicago, Illinois was selected as the best qualified engineering firm to provide phase I and II engineering services for this project. The negotiated worst case scenario price was agreed to be $315,221.04. This is higher than the County normally sees for phase I and II services but hopefully as Ciorba works through these processes they will not have to deal with the worst case situations and the final price will be considerably less. The next resolution is for the same services for the removal and replacement of a Road District structure on McGirr Road in Pierce Township. This is a fairly simple bridge with few obstacles and problems anticipated. The engineering firm of Engineering Resource Associates from Warrenville, Illinois was selected through the QBS process to provide phase I and II engineering services for this project. The negotiated price for these services was agreed to be $80,250.18. Mr. Schwartz recommended approval of both resolutions. Mr. Pietrowski moved and Mr. West seconded a motion to forward these resolutions to the full County Board recommending approval. Motion passed unanimously.

AWARD RESOLUTIONS:

Mr. Schwartz presented two award resolutions for recommendation after the opening of bids was held on April 1, 2020. They are resolution #R2020-29 and #R2020-30. The first resolution is for nine Road District hot-mix resurface projects. These are all 100% funded by the Road Districts and involve the expenditure of Township Motor Fuel Tax funds. As you remember, the County is responsible for all MFT funding for the Road Districts and as such must approve contracts that include MFT funding. The County will oversee these contracts and provide the engineering inspection required. Curran Contracting from Crystal Lake, Illinois was the low bid meeting specifications on six of the nine projects. These projects were Clinton Road District for Lee Road - $197,094.62; Cortland Road District for Old State Road and County Line Road - $269,141.81; Genoa Road District for Ellwood Greens Road and Madison Street- $82,132.78; Kingston Road District for Pleasant Hill and Lanan Roads-$162,180.86; Pierce Road District for McGirr Road-$67,100.26; and Sandwich Road District for West Sandwich Road-$208,781.81. Peter Baker and Son Company from Lake Bluff, Illinois was the low bidder meeting specifications for Sycamore Road District for Old State, Whipple, Indian Point, Swanson, Freed and Kevin Roads-$470,756.22. Universal Asphalt & Excavating Inc. from LaSalle, Illinois was the low bidder meeting specifications on two projects – Milan Road District for Keslinger Road-$64,202.81 and Squaw Grove Road District for Phillips and Duffy Roads-$152,257.59. One additional hot-mix resurface project was prepared for DeKalb Road District and that will be awarded by the Highway Commissioner as no MFT funding is involved in that project.

The second resolution involves general maintenance projects the County performs on an annual basis. They are seal coat, pavement striping and rejuvenator. Several Road Districts and municipalities join the County in these projects. Corrective Asphalt Materials from South Roxana, Illinois submitted the sole bid for 116,113 square yards of rejuvenator. This material will be applied to Peace and Plank Roads that were resurfaced during 2019. Their bid price was $106,823.96. Steffens 3-D Construction was the low bidder meeting specification for the seal coating of 11.6 miles of County Roads (Old State/Glidden); 44.24 miles of various Road District roads and 1.35 miles municipality streets. Their bid was $866,405.58. America’s Parking Remarking Inc. from St. Louis, Missouri submitted the low bid meeting specifications for our pavement striping project in the amount of $193,029.22. The County will stripe all of it roadways with center line and edge line markings as well as some Road District roads and municipal streets. Mr. Schwartz recommended approval of these awards. Ms. Emmer moved and Vice Chair Willis seconded a motion to forward these resolutions to the full County Board recommending approval. Motion passed unanimously.

Chairman Plote asked County Administrator, Mr. Hanson, to explain the County’s hiring practice. Mr. Hanson stated the County is following procedures currently in place for all new hires and that is those have to be approved by the respective oversite committees.

ADJOURNMENT: Chairman Plote stated there was nothing further on the agenda and asked for a motion to adjourn. A motion was made by Ms. Emmer seconded by Vice Chair Willis and passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:27.

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/min20-hwyapr.pdf