DeKalb County Highway Committee met Oct. 1.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
A hybrid public meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board was held at 6:00pm.
Chairman Plote, via Zoom, called the meeting to order at 6:03pm and called for the roll. Committee members present were, Mr. Luebke (by Zoom), Mr. West (by Zoom), and Vice Chair Willis (by Zoom). Ms. Emmer joined the meeting in person at 6:23, Mr. Osland (by Zoom) joined the meeting at 6:14 and Mr. Pietrowski (by Zoom) joined the meeting at 6:16. The County Engineer, Mr. Nathan Schwartz and Mr. Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager, were present and one guest was also present by video.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA:
Motion made by Vice Chair Willis and seconded by Mr. West to approve the agenda as presented. Roll call vote was taken and the motion passed with four yes votes and zero no votes.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Mr. Luebke moved and Vice Chair Willis seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the September 3, 2020 regular meeting. Roll call vote was taken and the motion passed with four yes votes and zero no votes.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: None
RESOLUTION: #R2020-60: ANTICIPATION OF TOWNSHIP BRIDGE FUNDS FOR
MOTEL ROAD BRIDGE SECTION 14-09110-01-BR
The County Engineer explained to the Committee that the annual allocation of Township Bridge Program (TBP) funding would not be adequate to cover 80 percent of the construction cost for this project. In those cases, the County anticipates and obligates future allocations to cover and pay back the County for up-fronting the cost of this project. This resolution satisfies that procedure. Mr. Schwartz recommends approval of this resolution. Vice Chair Willis moved and Mr. Luebke seconded a motion to forward the resolution to the full County Board for approval. Roll call vote was taken with four yes votes and zero no votes. Motion passed unanimously.
RESOLUTION: #R2020-61: JURISDICTIONAL TRANSFER OF PORTION OF SOMONAUK ROAD TO THE TOWN OF CORTLAND
The prior County Engineer and the Town of Cortland had agreed that the Town of Cortland should have jurisdiction to control and have maintenance responsibility of Somonauk Road from North Street to Barber Greene Road. That section of roadway has subdivisions and planned subdivisions along that route. Sidewalks and additional signage are things associated with an urban road as opposed to a rural road that the County would normally maintain. Mr. Schwartz informed the Committee this is a good idea to transfer this section of roadway allowing the Town to sign the road as they deem appropriate and to maintain the sidewalks. Mr. Luebke moved and Vice Chair Willis seconded a motion to forward the resolution to the full County Board for approval. Roll call vote was taken with five yes votes and zero no votes. Motion passed unanimously.
FY-2021 BUDGET: The Highway Department had no budget appeals to address tonight. Mr. Schwartz stated the Department’s budget that was presented to the Committee back in August remains the same. It is heavy on road construction for 2021 with South First Street, Waterman Road, Suydam Road and Chicago Road being resurfaced. Two bridges will be constructed, one on Suydam Road by Stone House Park and one on McGirr Road in Pierce Road District. The Committee presented no additional questions on the Department’s budget.
CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS: Chairman Plote wondered if the Department had received any complaints or concerns over Illinois Route 23 being closed just north of US Route 34. Mr. Schwartz stated the Department had not received any complaints or concerns.
COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS: Monthly updates on projects were shared with the Committee. The Anderland and Haumesser Bridges timber pile repairs have been completed. The repairs will now be reviewed by IDOT and after their review, if they find the repairs satisfactory, IDOT will remove the posted weight restrictions for these structures.
The McGirr Road Bridge, scheduled to be built during 2021, stands at 90% of the preliminary and 60% of the design engineering complete.
Construction of McNeal Road Bridge is underway and it is 35% complete, with a completion date of October 31st.
A preconstruction meeting was held today (October 1st) for Motel Road Bridge. Construction is scheduled to begin on November 2nd. The road will be closed for the winter and hopefully be back open by late spring of 2021.
The Plank Road Study is just starting to get underway with nothing to report this month.
The Suydam Road Bridge stands at 85% complete for the preliminary engineering and 50% complete for design engineering.
Waterman Road project, 3B – ditches south of Somonauk Creek, currently stands at 75% preliminary engineering and 65% of the design engineering complete.
Twombly Road storm sewer project is a DeKalb Township/City of DeKalb project with the County performing all necessary construction engineering. This project stands at 2% complete.
Nothing to report for legislative updates from Springfield. On the Federal side the Federal Transportation Bill has expired and a 72 day Stop-Gap Extension was passed extending the current Bill to December 11, 2020.
DSATS is scheduled to interview a promising candidate for the Planner position tomorrow. Hopefully, the County will be able to fill this position in the near future.
The Committee inquired into the crash at Illinois Route 23 and Melms Road. The County Engineer stated he had no updates on that accident but does have the IDOT contact for safety matters. Mr. Schwartz stated he will be in contact with that person to discuss several problem intersections along Illinois Route 23 that intersects with rural roads in our County.
The bike trail along Barber Greene Road is still waiting on right-of-way acquisition. Mr. Schwartz met with the property owners earlier this week and had the property staked. He will be following up next week. Hopefully there will be a favorable outcome and this project can begin later this fall.
Several Solar farms are in different stages in the County, from up and running to several plans still under review.
ADJOURNMENT: Chairman Plote stated there was nothing further on the agenda and asked for a motion to adjourn. A motion was made by Mr. Osland seconded by Vice Chair Willis. Roll call vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously with seven yes votes. The meeting was adjourned at 6:55pm.
https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/min20-hwyoct.pdf
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