DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Highway Committee met Aug. 5.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

A public meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board was held at 6:00pm. This meeting took place after a Department tour of the Highway Department facilities for County Board Members and Department Heads that began at 5:00pm.

Chairman Plote called the meeting to order at 6:08pm and called for the roll. Committee members present were Mr. Deutsch, Ms. Emmer, Vice Chair Luebke, Mr. Osland and Ms. Willis. Ms. Jones was absent. The County Engineer, Mr. Nathan Schwartz, Mr. Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager, Board members Karen Cribben and Kathy Lampkins were also present.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Mr. Osland to approve the agenda as presented. Ms. Willis seconded that motion. The motion to approve the agenda passed unanimously.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Vice Chair Luebke moved and Ms. Emmer seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the regular June 3, 2021 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: None

RESOLUTION #R2021-45: LOCAL AGENCY AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF ILLINOIS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW LEBANON ROAD BRIDGE

Mr. Schwartz presented the Local Agency Agreement with the State of Illinois for Federal Participation to aid in the funding of the construction to the New Lebanon Road Bridge in Genoa Road District. In every project where Federal or State funds are being utilized an agreement will be required in order for the County to receive said funding. This agreement satisfies that requirement. The County/Road District will receive $380,000 in Federal dollars and $76,000 in State dollars for the construction estimated at $475,000. The remaining funding will be split between the County and Road District. This project will be constructed under section number 17-06123-00-BR and is now scheduled for construction during 2022. The bridge will remain closed to all traffic until replaced. Mr. Schwartz recommends forwarding this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval. Ms. Emmer moved and Mr. Deutsch seconded a motion to forward the resolution to the full County Board recommending approval. The motion passed unanimously.

RESOLUTION #R2021-46: LOCAL AGENCY AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF ILLINOIS FOR TRUCK ACCESS ROUTE PROGRAM (TARP) FUNDS FOR USE DURING THE RESURFACING OF SOUTH FIRST STREET, PERRY ROAD AND WATERMAN ROAD

Mr. Schwartz informed the Committee that the County had been approved for TARP funding to be used during the resurfacing of South First Street from Perry Road to the City of DeKalb limits; Perry Road from South First Street to Illinois State Route 23; and for Waterman Road from Perry Road to the Village of Waterman limits. The amount of funding approved is $900,000 and in order to utilize these funds the County must enter into an agreement with the State of Illinois. These agreement are standard agreements and basically state the County will oversee the construction in accordance with IDOT’s standards and specifications, complete all necessary paperwork and provide funding for the County’s portion of the project. The County approaches all projects in this fashion regardless of Federal and State funding commitments. The County will pay for this estimated $3,300,000 project with TARP and local MFT funding. Mr. Schwartz recommends forwarding this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval. Mr. Deutsch moved and Vice Chair Luebke seconded a motion to forward this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval. The motion passed unanimously.

RESOLUTION #R2021-47: LOCAL AGENCY AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF ILLINOIS FOR TRUCK ACCESS ROUTE PROGRAM (TARP) FUNDS FOR USE DURING THE RESURFACING OF CHICAGO ROAD

The County Engineer stated Resolution #R2021-47 deals with the same information as the previous resolution but it is for the resurfacing of Chicago Road from Shabbona Road east to Illinois State Route 23. The amount of TARP funds approved for this project is $651,370 and the remainder of this estimated $1,592,000 project will be paid for with County Matching and MFT funding. Mr. Schwartz recommends forwarding this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval. Ms. Willis moved and Mr. Deutsch seconded a motion to forward this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval. The motion passed unanimously.

RESOLUTION #R2021-48: AWARD RESOLUTION FOR ONE NEW TRACTOR LOADER-BACKHOE AND NEW BRUSH CHIPPER

The County opened bids on August 4, 2021, for the purpose of scheduled replacement of the County’s backhoe and brush chipper. Only one bid was received for each piece of equipment with Westside Tractor Sales Company and Vermeer Midwest submitting subject bids. Westside Tractor’s bid was for the provision of one new 2022 John Deere 410L backhoe loader as specified in the amount of $151,849.30. A trade of $50,000 was offered for the County’s 2009 CAT 430 IT backhoe for a net to the County of $101,849.30. Vermeer Midwest submitted the sole bid meeting specifications for replacement of the County’s brush chipper in the amount of $38,433. No trade was offered as the County will be selling our current chipper to another County Highway Department that has expressed interest. The County’s current chipper will not be sold until the new one has been delivered. Mr. Schwartz recommends forwarding this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval of this award. Ms. Emmer moved and Vice Chair Luebke seconded a motion to forward this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval. The motion passed unanimously.

RESOLUTIONS #R2021-49 AND #R2021-50: TRUCK ROUTE RESOLTIONS FOR CHICAGO ROAD, WATERMAN ROAD, PERRY ROAD AND SOUTH FIRST STREET

Mr. Schwartz stated that the County continues to work towards the goal of having all County Roads at or above the legal weight limit of 80,000 pounds. As the County applies for, is selected to receive and accepts TARP funding from the State, one requirement is that the County designate roadways upgraded with TARP funds to 80,000 pound all weather routes. Earlier, the Committee recommended the County enter into agreements with the State to receive TARP funding for the resurfacing of Chicago, Waterman and Perry Roads and South First Street. As part of that agreement these resolutions show the County’s commitment in making the legal weight of these roadways 80,000 pounds. Mr. Schwartz recommends forwarding these resolutions to the full County Board recommending approval. Vice Chair Luebke moved and Mr. Osland seconded a motion to forward this resolution to the full County Board recommending approval. The motion passed unanimously.

DEPARTMENT BUDGET DISCUSSION:

The Department’s proposed 2022 Budget was presented to the Committee. Mr. Schwartz provided the Committee with an overview of the seven different budgets that ultimately are to be approved by the County Board. Equipment purchases and planned construction projects were reviewed. Individual budgets were reviewed, highlighting and explaining any items that listed a significant increase/decrease over last year. An upward adjustment was made to the Aid to Bridge and Federal Matching Tax levy for 2022. The Highway levy was adjusted downward to keep the total levies at the approved rate. Rebuild Illinois Funds will remain for one more year in the MFT budget. This additional funding stream is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2022. Mr. Schwartz stated that as Committee Members review the budgets, any questions they might have, can be addressed to himself or Wayne.

CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS: Chairman Plote commented on the trees at the intersection of Waterman Road and Perry Road. He noted that north bound traffic was needing to pull into the traveling lane of Perry Road for east bound traffic in order to see around the trees. Mr. Schwartz stated that would be looked into and corrected. Another comment was made concerning south bound traffic on South First Street just north of Gurler Road. A comment was made to Mr. Plote that maybe the hill could be cut in order to provide a better line of sight to the newly installed stop sign at the intersection of South First Street and Gurler Road. Mr. Schwarz stated that would be an expensive undertaking but would review the situation again. Line of sight appears to be satisfactory for the posted speed limit with the supplemental Stop Ahead sign. This portion of roadway is scheduled to be transferred to DeKalb Road District November 1st of this year.

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS:

The transportation improvement progress report was reviewed with the Committee.

- Chicago Road paving project is underway with the paved shoulders completed and the contractor is currently installing the leveling binder course. Project is at a little over 15% complete.

- McGirr Road Bridge stands at 10% complete – test piles driven.

- Motel Road Bridge stands at 99% complete, is open to traffic and just has one small landscaping issue to address.

- New Lebanon Road Bridge has been moved to the 2022 construction year due to material supply issues.

- Perry Road resurfacing is scheduled to get underway shortly once Chicago Road resurfacing is complete.

- Plank Road Study is moving ahead slowly with environmental requirements and stands at 20% complete.

- South First Street culvert replacement is now 100% complete.

- South First Street resurfacing will begin when Chicago Road resurfacing is complete.

- Suydam Road resurfacing project stands at 95% complete.

- Suydam Road Bridge replacement stands at 20% complete. Piles have been driven.

- Twombly Road upgrade will begin when manholes are available – should be later this month.

- Waterman Road box culvert extension is at 80% complete and the resurfacing will begin once Chicago Road resurfacing project is complete.

For a legislative update, not much of interest going on in Springfield that has captured the County Engineer’s attention. At the Federal level, work continues on the infrastructure funding. The Senate is passing an infrastructure bill and it then moves to the House. The House is upset because it was not afforded an opportunity to provide their input to their Bill. Negotiations will continue.

DSATS is continuing to address items pertinent to the DeKalb-Sycamore-Cortland area. The website has been updated with information concerning bike trails and nature paths. Also DSATS purchased a 360° camera to update Google Maps with current street views

of all roads and streets within the DSATS area. It took approximately 3 weeks to complete this task and get the new maps uploaded to Google. This is quite an improvement over the old google views which had not been updated for several years.

ADJOURNMENT: Chairman Plote asked if there was any additional items that needed to be presented tonight and hearing none asked for a motion to adjourn. A motion was made by Vice Chair Luebke, seconded by Mr. Osland and passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:04pm.

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