DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Public Building Commission met April 5.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

A regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the DeKalb County Public Building Commission (hereinafter “Commission”) was held at 8:30 a.m. in the Community Outreach Building’s Conference Room West in DeKalb, Illinois pursuant to written notice to each Commissioner as required by the By-Laws.

ROLL CALL

Chairman Matt Swanson called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. and requested the Secretary to call the roll. Those Commissioners present were Mr. Kevin Bunge, Ms. Cheryl Nicholson, Mr. Chuck Shepard, and Chairman Matt Swanson. Vice-Chair Larry Lundgren was absent. A quorum was established with four Commissioners present and one absent.

Others that were present included: County Administrator Brian Gregory, County Engineer Nathan Schwartz, County Facilities Management Director Jim Scheffers, Rehab & Nursing Center Maintenance Supervisor Steve O’Bryan, County Administrative Analyst Liam Sullivan, and Commission Secretary Tasha Sims.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

It was moved by Mr. Shepard, seconded by Ms. Nicholson, and approved unanimously by voice vote to approve the agenda as presented.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Ms. Nicholson identified a few minor corrections and Chairman Swanson reworded a paragraph.

Mr. Bunge moved to approve the minutes for the Tuesday, March 1, 2022 meeting with corrections. Mr. Shepard seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no comments from the public.

ELECTION OF A PUBLIC BUILDING COMMISSION TREASURER

After being the Treasurer of the Public Building Commission for the past 38 years, Mr. Gary Hanson resigned from his position on April 4, 2022.

Chairman Swanson moved to immediately appoint Mr. Brian Gregory as the Treasurer of the Public Building Commission until September 30, 2022. Mr. Shepard seconded the motion. Those voting aye were Mr. Bunge, Ms. Nicholson, Mr. Shepard, and Chairman Swanson. All Commissioners present voted aye. The motion was carried unanimously by roll call vote.

NURSING HOME EXPANSION PROJECT

Project Update

Mr. Gregory provided the Commission with a copy of the most recent PowerPoint presentation that was provided to the DeKalb County Board regarding the multiple challenges at the DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing Center.

Mr. Gregory reviewed with the Commission the history and ongoing staffing and financial challenges. The County currently has borrowed $6.9 million in operating cash-flow assistance to the DCRNC. Mr. Gregory also described how the Board was proposed potentially placing a referendum on the June 28th General Primary Ballot for the creation of a tax levy to help support the facility. The Board ultimately decided not to go in that direction because the gap is larger than what the state laws says you can levy.

As far as the Expansion Project, it was reminded that the uncompleted interior work is in three locations, the Building A Nurse Station, Building B Nurse Station, and “480 Wing Rooms” located in Building B. The Nurse Station remodeling was stopped midstream because of the proximity of construction workers to both residents and staff. The 480 Wing room renovations were stopped after the completion of one side of the hallway to provide a quarantine unit for new resident admissions. A credit was provided in the amount of ($91,861.27) to the project for the work that was remaining in PCO #118, which was approved on November 10, 2020. Additionally, most of the materials were previously obtained and remain on-site. Additional materials that will need to be obtained to complete the project include copper piping for medical gas lines, electrical conduits, paint, and fasteners.

Mr. Heimbach reviewed that at the July 9, 2021 meeting, the Commission approved a proposal from Larson & Darby Group to prepare pricing documents and then work with Ringland Johnson Construction to develop pricing to complete the interior renovations areas at the Nursing Home that were delayed due to COVID-19 precautions. At that time, the recommendation was to obtain pricing from the subcontractors that were part of the original renovations and additions. This recommendation was based on the subcontractors’ knowledge of the building and existing conditions as well as their knowledge of the extent of completion of the work in each of these areas. Additionally, there are existing product and system warranties for the partially completed systems that are tied to the previous subcontractors’ work. Completing this work with the existing subcontractors would provide a clearer path to maintaining these warranties or extending them where applicable.

Ringland-Johnson prepared and provided an estimate proposal in accordance with the scope of work that needed to be completed in the amount of $334,072.00. There was an option for an Alternate to provide Oxygen Tank Access Drive for an additional $37,499.00.

Mr. Gregory noted that walking through the building it seems pretty obvious that the scope of work that is needing completion is more than the $90,000 credit they received. Amid the County Board’s decision on the future of the facility, they want to make sure that any investment that they make is money well spent. There are some areas by the Nursing Stations that need to be finished up and some other minor cosmetics that could be completed, Mr. Gregory explained. He is waiting to see the direction the County Board decided to go with the facility to not spend money that they may not be able to recoup if it were ultimately sold.

Mr. Gregory has also recommended holding off on purchasing any new additional furniture. He added that the facility has furnishings for 189 beds but they are only operating at a census of about 125 individuals. That extra furniture could be repurposed for single-occupancy rooms or moved around to Wings that are more utilized. He also added that when it comes to quality of care, the County will spare no expenses but when it comes to the facility and the real estate, they are trying to get the most value for their investments.

For months the Commission and the County have been told that the DCRNC cannot use the space created as part of the Expansion. In cutting out MPA and working directly with the architect, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the City of DeKalb has approved occupancy of the new Activity Center and Serving Kitchen spaces. These are significant parts of the operational model for the facility and will benefit both residents and staff.

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

Nursing Station Finishes / Minor Cosmetics

Mr. Gregory and Mr. O’Bryan noted that they were not sure how the minor cosmetic tasks would be presented to the Commission or when. They may come a little at a time for each task or they may be able to present some type of open purchase order contract system. No considerations were asked to be made at this time.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH BUILDING PARKING LOT REPAIRS

Mr. Scheffers shared that the County Highway Department came out and opened two sections of the parking lot to be able to assess what was going on under the surface. They did find that there was about a 1-1.5-inch gap between the rock and the asphalt. As they dug deeper, they located the tiles that were added in the past and the tiles were completely plugged with stone and silt. Much of the rock that was under the surface was damp and/or wet. Mr. Scheffers presented photos to the Commission of what was located under the lot surface and what the tiles looked like.

County Engineer Nathan Schwartz shared that the two exploratory cuts contained 9-inches of aggregate and 5-inches of blacktop. He reiterated that there was about a 1-inch gap between the aggregate and the blacktop.

The group discussed the tile locations and where they started and extended to. They do know that there are three tiles under the lot. The exact locations were not known. Past contractors were contacted and a search was done for documents and/or maps but none were found.

Mr. Schwartz shared that his recommendation would be to dig down, replace the tiles, and put a sock around them to keep the sediment from getting in. Then, they would continue downstream to where the tiles connect to the catch basin and continue far enough upstream to where they are confident there are no problems. How far that is, they don’t know. Lastly, they would backfill with clean material to act as a vertical french drain to dry out the soil. Unfortunately, the costs to do the work are unknown because they don’t know the limits of the drain tiles.

After reviewing the aerial view of the parking lot and discussing the unknowns of the tile locations, Mr. Bunge noted that he has worked with a company called GPRS in the past. GPRS utilizes underground scanning GPR antennas and other equipment to locate drain tiles. He expressed that if the Commission agreed, he would like to contact them and at least get a price on what GPRS would charge the County to help locate the tiles.

The Commission was in favor of Mr. Bunge contacting GPRS to provide the County with a quote to locate the three drain tiles under the COB parking lot. Once the information was received by the County, it would be distributed to the Commissioners for further direction.

OLD BUSINESS / NEW BUSINESS

The air handler on the old side of the Courthouse has been replaced after it went down. It was officially turned on yesterday. Everything is running and going well. It was a large repair and was able to be done fairly quickly, Mr. Scheffers reported.

NEXT MEETING DATE

The next regular Public Building Commission Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3, 2022, at 8:30 a.m.

TOUR OF THE NURSING HOME EXPANSION

Due to a lack of attendees, the tour was postponed until a later date.

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

ADJOURNMENT

A motion to adjourn was made by Ms. Nicholson, seconded by Mr. Shepard, and was approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:41 a.m.