DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Public Building Commission met April 25.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

A special meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the DeKalb County Public Building Commission (hereinafter “Commission”) was held Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at 9:15 a.m. in the Legislative Center’s Gathertorium in Sycamore, Illinois pursuant to written notice to each Commissioner as required by the By Laws.

ROLL CALL

Vice Chair Shepard called the meeting to order at 9:15 a.m. and requested the Secretary to call the roll. Those Commissioners present were Mr. Kevin Bunge, Ms. Cheryl Nicholson, Mr. Ellingsworth Webb (via phone) and Vice Chair Mr. Chuck Shepard. Chairman Matt Swanson was absent. A quorum was established with three Commissioners present, and two absent.

Others that were present included: County Administrator Brian Gregory, County Facilities Management Director Jim Scheffers, County Engineer Nathan Schwartz, County Executive Assistant Lisa Reser and Commission Secretary Liam Sullivan.

Ms. Nicholson moved to allow Mr. Ellingsworth Webb to attend the meeting by other means via phone as per 5 ILCS 120/7 Sec. 7. (a). Mr. Bunge seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously by voice vote.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

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

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Ms. Nicolson moved to approve the minutes for the Tuesday, March 7, 2023 meeting as presented. Mr. Bunge seconded the motion, and it was carried unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no comments from the public.

AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH BUILDING PARKING LOT RESURFACING PROJECT TO CURRAN CONTRACTING COMPANY OF CRYSTAL LAKE, ILLINOIS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $57,921.90.

Mr. Schwartz explained that after the bid letting, a small sinkhole had developed on the edge of the parking lot due to poor soils under the sidewalk. He noted that in consideration of the soils throughout the parking lot, it is recommended not to immediately repave the parking lot. After discussing the situation with representatives from Curran, Mr. Schwartz presented the Commission with the following options:

1. Award the contract and do the work this summer during the contractor’s normal schedule 2. Award the contract and wait until fall to decide how to proceed:

a. Do the work in the fall before winter.

b. Carryover the work until 2023; if completed prior to June 1, there will be no labor cost increase; if liquid asphalt prices don’t substantially increase, the asphalt price will remain the same.

c. Cancel the contract; the contractor would request that their construction bond costs (approximately $500) are reimbursed since the cancellation was from no fault of their own. 3. Not award the contract at this time and rebid in the future.

Mr. Bunge moved to proceed with Option 2(b): Award the Contract to Curran Contracting Company and carryover the work until 2023. Ms. Nicholson seconded the motion. Vice Chair Shepard called for a Roll Call Vote. Those Commissioners voting aye were Mr. Bunge, Ms. Nicholson, Mr. Webb, and Vice Chair Shepard. All Commissioners voted aye. The motion carried unanimously.

AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR THE JAIL RECIRCULATING PUMP PROJECT

The public bid opening for the Jail Recirculating Pump Project was held at 9:30am during the meeting. The Project received one bid from Joe Bero Plumbing, inc. of Sycamore, Illinois in the amount of $214,800.00. There was no bid bond attached and the estimated time to complete the project is 120 days. Mr. Scheffers explained that there was no estimated cost provided for the project due to the labor-intensive nature of the project related to the secure nature of the Jail.

Ms. Nicholson asked Mr. Scheffers if the system currently has check-valves installed. He said that system does not currently have check-valves installed and that their installation was an addendum to the bid. Ms. Nicholson said that she believed that the check-valves were part of the original construction and questioned how their absence went unnoticed through multiple inspections.

Vice Chair Shepard said that he came across a news article about the state possibly changing requirements for water systems in Jail Facilities. Mr. Scheffers explained that he is aware of discussion at the state level of instituting new regulations but he does not have knowledge of what those regulations would be or how they would affect the project or the facility. It was noted that the facility is not in compliance with the current regulations for water temperature and that this project would bring us into compliance.

Vice Chair Shepard asked Mr. Gregory if the Public Building Commission had sufficient funds to pay for this project. Mr. Gregory explained that typically when bonds are sold for the erection of government facilities, funds are set aside and designated for ongoing maintenance and/or projects that are necessary for the function of the facility. Mr. Gregory went on to say that he was disappointed to report that this was not what occurred with the Jail Expansion Project and that all of the bond proceeds were spent on the construction of the Jail Expansion. He said that he will need to investigate further to determine if the project could be funded out of another PBC account or possibly from the County’s Special Projects Fund.

Vice Chair Shepard explained that he did not feel comfortable making a decision at this time because of the unknowns with the changing state requirements and the large cost of the project. Mr. Gregory noted that the bid was valid for 120 days and did not require immediate action. A consensus was reached by the Commission to discuss the matter further and potentially award the project at the next Public Building Commission meeting.

APPROVAL OF CLAIMS

Mr. Gregory explained that there was only one claim, which was a reimbursement for Mr. Scheffer’s quarterly stipend. He also noted that the mistake that the identical claims made to Wagner Aggregate, INC. and Wagner Excavating LLC that Ms. Nicholson identified last meeting were in fact an error and that the matter was resolved.

It was moved by Ms. Nicholson, seconded by Mr. Bunge, and approved unanimously to approve and authorize payment of claims from March 16, 2023 through April 19, 2023.

CONSIDERATIONS

Review of Ongoing County Maintenance Projects

Community Outreach Building Parking Lot: Mr. Schwartz explained that he included his updates under the previous items and had no further updates.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business.

NEXT MEETING DATE

The Commission Members requested that the next meeting coincide with the bid opening for the Jail Recirculating Pump Project, which will occur on April 25th, 2023 in the Legislative Center’s Gathertorium.

ADJOURNMENT

A motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Bunge, seconded by Ms. Nicholson, and was approved unanimously.

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/pb-min23-apr.pdf