A meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday April 3, 2008 at 6:00pm in the Conference Room of the DeKalb County Highway Department, DeKalb, Illinois.  

Chair LaVigne called the meeting to order at 6:00pm.  Committee members present were, Vice-Chairperson Augsburger, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Gudmunson, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. Stuckert and Mr. Walt.  Also present were Mr. Bill Lorence, County Engineer, Wayne Davey, Support Services Manager, Gregg Millburg, Farm Bureau and Rob Mullins, Mullins Grain.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Vice-Chair Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Anderson to approve the minutes of the regular March 6, 2008 meeting.  The motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Mr. Walt to approve the agenda and Mr. Stoddard seconded this motion.  Discussion followed and it was suggested that the agenda be amended to add an additional MFT Resolution to item 3 and to add an additional resolution to item 4 to approve a fee schedule.  The motion carried unanimously to approve the agenda as amended.

PUBLIC COMMENT:  There were no public comments at this time. 

AWARD RESOLUTION FOR SECTION 08-00000-02-RS, 2008 COUNTY WIDE PAVEMENT STRIPING:   

Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that bids were taken for DeKalb County’s striping projects for 2008 on April 1, 2008 at 10:00am.   Two bids were received with Preform Traffic Control from Elk Grove, Illinois submitting the lowest bid meeting specifications at $273,573.00. The Committee inquired as to how often we stripe our roads and Mr. Lorence informed the Committee they are striped every year.  The paint sometimes does not last all year depending on the surface, traffic, and weather conditions, but they still are done only once a year.  All roads in the County receive this maintenance except for roads that have recently (within the last three to five years) had thermoplastic applied.  Thermoplastic costs approximately five times more than our usual paint application making our current process the most economical for this situation.   Mr. Lorence recommended approval of this award to Preform as they have performed well in the past for the County.  A motion was made by Vice Chairperson Augsburger and seconded by Mr. Anderson to forward the award resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

AWARD RESOLUTION FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF ONE ¾ TON PICK-UP TRUCK:   

Mr. Lorence explained to the Committee that bids were opened on April 1, 2008 at 10:00am for the scheduled replacement of one ¾ ton construction vehicle.  Only one bid was received and that was submitted by Mike Mooney of DeKalb, Illinois.  The bid meets specifications and was in the amount of $27,585.96 with a trade-in allowance of $6,500.00.  Mr. Lorence recommended approval of this award to Mike Mooney in the amount of $21,085.96.    A motion was made by Mr. Stoddard and seconded by Mr. Anderson to forward the award resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

MFT RESOLUTION FOR SECTIONS 08-00000-01-GM (2008 Seal Coat Project) and 08-00000-02-GM (2008 Striping Project):

Mr. Lorence explained that the County would be using MFT Funds to pay for portions of this year’s seal coat and striping projects.  The amount needed for the County’s portion of the seal coat project has been estimated at $112,670.00 and for the striping project, $99,806.00.   Before the County can expend MFT funds for any project the full County Board must authorize the expenditure through a resolution.  These resolutions fulfill that requirement and Mr. Lorence recommended that the Committee consider approval.  A motion was made by Mr. Anderson and seconded by Mr. Walt to forward the MFT resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

ORDINANCE 2008-06 REVISING SECTION 70-2 PERMITS FOR OVERWEIGHT VEHICLES ON COUNTY HIGHWAYS AND AN ACCOMPANING FEE SCHEDULE RESOLUTION:

Mr. Lorence presented a recommended ordinance revising the County’s procedure for handling overweight vehicles on the County roadway system.  This revision was requested by the Highway Committee and was deemed necessary due to the increase in the demand for containerized cargo (particularly agriculture products) sealed for international trade.  These loads have been determined by the Federal Highway Administration and the State of Illinois to be nondivisible loads, thereby allowing the County Engineer to issue appropriate permits.  The Committee felt that if overweight permits were to be issued that a fee should be charged to help defray the cost to the County for the acceleration in deterioration of county roads that these loads would be traveling over.   The revised ordinance would give the County Engineer the authority to issue overweight permits and now charge a fee for these permits.  A separate resolution was prepared establishing all of the fees that the County Engineer’s Office currently charges as well as incorporating a fee schedule for issuing all overweight, overwidth and overlength permits.   The fee schedule was prepared as a separate document and will be reviewed and approved annually through the normal county budget review process.  Mr. Mullins posed a question concerning the fees for traveling different weight appropriate roads.  Mr. Lorence explained this ordinance would give the County Engineer the authority to adjust the charge of permits depending on the cost to

the County to repair/upgrade a certain portion of the roadway system.  In Mr. Mullins situation if the cost to upgrade a roadway to an 80,000 pound truck route was paid for by Mullins Grain, then the cost to the County was reduced and the per mile/per trip cost would be reduced accordingly.  A motion was made by Mr. Anderson and seconded by Mr. Stoddard to forward Ordinance 2008-06 and the Fee Schedule Resolution to the full County Board recommending approval.  The motion carried unanimously.

CHAIR’S COMMENTS:            Chairperson LaVigne had no comments at this time.

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS: 

The Transportation Improvement Progress Report for March was provided to the Committee for their review.  The highlighted projects on the report were discussed. The Bethany Road South extension in DeKalb Road District will be let on April 15, 2008.  LaSalle County has notified the DeKalb County Engineer that the South County Line Bridge over Somonauk Creek has been let and is waiting an April start.  LaSalle County had earlier informed Mr. Lorence that this bridge would not be built until 2009 and that is when it is scheduled to be budgeted.  The County Engineer will keep the Committee informed if funding will need to be modified to pay for our portion during this budget year.  Because it is a Federal project billing will not take place until the entire project is completed.  The North Grove Road Bridge will more than likely be delayed until next year due to a required wetland review and the time it would take to acquire the steel needed for that project after that review has been completed and recorded. 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:  Mr. Gudmunson inquired when the ditches would be scheduled to be picked up.  An earlier start than last year would be appreciated before the grass starts to grow impeding the cleanup efforts.  The concern will be passed to Operations for appropriate action.  

ADJOURNMENT:

Chair LaVigne inquired if there was anything else that needed to be brought before the Committee and hearing none asked for a motion to adjourn.  A motion was made by Mr. Anderson to adjourn and Vice Chairperson Augsburger seconded this motion. The motion passed unanimously and the April 3, 2008 meeting was adjourned at 6:29p.m. 

Respectfully Submitted

Patricia LaVigne

Chairperson