Kendall County Highway Committee met Dec. 14.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
The committee meeting convened at 3:30 P.M. with roll call of committee members. All members present. Quorum established.
Motion DeBolt; second Cesich, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion approved unanimously.
Motion Cesich; second Gengler, to approve the Highway Committee meeting minutes from November 9, 2021. Motion approved unanimously.
Klaas presented a summary of bid results from a bid opening on December 3, 2021. There were 5 different projects, the biggest being the intersection reconstruction at Ridge Road and U.S. Route 52. This project is being paid 50/50 by the County and IDOT. Other projects included a drainage improvement in City of Lisbon, a drainage improvement in the Village of Plattville, new traffic signals at the Ridge – Holt intersection, and a new traffic signal mast arm pole at the intersection of Orchard – Caterpillar. The traffic signal pole was struck by a car and damaged beyond repair. Klaas expected that the driver’s insurance will cover the cost of replacement of the pole. He also noted that most of the bids on these projects were over the estimate, indicating that prices for road construction appear to on the rise. Motion Cesich; second Kellogg to recommend approval of a resolution approving the low bidders for these 5 projects. Considering D Construction was low bidder on 3 of the projects, DeBolt asked if County Highway had any issues with this contractor. Klaas indicated that D Construction has worked well with his department, and they had no major issues with them at all. Gengler asked is D Construction typically asks for lots of change orders. Klaas said they probably have the fewest change orders of the contractors that he typically works with. By roll call vote, motion approved unanimously.
Motion Cesich; second DeBolt to recommend approval of a Resolution for Maintenance Under the Illinois Highway Code appropriating $400,000 for the purchase of bulk rock salt and general maintenance of highways. Klaas described this as a motor fuel tax resolution to provide for the purchase of road salt and for other general maintenance of highways, such as seal coating and crack filling. Salt costs will be about $200,000 to $250,000, and the rest will be for general maintenance. Cesich asked if these were costs just for this year. Klaas stated that it was just for the 2022 year, and any unspent funds would go back to the unobligated side of the motor fuel tax fund. By roll call vote, motion approved unanimously.
Motion Cesich; second Gengler to approve a Phase III Engineering Services Agreement with Hutchison Engineering, Inc. in the amount of $176,547 for the intersection of Ridge Road and U.S. Route 52; said funds to be taken from the Transportation Sales Tax Fund. Klaas indicated that, because there is State and/or Federal monies in the IDOT portion of the project, the construction documentation gets extremely complicated, and his department would not be able to do it. The good news is that IDOT will reimburse the County for engineering costs on this project; and that reimbursement should cover the lion’s share of the Phase III costs. Gengler asked how many engineering phases there are in a project. Klaas described how Phase 1 and 2 are considered preliminary engineering, and occur before a project goes to bid. Phase 3 is also known as construction management or construction inspection, and occurs while the project is being built. By roll call vote, motion approved unanimously.
Motion DeBolt; second Cesich to recommend approval of a Phase I and II Preliminary Engineering Services Agreement with Hutchison Engineering, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $323,400 for replacement of bridge structure 047-3011 on Ridge Road south of U.S. Route 52; said funds to be taken from the Transportation Sales Tax Fund. Gryder asked why this is called structure 047-3011. Klaas stated that all bridges in Kendall County start with the number 047; it is a county identifier. The last 4 numbers simply identify the specific structure, and typically are assigned in ascending order as the structures are built. DeBolt asked how long the project would take to build. Klaas indicated that he thought it would take just 1 year. He added that he is recommending Hutchison Engineering, because they have completed other nearby projects on Ridge Road, and there would perhaps be some efficiencies. He also said that this is a much bigger number for engineering than originally planned, but that is because the County is now looking at this project in the context of a major 4-lane improvement. So instead of a simple, single-span, 2-lane bridge replacement, this will now be a 4 or 5 lane structure with staged traffic construction to accommodate the large traffic numbers on this corridor. The project will then dovetail into a 4-lane roadway improvement on each end of the structure. DeBolt had concerns about the method of construction, how it would be staged, and the final alignment. Klaas indicated that there were multiple alternatives for construction, and those alternatives would be evaluated as part of the Phase 1 Engineering. By roll call vote, motion approved unanimously.
Under Chairman’s Report, Gryder noticed that Oswego Township was using their street sweeper to clean Orchard Road. He wondered if they contract with Kendall County. Klaas stated that the County and the Township trade services. Oswego Township gets $1,000-per-day-credit for sweeping, which is used to offset the engineering cost that the County charges them for preparing township road improvement contracts. The arrangement works out well for both agencies. Gryder noted that Ashley Road at Ill. Rte. 126 was an area of recent road construction that has not yet received necessary pavement markings. Klaas thought that this was probably a result of paint shortages, which the County has experienced on some of their road projects. Gryder also reintroduced PJ Fitzpatrick, who now works for HR Green. PJ had previously worked for WBK Engineering, and was instrumental in the Phase 1 Engineering for the Collins Road Extension project.
Under other business, DeBolt asked about the progress on the Eldamain Road Bridge. Klaas stated that all the substructure concrete has been completed; but they are still setting structural steel. If the weather doesn’t get too extreme, they will continue to work on the steel until it is finished… which is expected in February 2022.
DeBolt also discussed some of the issues with accidents on Millington Road. He indicated that some of the residents in the area were very appreciative of the blinking stop signs at Rogers Road intersection. He also had received compliments about the same signs installed at Route 47 & Walker Road.
Gengler asked when the Eldamain Road project will be finished and opened to traffic. Klaas believes that the project will be open 1 year from now – December of 2022.
Motion Kellogg; second DeBolt, to forward Highway Department bills for the month of December in the amount of $112,984.79 to the Finance Committee for approval. By roll call vote, motion approved unanimously.
Motion Cesich; second Gengler, to adjourn the meeting at 3:55 P.M. Motion carried unanimously.
https://www.co.kendall.il.us/home/showpublisheddocument/22363/637771734604600000
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