Kendall County Highway Committee met Feb. 14.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
MEMBERS PRESENT: Zach Bachman, Ruben Rodriguez, Brian DeBolt, Dan Koukol, & Scott Gengler
STAFF PRESENT: Michele Riley, John Burscheid and Francis Klaas
ALSO PRESENT: Mike Cook, PJ Fitzpatrick and Kelly Farley
The committee meeting convened at 3:30 P.M. with roll call of committee members. All present. Quorum established.
Motion DeBolt; second Gengler, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion approved unanimously.
Motion Gengler; second Koukol, to approve the Highway Committee meeting minutes from January 10, 2023. Rodriguez requested that the minutes from the previous committee meeting be sent out along with the agenda for the current monthly meeting. Committee agreed. Motion to approve the minutes was approved unanimously.
Motion DeBolt; second Koukol to recommend approval of an ordinance granting variance to the Kendall County Highway Access Regulation Ordinance. Klaas provided background on the County’s Access Ordinance, and noted that Ridge Road – the WIKADUKE Trail – is classified as an Access 1 Highway, meaning that full access is only allowed every ½ mile. The current WIKADUKE Trail study recommends full access on Ridge Road ¼-mile north of Route 52 and ½-mile south of Route 52. However, at ½-mile south of Route 52 there is an existing creek, which will make full access at that location impossible. Klaas suggested that it would make good sense to provide full access ¼-mile south of Route 52, since it mirrors the north side of Route 52; and then again provide full access ½-mile south of the previous location, which is ¼- mile north of Bell Road. This is consistent with the petitioner’s plan. Mike Cook, representing Jade Restorations, described his client’s property and operations. They own Rusty Ridge Animal Center and some adjoining property in the northeast quadrant of Ridge Road and Bell Road. Mike identified the other property owners that own property affected by the proposed full access location, ¼-mile north of Bell Road. He believes it would be beneficial to all the property owners in this area, and is consistent with the County’s plan to replace the bridge on Ridge Road, as well as widen Ridge Road to 4-lanes between Holt Road in Minooka and Black Road in Joliet. Klaas echoed Mike’s findings, and stated that he supported the access variance. He also noted that it would be easy to incorporate northbound and southbound left turn lanes as part of the 4- lane improvements on Ridge Road. Until such time that those 4-lane improvements are made, the property owners along Ridge Road would only be allowed a right in / right out access. Koukol reported that this topic hits home because Jade Restorations recently asked for an amendment to their special use. He reported that they have done an unbelievably excellent job in working with the County to get all of their changes approved. He stated that they were doing everything by the book, and this would be a good idea for them to get full access for the rest of their property. Klaas believes that it is forward thinking to plan for the future full access and get it incorporated into the County’s road plan. Koukol asked what was planned for the development. Mike indicated it would definitely be a commercial use of some kind. He confirmed that the access point will be very valuable for whatever is proposed. Upon consideration, the motion was approved unanimously by roll call vote.
Motion DeBolt; second Koukol to recommend approval of a petition for County aid to build or repair bridge, culvert or drainage structure in Na-Au-Say Township for the Schlapp Road Bridge. Klaas reminded the committee that they have already approved the agreement with IDOT for this federally-funded project; but this was the agreement with the township to pay for the local share. That share will be split evenly between the County and the Township, with said split being about $250,000 for each entity. Motion approved unanimously by roll call vote.
Motion Koukol; second Rodriguez to recommend approval of an inter-governmental grant agreement between the State of Illinois, Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Kendall County related to the reconstruction of U.S. Route 52 and Ridge Road intersection. Klaas stated that this agreement was finally obtained from IDOT after a long wait. The schedule in the agreement obligates IDOT to pay approximately $881,000 for construction and engineering on the project, which is ½ the cost. Klaas indicated that this is exactly what IDOT had promised and recommended that committee forward the agreement on to the county board for approval. Koukol believed that the intersection is continuing to getting busier, as he drives through it at least a couple times per week. DeBolt asked if the signals will need to get moved again when Ridge Road is widened to 4-lanes. Klaas thought that at least some of the components will need to get moved again; but stressed how important the signals are now for the proposed bridge construction and widening construction that is to come. DeBolt also asked when the 4-lane construction would begin. Klaas thought it would most likely start in 2027. Upon further consideration, motion was approved unanimously by roll call vote.
Motion DeBolt; second Koukol to recommend approval of a relocation agreement between County of Kendall and Northern Illinois Gas Company to relocate NICOR facilities near the intersection of Grove Road and Collins Road as part of the Collins Road Extension Project. Rodriguez asked what “facilities” meant. Klaas indicated that it just meant they have buried underground gas lines in the area. Klaas explained that whenever public utilities are located within the public right-of-way, and the public agency plans a road improvement, the public utility must relocate their facilities at no cost to the public agency. Every once in a while, the public utility is located in a private easement, or outside the public right-of-way, and it requires the public agency to pay for the relocation. In the case of Collins Road extension, NICOR has about 600’ of buried 6” gas line that requires relocation, and is in a private easement that trumps the County’s new right-of-way. This doesn’t happen often; and Klaas thought the last time it did was in 2012. Regardless, the cost to move the gas lines is about $274,000; and the County will have to pay this cost if it wants to move forward with the road project. Koukol asked if they are coordinating with the water main installation in that area. Klaas stated that they are. Rodriguez asked how deep the gas main will have to be placed. Klaas thought the new water main would be about 6’ deep; and so the gas line would probably be at least 8’ deep. Koukol asked if there was a timeline on the relocation. Klaas did not think there was because NICOR would likely not agree to it. The committee discussed some of the specific charges on the schedule and were a little bewildered at the high prices. Rodriguez asked where the money would come from to pay for the relocation, and what impact it might have on the budget. Klaas stated that all the costs would come out of the Transportation Sales Tax Fund; and since this project was so expensive (± $15 million), it would be relatively small increase. He also informed the committee that the Sales Tax Fund supports dozens of road and bridge projects worth millions of dollars; and so this
NICOR cost may not have any significant implications for the fund, or cause the fund to be over budget. The motion was approved unanimously by voice vote.
Motion DeBolt; second Gengler to recommend approval of a resolution for maintenance under the Illinois Highway Code appropriating $3,000,000. Bachman reported that these monies would be used to resurface Orchard Road between the Fox River and U.S. Route 30, as well as resurfacing Lisbon Road from Sherrill Road to Joliet Road. Klaas noted that this is a resolution form that gets approved each year. The roads change; but the format for approval does not. The County must appropriate the necessary MFT funds before it can use them to fix the roads. DeBolt asked how the roads are chosen to be repaired. Klaas indicated that the roads are evaluated each year by staff to determine which ones are most in need of repair. He also reminded committee that Orchard Road is the busiest county highway, with 25,000 vehicles per day on the north end. Koukol confirmed that the repairs are based on rotating program. He also noted that all of the repairs are located in District 1. Rodriguez asked how often the County puts counters out to check on the traffic numbers. Klaas stated that the County no longer performs county-wide traffic counts. That task is now performed by consultants who work for IDOT. They generally take new counts about every 5 years and place that information on IDOT’s website for anyone to view. Burscheid provided some information on the technology used to count traffic. Koukol wondered if the new license plate readers that were put up recently around the county were capable of counting traffic. No one knew for sure. Rodriguez asked if Highway Department ever put out their counters. Klaas stated that the single biggest use for the county owned counters was for speed analysis on county and township roads. Rodriguez also asked how long the counters lasted. Burscheid thought the counters that the county owns were about 15 years old. He also provided some additional information on how the old counting process used to work with the IDOT-owned counters. DeBolt wondered about the weight of trucks during the spring thaw, and whether the counters could be used for that. Klaas indicated that the counters can classify vehicles (by size); but they have no idea how much the vehicles weigh. They are not capable of measuring that. Committee then discussed some of the timing of the spring postings. Motion approved unanimously by a voice vote.
Under other business, Klaas informed the committee that he had been approached by the Village of Oswego regarding the possibility of burying overhead electric lines along Minkler Road as part of the Collins Road Extension project. Oswego has a policy of requiring developers to bury said lines as part of their development. He was informed that it would likely cost over $1 million to have ComEd bury these lines. Committee discussed the matter and had no interest in spending County money to do this. They asked the County Engineer to convey this message back to the Village.
Motion DeBolt; second Rodriguez, to forward Highway Department bills for the month of February in the amount of $301,572.59. DeBolt asked if Highway Department had enough salt, and Klaas answered affirmative.
Motion Rodriguez; second Gengler, to adjourn the meeting at 4:09 P.M. Motion carried unanimously.
https://www.kendallcountyil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/26275/638126697109800000
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