Kendall County Highway Committee met March 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: 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 Koukol; second DeBolt, to approve the Highway Committee meeting minutes from February 14, 2023. Motion approved unanimously.
Motion DeBolt; second Gengler to recommend approval of a preliminary engineering services agreement between Kendall County and Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd. in the amount of $69,820 related to design of intersection improvements at Plainfield Road and Woolley Road. Chairman Bachman noted that the agreement is for phase 2 engineering services at the intersection. CBBEL had performed the phase 1 engineering; and so this was the next logical step. Klaas stated that the recommend improvement is for installation of a traffic signal. The good news is that both Village of Oswego and Oswegoland Park District have tentatively agreed to pay for their proportionate share of the traffic signal. This means that each of those agencies will pay about $75,000 ($150,000 total), and the County will also pay about $150,000. Koukol asked if the other two agencies would be participating in the engineering costs. Klaas indicated that they have not agreed to that at this point. Koukol thought that the County should ask. Committee agreed. Rodriguez asked what the timeline was for construction. Klaas stated that he thought it was programmed for construction in 2024. Committee reiterated the need for this project with the large amount of pedestrian traffic in and around the Park District property. Motion approved unanimously.
Motion Rodriguez; second Gengler to recommend approval of a resolution authorizing the use of eminent domain to acquire certain parcels of land for roadway purposes on Fox Rive Drive (N. Johnson St.) in Kendall County, Illinois. Chairman Bachman indicated that Kendall County was in agreement with 2 of the 3 parcels listed on the resolution; but since they were having issues with the mortgage company, the County was unable to obtain mortgage releases. The County’s negotiator indicated that condemnation might be the only way to acquire title for the new right of-way. Klaas indicated that the County’s negotiator and engineer were meeting with the third parcel owner today; and they were optimistic that they would reach a settlement; but they had still recommended including said parcel in the resolution just in case. Koukol noted that the drainage will be so much better when this project is completed, as this area has always had drainage problems. Motion approved unanimously.
Motion DeBolt; second Gengler to recommend approval of a resolution appropriating funds for the payment of the county engineer’s salary. Klaas stated that because he is included in IDOT’s County Engineers Salary Program, one-half of his salary comes out of the County’s federal highway funds. In this way, the County only has to pay one-half of the salary with local funds. But due to inclusion in the program, the County must approve an annual appropriation of the salary, by resolution. The new salary, which takes effect May 20, 2023, represents a 2% increase from the previous year. Motion approved unanimously.
Motion Gengler; second Rodriguez to recommend award of KC-TAP funds to applicants in the 2023 program cycle. Koukol asked if there was a $50,000 limit to the TAP funds. Klaas explained the TAP Program; and noted that there have been a couple times that the Board has allowed more than $50,000. He also explained that the TAP Fund gets an annual appropriation of $75,000 from the Transportation Sales Tax Fund. The current unobligated balance in the fund is $182,021.54, while the current requests for funds is just $127,530. Gengler asked if all the applicants had come to Klaas with the requests. Klaas stated that each year the County Highway Department sends out a solicitation to all the local agencies in Kendall County, asking that they submit their applications by the end of the calendar year. Klaas then reviews the applications, and makes recommendations to the Highway Committee for funding. If approved, there would need to be an IGA with all the successful applicants. He also stated that this may not need to be an action item at this point, because the full Board will need to eventually approve the IGA’s; but it would probably be a good idea for the Committee Chairman to announce that they have been approved for funding. Koukol questioned the timing of the reimbursement by the County. Klaas indicated that the applicant has to build and pay for the improvement; and then submit a request for 50% reimbursement at the end of the project. The applicant also must maintain the improvement in perpetuity. Rodriguez asked what type of improvement the funds could be used for. Klaas said that the program policies include the construction of sidewalks and paths along State and County Highways. In this way, it wouldn’t become a source for municipal sidewalk replacement programs; rather, it would be used to construct new paths that have more regional significance. Rodriguez asked about the proposed bridge over Route 30 in the Village of Montgomery. Klaas stated that Montgomery’s current application is directly linked to this future bridge over Route 30; and the committee reviewed the aerial exhibits in the packet related to said project. Chairman Bachman indicated that he would announce the successful applicants at the next C.O.W. meeting and the County Board meeting. Motion approved unanimously.
In other business, DeBolt asked about the Fox River Drive Bridge over the Fox River. That bridge has a white-type plaster on the curbs, and he wondered what that was. Klaas indicated that this material was placed on the curbs to keep salt water from penetrating the concrete and rusting the reinforcement bars. Burscheid described the product used – a roofing material – and the fact that it is placed on the curbs by our maintenance crew to help preserve the bridge for as long as possible. It is an expensive product, so it is used sparingly. It looks a little rough, but is very effective in keeping water out of the concrete.
Klaas announced the bid results from the IDOT letting on March 10, 2023. Two Kendall County projects were on that letting. The Collins Road Extension had 3 bidders. The low bid was submitted by D Construction, Inc. at a total bid price of $12,117,223.32 which was about 14.4% below the engineer’s estimate of $14,154,787.31. DeBolt asked when this project would start. Klaas thought the project would begin in spring/summer of 2023 and would take 2 construction seasons to complete. Rodriguez asked who came up with the estimate. Klaas stated that this work is performed by the County’s consultant. Gengler noted that the $2 million savings will all be at the County level. Klaas added that there is $7.5 million in State and Federal funding for this project, so the bid price will lower the County’s expected obligation by about $2 million. The other project that was bid was the replacement of the Schlapp Road Bridge. Low bid was submitted by Riber Construction, Inc. at a total bid price of $1,047,965.38 which was about 15.5% below the engineer’s estimate of $1,240,208.00. Koukol asked about the no-bid companies. Klaas was surprised by the number of no-bids on the Collins project. Twelve contractors took out plans and proposals on the Collins Road project, but only 3 contractors actually submitted a bid. Klaas thought that because of the size of the project, many contractors wanted to take a look at the plans; but decided not to submit bids because they likely determined that they would not be competitive.
Motion Gengler; second DeBolt, to forward Highway Department bills for the month of March in the amount of $92,673.56. Motion approved unanimously.
Motion Gengler; second Koukol, to adjourn the meeting at 4:02 P.M. Motion carried unanimously.
https://www.kendallcountyil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/26811/638164574982200000
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