McLean County Transportation Committee met April 2.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
The Transportation Committee of the McLean County Board met at 8:00 a.m. in Room 400, Government Center, 115 East Washington Street, Bloomington, Illinois.
Members Present: Chairman William Caisley Members Randall Martin, Elizabeth Johnston, Logan Smith, Shayna Watchinski and via remote attendance Gerald Thompson
Members Absent: Member Josh Barnett
Other Members Present: None
Staff Members Present: Mr. William Wasson, County Administrator, Trevor Sierra, First Assistant State’s Attorney Civil Division, Ms. Julie Morlock, Recording Secretary Department Heads Present: Mr. Jerry Stokes, County Engineer,
Others Present: Mr. Luke Hohulin, Assistant County Engineer
The Meeting was called to order by Chairman Caisley at 8:00 a.m. and he declared a
quorum. He informed the Committee that Member Thompson had requested to attend remotely under County Board Rules and asked if there was any objection. Hearing no objection, he approved Mr. Thompson’s request to attend remotely and declared him present.
Chairman Caisley presented the March 5, 2019 meeting minutes for review and approval.
Motion by Johnston/Martin to approve the March 5, 2019 regular meeting minutes as amended.
Motion Carried.
Chairman Caisley presented the bills for review and approval. Mr. Martin asked about purchase of salt and if that was still for roads. Mr. Stokes indicated that was to restock for next year. Mr. Martin asked about bills to township road districts. Mr. Stokes indicated the amounts were for equipment, materials and some 2019 snowplowing.
Motion by Martin/Smith to recommend payment of bills as submitted by the County Auditor in the amount of $333,123.61.
Motion carried.
Chairman Caisley confirmed no appearances by members of the public or employees.
Chairman Caisley presented for action a Resolution for the March 22, 2019 Equipment Letting. Mr. Stokes indicated this was for a self-propelled road sweeper and showed a picture of the sweeper. Mr. Caisley asked if the sweeper would have gutter cleaners as we might need them on Towanda Barnes. Mr. Stokes indicated it did not but they have an agreement with Bloomington to go out and clean Towanda Barnes. Mr. Stokes indicated he also provided them with a summary of the equipment purchases for the year.
Motion by Smith/Watchinski to recommend approval of a Resolution for the March 22, 2019 Equipment Letting.
Motion Carried.
Chairman Caisley presented for action a Resolution for the March 22, 2019 Project and Material Letting. Mr. Stokes indicated this was the annual seal coating bids. Mr. Caisley asked about the request to re-bid some of them. Mr. Stokes indicated that they use to bid each township separately and stopped doing that because of higher prices. He indicated that they now have north and south parts of the county and this year they separated north and south further into cold and hot oil bids. He said the cold oil township bid came in higher because townships were spread out across the County and one township request for a specific gravel. He stated that township has agreed to go with the regular gravel so will rebid next week and bring back next month. Ms. Johnston asked him to confirm this resolution did not include rebid. Mr. Stokes confirmed.
Motion by Johnston/Smith to recommend approval of a Resolution for the March 22, 2019 Project and Material Letting.
Motion carried.
Chairman Caisley presented for action a request to approve a Resolution for March 26, 2019 Construction Letting. Mr. Stokes indicated this is for Jefferson Street in Towanda, which is a highly traveled road that was last resurfaced in 1994. He stated this would resurface and improve sidewalk ramps.
Motion by Johnston/Smith to recommend approval of a Resolution for March 26, 2019 Construction Letting.
Motion carried.
Chairman Caisley presented for action a request to approve an Engineering Services Agreement – Hutchison Engineering Inc.; Park Culvert Replacement, Section 19-00073-11- BR – Pipeline Road (CH 31). Mr. Stokes showed pictures and went over the project. He further stated this project would realign the road. Ms. Johnston asked if this would involve re- angling the culvert or just the road. Mr. Stokes stated that the culvert will be longer and so that would play into smoothing out the S curve. Ms. Johnston asked how much road they would be redoing. Mr. Stokes said he was not sure and went into more depth discussion on process and timing.
Motion by Johnston/Watchinski to recommend approval of an Engineering Services Agreement – Hutchison Engineering Inc.; Park Culvert Replacement, Section 19-00073-11-BR – Pipeline Road (CH 31)
Motion Carried.
Chairman Caisley presented for action a request to approve Local Public Agency Agreement for Federal Participation (21-28), Appropriation Resolution for Local Match and Intergovernmental Agreement between IDOT and McLean County for Route 66 Bike Trail – Section 17-00001-05-BT, 1.1 miles south of Shirley to Funk’s Grove. Mr. Stokes indicated this continues where we left off on the trail about a mile south of Shirley. He also mentioned a spur to the old SBI 4, which is the original Route 66. He stated they have phase 1 approved down to McLean and will continue to apply for funding as funding becomes available to continue work on the trail. Mr. Martin asked about the projected date for completion of the trail across McLean County. Mr. Stokes indicated that allowances regarding the funds they have been using the last 4 or 5 years for these projects changed and they cannot use the funds for phase 1 environmental work. He stated that going forward we will have to find another funding source to do phase 1 work. Mr. Johnston asked for an estimate of how much funding that would be. Mr. Stokes estimated $500,000 for phase 1 work from Towanda to Lexington. Mr. Wasson stated that the change in funding by the State has caused difficulty completing this project. He stated that unless there is private funding, the solutions are continued dialogue with Department of Transportation and Legislatures about possible modifications to the policy, and the hope that Route 66 trail national designation will happen in the next year and provide some additional funding resources. Mr. Smith asked if the spur is a pass through people can take. Mr. Wasson explained it is still a State right-of-way that accesses farmland and residences, and people can take it but it is not the trail as it just provides a historical viewpoint.
Motion by Smith/Johnston to recommend approval of Local Public Agency Agreement for Federal Participation (21-28), Appropriation Resolution for Local Match and Intergovernmental Agreement between IDOT and McLean County for Route 66 Bike Trail – Section 17-00001-05-BT, 1.1 miles south of Shirley to Funk’s Grove.
Motion Carried.
Chairman Caisley presented for action a request to approve a Bridge Construction Petition for Joint Culvert Replacement #1, West Road District. Mr. Caisley asked if the current culvert was an insufficient size. Mr. Hohulin confirmed it is undersized, but there was another issue as the box culvert has head walls two foot out of the ground, which is a hazard for the general public. He stated that the proposed pipe will be longer allowing it to be further away from pavement and they will remove the headwall.
Motion by Smith/Watchinski to recommend approval of a Bridge Construction Petition for Joint Culvert Replacement #1, West Road District.
Motion Carried.
Chairman Caisley indicated there were no new hires at the Highway Department.
Mr. Stokes mentioned that road construction projects on Covell and Stringtown roads would be starting soon. He also mentioned that EDP windfarm developer south of Chenoa had started construction on transformer stations and would start work on access road and foundations soon and that delivery of components is scheduled for June. Ms. Johnston asked if we are out of the freeze/thaw cycle. Mr. Stokes indicated they plan to lift road limits on County roads by end of the week.
Chairman Caisley asked if there was anything else to come before the Committee; hearing nothing, he adjourned the meeting at 8:42 a.m.
https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/6653
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