McLean County Transportation Committee met Aug. 4.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
The Transportation Committee of the McLean County Board met at 8:00 a.m. in Room 404 of the Government Center, 115 E. Washington St., Bloomington, Illinois.
Members Present: Chairman William Caisley Members Randall Martin, Elizabeth Johnston, Gerald Thompson Shayna Watchinski, Logan Smith and William Friedrich (via remote attendance)
Members Absent:
Other Members Present: None
Staff Members Present: Ms. Camille Rodriguez, County Administrator, Ms. Cassy Taylor, Assistant County Administrator, Ms. Julie Morlock, Recording Secretary, Ms. Samantha Vazquez Assistant State’s Attorney Civil Division
Department Heads Present: Mr. Jerry Stokes, County Engineer (via remote attendance)
Others Present: Mr. Luke Hohulin, Assistant County Engineer; Mr. Mike James, Mayor of Downs (both via remote attendance)
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Caisley at 8:00 a.m. and a quorum declared.
Chairman Caisley presented the minutes from the July 7, 2020 regular meeting for review and approval.
Motion by Johnston/Friedrich to approve the minutes from the July 7, 2020 regular meeting.
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote. All present voted yes including the Chairman
Chairman Caisley presented prepaid bills in the amount of $ 2,795,140.55 for review and approval. Mr. Martin asked about invoices with regard to food. Mr. Stokes explained the meal reimbursement checks. Ms. Johnston asked about tire expenses. Mr. Stokes indicated they have 10 tires per tandem truck and replaced several but not all on the trucks at about $330 each. Ms. Johnston asked about item listed as an injury. Mr. Stokes stated that was not an injury but a pre-employment physical.
Motion by Friedrich/Thompson to recommend payment of bills as submitted by the County Auditor in the amount of $2,795,140.55.
Motion carried. Roll call vote – all present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Caisley confirmed with Ms. Rodriguez there were no appearances by members of the public or employees.
Chairman Caisley presented for action a request to approve a Jurisdictional Transfer Agreement, Jurisdictional Transfer Resolution and Intergovernmental Agreement with the Village of Downs for Seminar Street in Downs. Chairman Caisley recognized Assistant State’s Attorney Ms. Samantha Vasquez who stated Chairman McIntyre asked her if they could add a provision to allow farming equipment to go through on this road. Ms. Vasquez indicated she could reach out to Village of Downs about adding that to the agreement if it was something the Committee wanted. Ms. Rodriguez indicated Mayor Mike James had been invited if there are questions. Mr. Caisley asked if Mr. Stokes if the Highway Department would be ok with modification to the agreement with Downs regarding farm equipment on Seminary street. Mr. Stokes confirmed they would be ok with the modification.
Mr. Friedrich stated he had two concerns one was transfers as a whole and asked how often we do this and if it is a goal of the department to give jurisdiction back to towns and villages. He stated for this project we would be doing $600,000 worth of improvements and then give the section free and clear to Downs. He stated his other concern was the restrictions discussed on farm equipment. Mr. Stokes stated it is not always a goal to give roads back to towns and municipalities, as it depends on the project and what the town or village is wanting to accomplish. He then provided examples. Mr. Thompson asked when this road was last done. Mr. Stokes indicated it was about 20 years ago. Mr. Stokes stated the $600,000 would cover resurfacing, curb and gutter, sewer and enhancements the Village of Downs wants to do. Chairman Caisley recognized Mayor James and he stated they were told that by law they could not limit agriculture traffic and are willing to put a clause in the agreement stating that. He stated this would still be considered a major artery so lane width would remain the same and some of the changes requested are safety concerns such as a line of site at an intersection children utilize when walking to school. He then went over drawing Mr. Stokes had on the screen for the Committee to view. Mr. Friedrich asked him if they would be opposed to leaving the current weight restriction. Mr. James stated they have a concern as they do not want semi-truck traffic to continue to utilize that road because there are times when trucks cause back-up on the Seminary and 150. He said they currently annually provide permits for exceeding weight limits and would continue to do.
Ms. Johnston asked about parking. Mr. Stokes showed it on map of the project. Mr. James went over the extended area of parking and how it will be utilized during summer months for businesses and reverted to parking in the winter. He also indicated they would also be adding a loading zone for semi’s delivering to local businesses because they currently stop in the middle of the street. Ms. Johnston asked about safety concerns with seating for restaurants along that area and the width of some of the equipment. Mr. James indicated road width is still the same so Village had taken that into consideration and farmer would have to take it into consideration as they currently do.
Mr. Friedrich stated he was uncomfortable giving Downs complete authority to issue permits for larger vehicles to go through there. Mr. Friedrich asked Jerry if he was ok turning that over to the Village. Mr. Stokes stated road is 80,000 lbs. so they currently only give a permit when it goes over that and also went over the alternative route vehicles could take. He stated the Village had agreed to give permits to local traffic, but the ultimate goal would be to utilize Towanda Barnes. Mr. James indicated the farmer he talked to did not have an issue utilizing Towanda Barnes road and while that might not work for Mr. Friedrich, they would work with him. Mr. James stated the amount of times Mr. Friedrich would go through there during harvest season was a lot less than keeping it at 80,000 lbs. and letting the heavy traffic go through there 24/7. He stated the Village does not have the funding to replace the road as often as the County might and while the Village has funding set aside and planned for in the future they want to reduce weight limit to allow them to preserve the road as long as possible.
Mr. Thompson stated he was glad to hear they were not opposed to agriculture traffic. He asked about cost to maintain an 80,000 lb. road. Mr. James went over the project. Mr. Thompson asked if this could be delayed for month. Mr. Stokes indicated IDOT had already approved the documents, funding was in the 2020 budget and Transportation Enhancement funds applications are due between August 21st and December 3rd, so there was a little time. Mr. Friedrich said that before they transfer, he would like the state’s attorney to review agriculture restrictions and add that to the agreement. Mr. Friedrich stated he was concerned about the future. He stated if they make it a 9-ton road and he took his combine through town, which weighs more, he did not want to have a problem with that. He stated that if it says it is 9 tons then it is 9 tons no matter what is driven on the road. Mr. James said he understood his concern but did not want to make it an 80,000 lb. road and asked about a compromised weight. Mr. Friedrich said there will be others in charge in the future and wanted to make sure no issues when someone else in charge. Mr. Caisley asked how much farm equipment weighs. Mr. Friedrich stated a minimum of 25 tons or 50,000 lbs. Mr. Stokes stated that over-weight equipment would be covered under the annual permit the village would provide and would be the same as getting an overweight permit from the County for the 80,000 lbs. Mr. Friedrich asked the cost of an annual permit. Mr. James indicated it is free. Mr. James indicated they could discuss permits in perpetuity, so the future was not an issue. Mr. Caisley asked if Ms. Vasquez could prepare a proposed amendment. Ms. Vasquez stated if the Committee wanted and they tabled to a date certain she could prepare an amended agreement. Ms. Johnston said it seemed the Village of Downs is agreeable so if we could take an amendment to stand-up there would not be a delay. Ms. Rodriguez asked if there would be issues with the already approved IDOT paperwork. Mr. Stokes indicated he did not feel there would be an issue.
Motion by Friedrich/Smith to table to stand up on August 18, 2020 of a Jurisdictional Transfer Agreement, Jurisdictional Transfer Resolution and Intergovernmental Agreement with the Village of Downs for Seminar Street in Downs.
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote – all present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Caisley presented for action a request to approve a Resolution of the July 28, 2020 Equipment Letting.
Motion by Smith/Friedrich to recommend approval of a Resolution of the July 28, 2020 Equipment Letting.
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote – all present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Caisley presented for action a request to approve a Matching Tax Resolution, Ropp Road (CH 39) – Section 20-00056-11-RS. Mr. Stokes went over funding for the project. Mr. Caisley asked if we had been pleased with the scarifying process. Mr. Stokes stated it had been working well.
Motion by Johnston/Smith to recommend approval of a Matching Tax Resolution, Ropp Road (CH 39) – Section 20-00056-11-RS.
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote – all present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Caisley presented for action a request to approve an Engineering Services Agreement with Lewis, Yockey & Brown Inc., Lexington East Road (CH 8) – Section 20- 00031-04-WR.
Motion by Johnston/Martin to recommend approval of an Engineering Services Agreement with Lewis, Yockey & Brown Inc., Lexington East Road (CH 8) – Section 20-00031-04-WR.
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote – all present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Caisley indicated there were no positions filled in the last month at the Highway Department.
Member Johnston indicated she needed to leave the meeting. (8:49 a.m.)
Mr. Stokes provided a project summary on the Chenoa – Division St (CH 19) -Section 18- 00053-00-FP. He provided pictures and discussed work being done on the Ron Smith Memorial Highway (CH 63) – Section 19-00123-02-RS project. Mr. Stokes then went over progress of the Park Culvert, Pipeline Road (CH 31) – Section 19-00073-11-BR project. He also provided an update on the Alvis Bridge Project. He showed pictures of the project and went over the process which the State has been utilizing but is new to the County. Mr. Friedrich indicated he had been out at the Bridge and it seemed to be going well, and that he had heard good things about this process and felt the County would be utilizing it more in the future. Mr. Stokes agreed as he too felt they would be utilizing this process more in the future.
Under other business Mr. Thompson asked for update on the Windfarm and dust situation. Mr. Stokes indicated foundation had been poured so concrete trucks were done going through, but the company is still applying dust control product and running water trucks. He stated he had not received any new complaints. Mr. Thompson asked if it is down because of traffic or the Company doing something about it. Mr. Stokes indicated it was probably a combination of those.
Mr. Thompson asked for an update on the culvert situation east of Saybrook. Mr. Stokes indicated they installed it last week and met with landowners. Mr. Thompson stated that the first one did not work and asked what would happen when this did not work. He asked who would be responsible or if we felt this one would be a success. Mr. Stokes indicated they were able to move the culvert down further to the south and upsize it a foot to 96 inches to provide more capacity. Mr. Thompson asked if it is was in the same location. Mr. Stokes indicated it is further south. Mr. Thompson asked if this was done at a cost to the landowner. Mr. Stokes stated the landowner paid for the culvert and the County did the work. Mr. Thompson asked him if the initial layout was money wasted. Mr. Stokes indicated it was paid by the railroad. Mr. Thompson said, “I did not ask who it was paid by. There is a difference. The money was wasted, right?” Mr. Stokes stated they were able to utilize the first culvert on another project. Mr. Thomson asked him to confirm that the end result was the landowner had to pay $12,000. Mr. Stokes stated that was correct. Mr. Thompson stated that was unfortunate. Mr. Thompson again asked about the guarantee should this one not work.
Mr. Luke Hohulin stated that the location where they put the new pipe was further south than the old box culvert and this location, based on the elevation shots taken, would allow any back up or overflow to go in the field and wrap around to the 10x10 box culvert 500 feet to the south. He stated it should go into the field a lot less area than before and there would be less of a chance of water going on the road at this location as well, which was the best solution for everyone in this situation. Mr. Thompson stated the problem was the landowner had to come up with $12,000 and he felt this could have been resolved if we had a better communication process in the beginning. Mr. Rodriguez stated she was about problem solving, but that Mr. Thompson was asking Mr. Stokes and Mr. Hohulin to admit to some wrongdoing instead talking about how we could handle the situation differently in the future. She stated that while she appreciated him bringing this up, he had created an uncomfortable situation. Mr. Thompson stated he sympathized as he was uncomfortable when he had to have the conversation with the landowners. He said moving forward he would like to see work on a different communication process.
Mr. Caisley stated that the landowners had a lot of attention given to this matter as both he and Mr. Friedrich were also out there as well as the Highway Department. He stated the Members had listened to the adjacent landowners who live in Ford County. Mr. Thompson indicated that taxes on this land are paid to McLean County. Mr. Caisley acknowledged that but stated that the County had given a good deal of attention to this matter and had not been neglectful about the situation at all.
Mr. Caisley asked about an annual field trip. Mr. Stokes indicated that several projects will still be ongoing, and that there might be issues with transportation to these locations. Ms. Rodriguez agreed as we would need to take into consideration social distancing and wearing masks that would cause some issues traveling to the sites. Mr. Caisley stated he would have conversations with the highway department about a compromise on the annual field trip.
Chairman Caisley asked if there was anything else to come before the Committee; hearing nothing, he adjourned the meeting at 9:09 a.m.
https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/7677
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