McLean County Transportation Committee Met April 6.
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 James Soeldner Members William Friedrich, Gerald Thompson, Shayna Watchinski, Lea Cline, Val Laymon, Benjamin Webb (via remote attendance)
Members Absent: None
Other Members Present: None
Staff Members Present: Ms. Camille Rodriguez, County Administrator, Ms. Cassy Taylor, Assistant County Administrator, Mr. Chris Spanos, First Assistant State’s Attorney – Civil Division (in person) Ms. Cathy Dreyer, Assistant County Administrator; Ms. Julie Morlock, Recording Secretary (via remote attendance)
Department Heads Present: Mr. Jerry Stokes, County Engineer (in-person)
Others Present: Mr. Luke Hohulin, Assistant County Engineer (in-person) Jennifer Sicks, Regional Planning, Laura Dick, Show Bus (via remote attendance)
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Soeldner at 8:00 a.m. and a quorum declared.
Chairman Soeldner presented the minutes from the March 2, 2021 regular meeting for review and approval.
Motion by Cline/Laymon to approve the minutes from the March 2, 2021 regular meeting.
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote. All present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Soeldner presented prepaid bills in the amount of $502,592.54. Mr. Soeldner asked if the Cargill invoice was for salt. Mr. Stoke confirmed it was and indicated it was a good price, so they stocked up for next year. Mr. Soeldner asked about the Ecology Action Center invoice. Mr. Stokes indicated that as part of a permit process they need to do some education and outreach and the Ecology Action Center handles that for them. Mr. Stokes then went over programs. Mr. Soeldner asked if this also included stenciling for drains. Mr. Stokes confirmed it did.
Transportation Committee Minutes
Motion by Thompson/Cline to recommend payment of bills as submitted by the County Auditor in the amount of $502,592.54.
Motion carried. Roll call vote – all present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Soeldner confirmed with Ms. Rodriguez there were no appearances by members of the public or employees.
Chairman Soeldner presented for action a request to approve a Resolution for the March 23, 2021 Maintenance Letting. Mr. Stokes indicated this covered annual oil and chip projects for townships and municipalities and went over projects for this year. Mr. Thompson asked him to explain A3 work mentioned. Mr. Stokes stated that for the Waynesville road project they were going to till up and add two inches of rock to that road and the A3 reference was for the three coats of oil on top of that.
Motion by Freidrich/Thompson to recommend approval of a Resolution for a March 23, 2021 Maintenance Letting.
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote – all present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Soeldner presented for action a request to approve a Resolution for a March 30, 2021 Project Letting. Mr. Stokes indicated this was for the Washington street project in Carlock. He stated that the project had been on the list for a couple of years but waited until the Interstate 74 work was complete. He stated that as they started the design work, they determined that they needed to address some drainage issues. He showed pictures to the
Committee and indicated where they felt they would need to install curb and gutter. Mr. Soeldner asked about timeline. Mr. Stokes indicated the road would be closed sometime in June and be closed for about a month, but the total project would take a couple of months.
Motion by Laymon/Cline to recommend approval of a Resolution for a March 30, 2021 Project Letting.
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote – all members present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Soeldner presented for action a request to approve a Resolution for a March 30, 2021 Equipment Letting. Mr. Stokes went over the equipment that would be replaced including a couple of pick-up trucks and mowers. Mr. Soeldner asked if they only received these two bids. Mr. Stokes confirmed only received two even though they reached out to several other vendors.
Motion by Friedrich/Thompson to recommend approval of a Resolution for a March 30, Equipment Letting.
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote – all members present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Soeldner presented for action a request to approve a Motor Fuel Tax Resolution and Matching Tax Resolution for Townline Road – Section 13-00160-02-RS. Mr. Stokes showed a couple of pictures of this project and indicated that while the project was not scheduled until 2022, they needed to start the engineering to get reports in to IDOT.
Motion by Thompson/Laymon to recommend approval of a Motor Fuel Tax Resolution and Matching Tax Resolution for Townline Road – Section 13-00160- 02-RS.
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote – all members present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Soeldner presented for action a request to approve a Jurisdictional Transfer Agreement, Jurisdictional Transfer Resolution, and Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Chenoa for Section 20-00053-01-RS Division Street in Chenoa. Mr. Stokes went over project and reasons to support turning over maintenance of this section to Chenoa. Ms. Laymon asked if project would proceed if this did not get approved by Chenoa. Mr. Stokes indicated that we would move forward with resurfacing portion of the road. Mr. Soeldner stated he understood transfer but asked if there were any consequences to our funding from the State. Mr. Stokes stated county funds are based on motor vehicle registrations so we would not lose any revenue. Mr. Friedrich stated he had issues with releases to townships as he felt it might be a benefit in the near future, he questioned benefits for the long term. He asked if this is something we would be considering more and more in the future. Mr. Stokes stated it depends on the and provided example were they did not approach Carlock about taking over that section because it is a busy road, but this section had a lot less traffic and made sense to turn over to Chenoa.
Motion by Cline/Laymon to recommend approval of Jurisdictional Transfer Agreement, Jurisdictional Transfer Resolution, and Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Chenoa for Section 20-00053-01-RS Division Street in Chenoa..
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote – all members present voted yes including the Chairman.
Chairman Soeldner presented for action a request to a Bridge Fund Resolution, for Baker Bridge (CH 21) Section 20-00041-06-BR. Mr. Stokes went over project and indicated they found endangered species in this area. He stated that while he was not sure this project would go forward this year, he wanted to have funds in place in case it did. Ms. Cline asked how long it would take them to determine if this project could move forward. Mr. Stokes indicated they had located an endangered mussel and went over process of looking for endangered species and reporting to IDNR and IDOT and putting notice in the paper that could take several months. Ms. Cline asked if we should appropriate now or not. Ms. Stokes went over reasons to appropriate money now so they could move on the project as soon as approved including not having the road closed during harvest. Mr. Soeldner asked if they could change the scope of the project and move forward. Mr. Stokes indicate they considered that, but road is narrow and felt the condition of the deck required a replacement instead of a repair. He stated there was some work they might be able to postpone as part of the project until environmental study complete.
Motion by Cline/Thompson to recommend approval of a Bridge Fund Resolution, for Baker Bridge (CH 21) Section 20-00041-06-BR.
Motion Carried. Roll Call Vote – all members present voted yes including the Chairman.
Mr. Stokes presented a Summary of the 2021 Motor Fuel Tax. Mr. Stokes went over allotment spread sheet. He stated in 2019 transportation renewal portion of program kicked in and 2020 was first full year of renewal. He stated decrease may be partly for COVID, but before COVID they saw numbers going down, so several counties were following up regarding the fees the Department of Revenue takes before transferring money to the Counties to see if those fees increased. Mr. Soeldner stated our budgeted revenue in 2020 was for 300,000 but only received 293,000; he agreed it would be nice to know where funds went. Mr. Soeldner stated State passed lockbox fee and asked if that could be part of this. Mr. Stokes mentioned programs all fees go to before going to locals and indicated he was not sure if lockbox was part of those.
Chairman Soeldner stated he had heard the state was issuing about $7,000,000 for projects. Mr. Stokes indicated that was TARP funds for the entire state and McLean County would receive about $800,000 of which $500,000 would go to the Meadow Grove Road project and $300,000 for the Townline road project.
Chairman Soeldner asked Ms. Rodriguez about the funds McLean County was supposed to get through the Recovery Act and asked about restrictions on what those funds could be spent on. Ms. Rodriguez indicated they had only received preliminary information, but there would be parameters and they would bring information to applicable oversight committees once they received more information.
Chairman Soeldner asked Ms. Rodriguez if she had anything further for the Committee. Ms. Rodriguez mentioned public comment would now be either in person or through a call in number and thanked IT for their assistance in getting that set up.
Chairman Soeldner asked Mr. Stokes if he had anything further. Mr. Stokes mentioned to the Committee projects and road closures that would be starting that week.
Chairman Soeldner asked if there was any other business to come before the Committee, hearing none he adjourned the meeting at 8:44 a.m.
https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/8102
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