Public Works Committee Rock Island County Board February 13, 2013 The Public Works Committee met on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 in the conference room of the County Board Office. Chairperson Ken "Moose" Maranda called the meeting to order at 3:11 PM. Committee Members Present: Maranda, Filbert, Johnston, Adams, Langdon, Westpfahl, Freeman Others Present: Phillip Banaszek, Mike VanErstvelde, John Massa, April Palmer, Josh Boudi, Greg Thorpe, Todd Seiben and Doug Jones Motion by Adams, second by Langdon to approve the minutes of the January meeting. Report2gov A free software and application for mobile devices is available to allow citizens to report concerns. Additional information will be obtained for the next meeting. Hazard Mitigation Plan Resolution This is a resolution to apply for a grant to update the Hazard Mitigation Grant. Motion by Adams, second by Langdon to approve the resolution. Rock Island Clean Line Todd Seiben and Doug Jones were present to answer any additional questions from last month. Mr. Jones provided an overview of the project. The Board approved a resolution of support several months ago. What is missing is that the Board has not agreed to the payment of $7000 per linear mile without the agreement. They would like to have consistency across the Counties. Even if Clean Line were granted Eminent Domain by the ICC, it would not take away the $7000 per linear mile. They also did not request the right of eminent domain. More than 90% of the land will be farmable within the easements. They are asking the County to approve the agreement to lock in the revenue to the County. This agreement is simply for the $7000 and road agreements with Counties and Townships would still be completed. Until the route is approved by the ICC, they have been unable to complete a road use plan. Some of that responsibility will be on the part of the key contractor. It would be completely separate from the support already given to the project. Freeman asked if the primary concern was road damage because of the weight load. They
would work out with the County and Townships the reimbursement for road damage. Mr. Jones stated that it is not nearly as likely to have damage with this project as it would be with a wind farm, but they will complete a road agreement to ensure that the roads are in as good of condition when they are done as they were before they started. Westpfahl asked about Farm Bureau support. Mr. Jones stated that they had listed 5 items of concern - eminent domain was one of the main ones as well as being considered a private entity. They will be doing 120 miles of line in Illinois, which is a tremendous amount of parcels. It is there intent to not have to use Eminent Domain but to be extremely diligent with the routine process and to be a fair, generous offer to land owners for the right to cross their property. The Farm Bureau will continue to work with members in the negotiation process of the easement. The Farm Bureau also wanted the route to be along Interstate 80, but the state would not allow the project along their right of way. The impact was significantly greater because of the population and development. Their number one goal with routing has been to avoid the greatest number of houses and populated areas. Options regarding lattice towers of 28 square feet or 8 foot mono-pole will be discussed during the micro-siting. There may be 4 or 5 lattice towers in a mile, or 6 to 7 in a mono-pole. There may be a combination of the structures depending on the topography, center-point irrigation, etc. Motion to forward to Finance by Langdon, second by Adams to approve. Hiring Freeze Resolution Consensus has been to leave the hiring freeze as it is. Johnston stated that the resolution dated September 2012 was approved at the meeting but it did not meet the super majority needs. He feels that the hiring freeze resolution should be re-written in a clear manner and to only include departments, not elected offices. Freeman doesn't feel that anyone should be exempted. He does not feel that Hope Creek positions should be exempted. Johnston wants to send to the Civil Division to have them write a clear hiring freeze resolution. Westpfahl stated that the intent of the resolution is not known - was it to reduce the workforce thru attrition or to maintain what we currently are budgeted for. Chairperson Maranda will pass the concerns at the Executive Committee and pass it on to Civil Division. Chairman Banaszek stated that he is fine with either passing it directly on to Civil or moving it to Executive Committee. Johnston would like to see the final resolution before it goes to board. Motion by Westpfahl, second by Freeman to approve the transfers and resolutions.
Motion by Freeman, second by Adams to approve the claims. Condition of Funds Ms. Palmer presented the routine monthly reports. (Record) The trial balance report reflects budgetary funds so this report is looking good since it is early in the fiscal year. The Cash Balance report is not as pleasant. Our cash balance in the General Fund is very low. We have just enough funds to cover one payroll at this time. Negative fund balances get rolled into the General Fund at Audit time. We have to make sure that every fund is self-sufficient. Motion by Langdon, second by Freeman to approve the report. COB Maintenance Mr. VanErstvelde reported that everything is working well now. He mentioned that the County Office Building air conditioner did not work last year. There is a big Freon leak that we babied last year. Under EPA regulations, we are at our limit of Freon. It could be $10,000 to determine that the cooling towers are not worth repairing. Sarah Lee Bakery will sell the self-contained unit with new controls. It is much more efficient. Johnson Contracting thinks we can get i it for $15,000 to $20,000 for the unit. A proposal for a new unit is $200,000 for this building. We would need an electrician to change the transformer as well as pouring a concrete pad for the unit. Total cost is estimated at around $60,000 for the unit to be installed and operational. The building is being gutted right now. Freeman stated that if we are going to spend $60,000 on something that "might" work, shouldn't we already spend the money to say it is "toast"? Spent about $9000 on Freon last year. The unit at Sarah Lee is not even 8 years old. Throwing good money after bad if we try to repair what we have. Our compressor is faulty, leaks everywhere. On the bad side, would have to either spend $200,000 on a new one because this used one is already sold. Motion by Westpfahl to pursue purchasing this new used one. Second by Filbert. No money attached - get a firm bid on electrical work, a firm bid on the cost of the device etc. and determine that the cooling towers are completely junk. A final vote would be handled at the next session. Cover all avenues necessary and bring back to Committee next month. GIS
Parking lot signs are needed to make stronger signs to keep our parking lot for allowable parking. (Record) Revenue reported as very strong. Motion by Westpfahl, second by Adams to approve the report. Johnston left at 4p. Zoning Mr. Thorpe presented the routine monthly report. (Record) Revenue collected was $4899.60 for 22 permits issued. Motion by Freeman, second by Adams to approve the report. Request to hire a replacement Building Inspector II for a retirement to be effective April 5th. He would not have anyone in until May. (Record) Motion by Freeman, second by Langdon to approve the request and forward to Human Resources and Finance. Zoning Board of Appeals Findings of Fact were then presented. (Record) Mark Zmuda SU13-205 Outdoor Special Event Barb & James Morgan RZ13-104 AG2 to SE1 Cindy & Tim Miller RZ13-106 AG2 to SE1 Motion by Adams, second by Filbert to approve the findings of fact. Public Works Department Mr. Massa presented the low bids for seal coating in various road districts. (Record) Motion by Westpfahl, second by Langdon to approve the low bids. Carried with Filbert abstaining. Niabi Zoo Agreement for jurisdictional transfer of Niabi Zoo Road was then discussed. The Forest Preserve District has not agreed to the items that the Village is proposing. What is being presented today is an agreement with the Village of Coal Valley regarding their care of the bike path. Exhibit I in the packet is the County agreement with the State that outlines the agreement with the Village for the bike path. Chairperson Maranda s recommendation is to do away with the bike path on the County right of way. It goes no place and it is unknown how long the Village of Coal Valley would honor the proposal to the
Forest Preserve. Legislation has recently changed regarding bike paths and our liability. Filbert stated that she has a bike path in her township jurisdiction and it is a lot of work. Motion by Adams, second by Langdon to proceed without a bike path on the Niabi Zoo Road Project. Carried with Freeman voting no. The committee's concern over the bike path is the liability and that the bike path goes nowhere. A resolution was presented for milling and resurfacing Niabi Zoo Road at a cost of $300,000 out of MFT Funds. (Record) Motion by Adams, second by Freeman to approve the resolution. An engineering agreement for repairs to the Ridgewood Road Bridge at a cost not to exceed $27,828 was distributed (record). Repair is considerably less than replacement for the 25 year old bridge. Willett Hoffman & Associates is the consultant on this project. Motion by Freeman, second by Langdon to move forward. A petition for County Aid on the Rural Township Bridge Project. (Record) Township Bridge Funds will pay 80% and the remaining 20% is split between the County and Township. We will not have enough money to build this for a few years because of the time it takes to build up the Township Bridge Fund. Mr. Massa will begin the design phase to obtain more exact figures for repair/replacement. There is another bridge project coming in Milan next year where our portion will be about $500,000. Design can be started in 2014 and construction the year following. In order to ask for County aid, they have to be taxing at the maximum rate for two years to show that they have enough in their bridge fund. Motion by Langdon, second by Adams to approve the Rural Township Bridge County Aid. An engineering agreement for the above discussed bridge project was then presented not to exceed $40,190 was then presented. (Record) Motion y Filbert, second by Westpfahl to approve. Motion by Filbert, second by Freeman to approve the annual resolution to purchase salt, glass beads and paint from the state.
The monthly maintenance included brush cutting and cleaning culverts. Grant funds have been utilized for review and potential replacement of our "curve" signs. A letting will be held on March 11th for a concrete patching and guardrail countywide contract. Truck Access Route Program (TARP) Funds have been approved for County Highway 70 (228 th St N) for FY2014. Motion by Freeman, second by Langdon to approve the report. March 4th surgery for Moose - Adams will probably run the March meeting. Adjourn 428 Shelly Chapman