cc: Co. Bd. Chairman; Co. Bd. Members; Elected Officials/Dept. Heads; Chronicle; Copley Press; Daily Herald; Northwest Herald; Republican; Tribune TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE August 22, 2003 The Kane County Board’s Transportation Committee met Friday, August 22, 2003, in the County Board Room, Bldg. “A”, Kane County Government Center, Geneva, Illinois. Members present: Chairman Wyatt, Barrett, Hoscheit, Hurlbut (late), Kudlicki, Neuberger (late), Walter and Wolfe. Also present: Co. Bd. Member Allan; Special Asst. State’s Atty. Chesbrough; KDOT Dir. Rogowski and staff Rickert, Skidmore, Sirotzke, Files, Tabbert, Bush, et al.; Transportation consultant Fitzpatrick; Village of Wayne Mayor Phipps and staff Schoengart; St. Charles Mayor Klinkhamer; members of the press and public. The meeting was called to order at 9 a.m. Minutes of the June 27, 2003, meeting were approved on motion by Kudlicki, seconded by Wolfe. PUBLIC COMMENT - None INFORMATION Status of Division Activities and Status of Funds for the period ending July 31, 2003, was placed on file on motion by Wolfe, seconded by Hoscheit. Dir. Rogowski commented briefly on current projects beginning with the Resurfacing Program, now 100% complete and on budget. The Paratransit Planning Coordinating Council held its kick-off meeting on August 5. Lynn O’Shea was named interim chairman; the next meeting will be slated in the fall. Two subcommittees were formed: the By-Laws and Memorandum of Understanding Subcommittee and the Membership Subcommittee. Both of these will meet on September 9. Rogowski also commented on the nomination of Thurnau Road for the Rustic Road Program. A public hearing is slated for August 28 at 7 p.m. at the Rutland Township Hall. At the close of the hearing, the Historic Preservation Commission is expect to make a recommendation for the county’s Development and Transportation Committees. If approved, Thurnau will be the first Rustic Road named under the new program. A number of roads are scheduled for closure between now and next month’s meeting. Notable were the lane closures on Randall Road between August 18 and August 29 for repair work by the Canadian National Railroad on the crossing south of Hopps Road. Full road closure is anticipated on August 27 for one hour between 6 am - 7 am. (Hurlbut arrived.) A detour route will be posted. Walter verified that the police and other agencies in the area are all aware of the one hour closing and do not expect any problems. He later asked about the design work on Randall at the CC&P Railroad and if that will only include going over the tracks. Per Rogowski, the report on the Phase I local study will include both the underpass and overpass options. The final decision will be based on funding that will be available. In other activities, work is proceeding on the Metra West Line. In connection with that, the Bunker Road Bridge contract has been awarded and preliminary work is beginning. The widening project on Big Timber is progressing. Big Timber Road itself is closed and detours are in place. KDOT has undertaken a large effort with municipalities, townships, state, tollway and others to coordinate construction projects during 2004 to minimize the impact to motorists and reduce congestion. Finally, Dir. Rogowski conveyed staff’s sorrow on the loss of their dear friend and co-worker, Dave Grupe, the department’s Construction Manager. A dedication, yet to be named, in appreciation of his 34½ years of service to the county is planned for later in the year. (Neuberger arrived.) COMMITTEE REVIEW (*moved by/seconded by) Speed Limit Ordinance for St. Charles Township Speed limits of 30 mph and 25 mph are being recommended for various streets in the Fox Crest, Fox River Heights, Fox River Heights No. 2, Hawthorne Ridge and Miller’s No. 2 subdivisions. *Hoscheit/Wolfe Staff was asked if the changes are the result of a neighborhood request or the township and said they usually start out in the neighborhood or township but rather than address them piecemeal, KDOT is taking the initiative to address the speed limits comprehensively and thus the reason for the lengthy list of changes. The township’s highway commissioner will be contacted as to how the neighborhoods will be notified of the changes (sign flags, etc.) Electrical Maintenance Contract - Supplemental Appropriation ($20,000 to Meade Electric) *Wolfe/Kudlicki Road Name Change - Renaming of Greenlawn Avenue in St. Charles Township to Park Avenue *Hoscheit/Walter Adopt-A-Highway *Wolfe/Hurlbut Two requests were received: Construction Detailers, Inc. - Silver Glen Road from Randall Road to IL Route 31 and Engineering Enterprises, Inc. - Bliss Road from Denny Road to Norris Road COMMITTEE REVIEW Project Updates Transportation Committee - 2 - August 22, 2003 Fox River Bridges (Tom Rickert) - Staff has received IDOT’s preliminary review of the geometrics and the KDOT consultants are addressing their comments. The Stearns Road Greenway Corridor Vision Document is being finalized for presentation to the Forest Preserve’s Executive Committee in September. With regard to the Longmeadow Parkway Bridge Corridor and the lawsuit by a citizens group, Rickert reported the group’s motion for a summary judgment was filed with the court on August 1. There have been some changes in the court schedule and Rickert communicated the critical dates relative to that. The status hearing held on March 31, 2003, was continued to October 2003. Otherwise, the county continues to acquire properties for both corridors. Staff expects to receive funding authorization from IDOT in the very near future with regard to the $7 million for the Stearns Road Corridor. Once received, they will initiate the process for acquisition of the Midwest Groundcovers property. Staff is also in the process of finalizing an agreement with DuPage County for their participation in the Stearns Road Corridor for that portion of the road that lies in DuPage. Rickert also discussed the agreements between the county, the Kane County Forest Preserve District and the Dundee Township Park District as part of the final EIS. In the agreements, the county agreed to acquire additional open space to mitigate impacts to existing open space areas that are associated with the proposed CCP/Stearns Road and Longmeadow Parkway Corridors. As Hickory Hills Park was originally purchased with federal money, no part of the park can be sold but the Dundee Township Park District can and has agreed to a land exchange involving comparable or better parcels. (Hurlbut steps away.) One of the parcels the county has agreed to acquire, to compensate for the Park District land, is a 10-acre site west of the Fox River on the Brunner Farm. In the spirit of those agreements and to keep working toward the open space goals of each project, staff will be approaching the owners of each affected property to begin acquisition discussions. St. Charles Request - Red Gate Bridge (From Executive Committee - Tom Rickert) In a separate but related issue, committee took up the request of the City of St. Charles that the county transfer developer contribution funds it has collected from the Fox Mill Subdivision for a bridge to be constructed north of the City. The City of St. Charles plans to use the money on Phase I engineering on a Red Gate Road Bridge with the hope that it will attract some state or other funding. Mayor Susan Klinkhamer and some of her staff were present to answer questions. Prior to the mayor’s comments, committee heard background from Rickert on how the funds came to be collected and some historical perspective on bridge studies at that time. To assist with that, committee was given several handouts. The first was a letter from Mayor Klinkhamer to Co. Bd. Chairman McCoy, dated August 19, 2003, in which she makes a formal request for the monies. The second was a copy of the County Development Committee Minutes dated May 19, 1992, which records the discussion concerning the developer’s commitment to contribute $500 per lot for a total payment of $339,500 over the course of the development. The third was a portion of the Petition to Rezone in which the developer agrees to dedicate certain areas of right of way and agrees to a $500 per lot contribution. The fourth was a copy of the County Board Proceedings, dated July 14, 1992, which reflect the adoption of Res. 92-165, Designating Future Fox River Bridge Crossings. The fifth and last handout was a report on the fees collected. The following is an account of Rickert’s report and committee’s extensive discussion: The reason for the developer’s contribution had to do with some letters from the City of St. Charles (to the county) from 1990-1992 in which the City expresses serious concerns relative to the impact of the Fox Mill development on IL Rt. 64. (The development is within the mile and a half jurisdiction of the City.) In May 1992, during the development process, it came down to the City being very concerned about signing off on the plat and approving the development. Consequently, the developer ended up agreeing to contribute $500 per lot to address the bridges needed north of the City of St. Charles. Rickert cautioned that the wording in the 1992 Minutes and in the Petition to Rezone is important because there is nothing in the PUD Agreement about the developer contributing $500 per lot. It was a last minute decision by the developer to alleviate the concerns of the City of St. Charles. The 1992 Minutes state the developer requested the bridge be built in the central portion of Kane County. At the time in 1992, the county was looking at over 20 bridge locations.