Sangamon Sun

Sangamon County Board met April 9.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

The Sangamon County Board met in Reconvened Adjourned September Session on April 9, 2018 in the County Board Chambers. Chairman Van Meter called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Hall gave the Invocation and Mr. O’Neill led the County Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call:

Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray to call the roll. There were 25 Present – 4 Absent. Mrs. Hills, Mr. Bunch, Mrs. Small, and Mr. Stumpf were excused.

Proclamations:

Mr. Smith and Annette Fulgenzi presented a Proclamation to the Williamsville High School Scholastic Bowl for becoming the IHSA Class A State Tournament Champions. The team and coaches were present to accept the Proclamation.

Mr. Preckwinkle presented a proclamation in honor of former County Board Member and Chairman Patrick Noonan. The County Board recognized Mr. Noonan’s many achievements and dedication and loyalty to Sangamon County.

Public Speakers:

Jason Harvath, speaking on behalf of JTC Petroleum Inc., addressed the County Board. He explained that on March 22, 2018 Sangamon County held bid letting for road work in some townships in Sangamon County. JTC Petroleum participated in the bid letting and submitted bids on four townships.

JTC Petroleum was the lowest bid for those four townships including Ball, Mechanicsburg, Williams, and Clearlake. It is their understanding that the recommendation to the County Board is to deny JTC’s bids on those four townships for the road work. The basis for which those bids will be denied are insufficient funds submitted with the application. The Illinois Department of Transportation provides standard provisions for road work applications. Many counties can choose which standard provisions they wish to incorporate into their application materials, and which ones they want to review and revise. Sangamon County, like many other counties, does incorporate several of those IDOT standard provisions. He passed out a packet tonight to all the County Board members, and that first page is included in the bid application on the March 22nd letting. The item at issue for them is LRS 7, which are bidding requirements and conditions for material proposals. The remaining pages in the packets are all the languages and pages included in LRS 7. On Page 144 the provision is titled Proposal Guarantee. By virtue of that Check Sheet, LRS 7 is incorporated fully into the bidding package and requirements for the March 22nd letting. When you bid a certain amount, you must submit a Proposal Guarantee as part of the application, and that Proposal Guarantee is basically a deposit or bond that, if given the award, a contractor will complete the work they agreed to complete. If not, they give up that Proposal Guarantee to the county and townships and then it goes to the next lowest bidder. The argument they had tonight is that they submitted a Proposal Guarantee of $6,000 with their bid application. That $6,000 reflects three $1,000 Proposal Guarantees and one $3,000 Proposal Guarantee. The language of LRS 7 allows them to combine their Proposal Guarantees into one payment, and that was the $6,000 payment they submitted. It is their understanding the County Engineer reads LRS 7 to provide that the amount bid should be aggregated and the Proposal Guarantee calculated from that. If you do that, the amounts bid by JTC Petroleum fall in the $7,500 bracket for Proposal Guarantees. That $1,500 difference is the reason why they understand JTC’s bids are to be rejected. According to this highlighted language in LRS 7, it expressly and clearly provides the procedure for submitting a single payment when bidding on multiple groups. It provides that the individual Proposal Guarantees are added together, in this case the $6,000, and submitted with the application. JTC Petroleum did that and followed the rules provided by IDOT and incorporated by Sangamon County, and the language is clear. Any argument that there is unambiguous language, they think should be resolved in favor of the taxpayer’s, Sangamon County, and the townships. By virtue of going to the next lowest bidder, it is their understanding that Sangamon County and the townships are going to incur an additional $15,000 in work with these bids. Workmanship is not an issue, as JTC always does a good job in its work, and they were the lowest bidder. At this time, they request that the County Board accept JTC’s bids for Ball, Clearlake, Williams, and Mechanicsburg Townships, and that they be allowed to do the work they bid for.

Ryan Croke, who is the Executive Director of the Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living, addressed the County Board. They represent 22 centers across the State of Illinois, including the Springfield Center for Independent Living. Their purpose is to maximize the independence of individuals living with disabilities in their communities to maximize their potential to live the fullest lives possible. One area they identified as a challenge in their community and in many communities is transportation. They want to set the stage for other people he has worked with and who have brought the challenges of rural transit in Sangamon County to his attention.

In particular, he would like to highlight two folks sitting in the back. They are Jean Ann and Ed Mies. They live south of New Berlin, and have an adult son named Jonathan who is a person with Down syndrome. He is an outstanding individual who is a leader in Special Olympics. His life has been greatly impacted by the inability to access public transportation. He just wanted to share that briefly with them and introduce them to some of his friends and colleagues in the room.

David Kuriniec addressed the County Board. He stated he is an attorney and is here as President of the Board of Directors for the Springfield Center for Independent Living. They serve Logan, Christian, Menard, Montgomery, and Sangamon Counties. Their mission is to increase opportunities for equality, integration, and independence for all persons with disabilities through advocacy, services and public education. Today he wants to stress the critical importance of accessible public transportation to people with disabilities in Sangamon County. Without access to this vital service they are unable to independently function in their communities and share in the same freedoms available to able-bodied peers. They are unable to pursue employment opportunities, to purchase groceries, or to otherwise contribute to the local economy. Accessible transportation is especially important in rural areas where access to personal assistance is limited. The Sangamon/Menard Area Regional Transit System (SMART) would provide people with disabilities access to those opportunities. For many years they have waited and watched with disappointment as the County has been unable or unwilling to act. On behalf of SCIL and its consumers, he fervently hopes the County commits to a firm start date for this service. He asked that they let him know if there is anything he or someone at SCIL can do.

Minutes:

A motion was made by Ms. Sheehan, seconded by Mr. DelGiorno, for approval of the Minutes of the March 13, 2018 County Board meeting. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Minutes Adopted

Correspondence:

A motion was made by Mr. DelGiorno, seconded by Ms. Sheehan, to place correspondence on file with the County Clerk. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Correspondence Filed

Resolution 1:

1. Resolution approving the low bids for the township’s oil letting.

A motion was made by Mr. Fraase, seconded by Mr. Mendenhall, to place Resolution 1 on the floor.

Mr. Fraase explained that there were four bids and they did not accept the low bid, but did accept the next bid up that was bid according to IDOT’s rules and regulations for bidding. They were informed by the County Engineer that they had to go with the other bid, so that’s why the low bid wasn’t accepted. Mr. DelGiorno asked if they could address the comment that was made by the apparent low bidder as to the calculation for the guarantee. He wants it clarified on how that was added up so they are not sued for not giving the low bid.

County Engineer Brian Davis addressed the County Board. He clarified that the tabulation for the bid security was based on the total amount bid for all the townships that were bid by any of the contractors. Then they go to the chart and seek the bid security that was required. This is not a new interpretation. This is the way they have been doing business in Sangamon County for a long time. He added that they did seek counsel from the Illinois Department of Transportation to make sure they were interpreting the bid specification properly. It was confirmed by that department as well.

Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray for the roll call vote. There were 24 yeas – 0 Nays.

Motion Carried

Resolution Adopted

Resolutions 2 – 8:

2. Resolution approving the low bids for the County’s bituminous materials

A motion was made by Mr. Fraase, seconded by Mr. O’Neill, to place Resolution 2 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mrs. Douglas Williams, to consolidate Resolutions 2 – 8. Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray to read Resolutions 3 – 8.

3. Resolution approving the low bids for the County’s miscellaneous materials.

4. Resolution approving the submittal of a Surface Transportation-Urban Program Grant.

5. Resolution approving the submittal of a Competitive Freight Funding Program Grant.

6. Resolution approving the submittal of a Highway Safety Improvement Program Grant.

7. Resolution approving an Engineering Agreement for the County parking lot.

8. Resolution approving a Developer Agreement with Cedarhurst of Springfield Real Estate, LLC.

A voice vote was unanimous on the consolidation.

Chairman Van meter asked County Administrator Brian McFadden to speak regarding the issues raised about the SMART program during the public comments. He asked if SMART will address the needs of disabled citizens. Brian McFadden explained that the SMART service, once up and running, will be available to any citizen of Sangamon County in the service area, regardless of a disability or lack of a disability. Right now they are re-doing the program to involve the urban areas and SMTD. It is going to take a little time for them to re-do their routes. They are now looking at a roll out date of sometime in late summer. They want to roll out the SMART service at the same time SMTD roles out their service in some of the urban areas outside the City of Springfield. They feel it would be best for the rider’s lack of confusion and the best way to market it. Chairman Van Meter explained that they share the expressed frustration with the time it has taken to initiate the service, but that has largely been due to the state’s funding crisis and due to some research they needed to do in the statutes. Mr. McFadden stated they had two separate roll out dates that were both postponed due to state budget concerns. There was no guarantee they would have the service. They always errored on the side that the only thing worse than not providing the service would be to roll it out, create a false hope, and then have to eliminate the service several months thereafter. They feel confident at this point, as confident as they can with the state’s budget, that the funding will be there. Now it is just a matter of implementation.

A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolutions 2 – 8, as consolidated. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motions Carried

Resolutions Adopted

Resolution 9:

9. 2018-009 – Louise C. Oller Estate, William R. Link (Co-Executor), 7578 Prairie School Road, Riverton – Granting a Variance. County Board Member – Todd Smith, District #2.

A motion was made by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Krell, to place Resolution 9 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Mendenhall to waive the reading of the professional staff’s report. There were no objections. A voice vote was unanimous for the adoption of Resolution 9.

Motions Carried

Resolution Adopted

Resolution 10:

10. Resolution approving a contract between the Land of Lincoln Workforce Alliance and Lawrence Education Center.

A motion was made by Ms. Sheehan, seconded by Mr. DelGiorno, to place Resolution 10 on the floor.

A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolution 10. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motions Carried

Resolution Adopted

Resolution 11

11. Resolution approving a contract between the Land of Lincoln Workforce Alliance and HSHS

Medical Group.

A motion was made by Mr. Tjelmeland, seconded by Mrs. Deppe, to place Resolution 11 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolution 11. A voice vote carried. Ms. Sheehan voted Present due to her employment with HSHS.

Motions Carried

Resolution Adopted

Waiver Of Ten-Day Filing Period:

A motion was made by Ms. Sheehan, seconded by Mrs. Douglas Williams, to waive the ten-day filing period. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Ten-Day Filing Period Waived

Resolutions 12 – 17:

12. Resolution accepting the Special Warranty for Section 5311 Funds.

A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle, seconded by Mr. Thomas, to place Resolution 12 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. DelGiorno, to consolidate Resolutions 12 – 17. Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray to read Resolutions 13 – 17.

13. Resolution approving the renewal of an Intergovernmental Agreement between the Department of Healthcare and Family Services and the Sangamon County State’s Attorney.

14. Resolution approving a contract between Sangamon County and the Land of Lincoln Economic Development Corporation.

15. Resolution authorizing the purchase of Forensic Interview Equipment.

16. Resolution approving a Master Services and Operating Agreement between Sangamon County, Springfield School District 186, Memorial Medical Center and Memorial Health Partners LLC.

17. Resolution approving an Intergovernmental Agreement between Sangamon County and Sangamon Mass Transit District for parking lot construction.

A voice vote was unanimous on the consolidation.

Mr. DelGiorno explained that last month he and Mr. Hall submitted a resolution about transparency with the Economic Development Corporation. He commended County leadership and the EDC Board for integrating many of the concerns the Faith Coalition had raised about both transparency and representation in this agreement. As a result of the Finance Committee he did withdraw that resolution. Chairman Van Meter stated they had very broad support for the EDC efforts. Chairman Van Meter asked Brian McFadden to comment about how well the fundraising is going. County Administrator Brian agreed that it is going well. The fundraising for the EDC is a public/private partnership, so the original vision was half from the public sector and half from the private sector. He knows the EDC said they are ahead of the pace of where they would normally be with Q5 at this point in the year. The business community is responding very well. Chairman Van Meter agreed that it really does seem to be moving forward, and they are even beginning to circulate a job description that was prepared by Horace Mann to try and attract the director for the new EDC.

A motion was made Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolutions 12 – 17, as consolidated. A voice vote carried. Ms. Sheehan voted Present on Resolution 16 due to her employment with HSHS. Mr. Ratts voted present on Resolution 16 due to his employment with Memorial. Mrs. Williams also voted Present on Resolution 16.

Motions Carried

Resolutions Adopted

Old Business:

There was no old business.

New Business:

A. Resolutions

There were no new resolutions.

B. Appointments

Appointment of Larry Richie to the Loami Fire Protection District for a term expiring May, 2018.

A motion was made by Ms. Sheehan, seconded by Mr. DelGiorno, for approval of the appointments. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Appointments Adopted

The nominations for appointment in May were also submitted.

Reports Of County Officials, Reports Of Standing Committees, Reports Of Special Committees, Committee Report On Claims

A motion was made by Mrs. Douglas Williams, seconded by Ms. Sheehan, to place the reports on file with the County Clerk. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Reports Filed

Recess:

A motion was made by Ms. Sheehan, seconded by Mr. DelGiorno, to recess the meeting to May 8, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Meeting Recessed

https://www.sangamoncountyclerk.com/County-Board/documents/April92018_000.pdf