Sangamon Sun

Hancock County Highway, Road and Bridge Committee met June 27

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

The meeting was called to order by committee chair Dennis Castlebury at 8:30 a.m. Members in attendance included Wayne Bollin, Ryan Weeks, Mark Harrison, Tom Rodgers, Alex Blythe, and Mark Menn. Mark Hanson was absent. Elgin Berry, county engineer, was also in attendance.

Bid letting was done on June 23, 2025 for microsurfacing the Bluff Road in Warsaw. There were 2 companies that bid. The lowest bid was with Microsurfacing Contractors, LLC, of Bridgeton, MO, at a bid of $172,022.20. Motion to approve the bid was made by Mr. Bollin, Mr. Rodgers seconded. A roll call vote was taken with all members present voting “yes”.  Motion carried.

Zebrawood Solar, LLC, has a road usage agreement. This covers approximately ¼ mile in Niota. There are no bridges or big culverts on this road. They will not be using any overweight vehicles. Motion to approve the road usage agreement with Zebrawood Solar, LLC, was made by Mr. Rodgers, Mr. Blythe seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken with all members present voting “yes”. Motion carried.

Mr. Berry stated maybe he could contract with an attorney for the road usage agreement.

Mr. Berry would like a new pug mill. This would be an estimated cost of $421,000. Townships and municipalities in Hancock, Adams, Schuyler, and McDonough counties could use this. He is thinking of raising the cost per ton.  He currently sells pug at cost. Mr. Harrison of Harmony Township stated this would be a great help to road commissioners in the area. WL Miller does not always have pug mix available. There was discussion regarding the pros and cons of purchasing a new pug mill. Mr. Berry would need to have a loan to pay for this.

There was lengthy discussion regarding culverts for farmers. They request longer culverts for field entrances. Currently there is no charge from the county to perform the installations. The future practice would be to charge the landowner for the actual cost of a contractor to install the culverts and the actual costs of the materials. If the county maintenance crew has time, they could install the culverts at double the actual cost of pipe materials.

Mr. Berry was instructed to contract WL Miller and see if they would do a contract for pug mix for the county. Could we use the current pug mill until it breaks down? Maybe the highway department could build up a reserve of pug.

Mr. Weeks made a motion to accept the engineer’s report. Mr. Blythe seconded. All members present voted aye.

Mr. Menn was looking for guidance from the board to see how they want to proceed with solar. There are more and more requests for commercial solar farms in the county. He is wondering if instead of doing a bond we do an escrow for each solar project. The money will set in the bank and grow interest which could go to the county. Campbell County does this. Is there a cap on how much solar can be produced in the county?

Claims were gone through. Motion to approve the claims was made by Mr. Rodgers, seconded by Mr. Weeks. A roll call vote was taken with all members present voting “yes”. Motion carried.

Mr. Weeks made a motion to recess until July 30, Mr. Blythe seconded the motion. All members present voted aye. 

https://hancockcounty-il.gov/highway-minutes-june-2025/