Friday, Dec. 13

 

County engineer asks for road funds, clarifies weight limits

[DEC. 13, 2002]  County engineer Tom Hickman told the county board Thursday night that he is composing two documents: a letter asking again for federal funding to improve Fifth Street Road and a clarification of weight regulations on county roads. The newly reorganized board also heard plans to replace two cellblock doors, hire deputies and renew dental insurance.

Improving Fifth Street Road is No. 1 on the county’s five-year road plan. Hickman said design of the westernmost five miles is almost complete, but the project won’t be carried out until funds are in place. He is drafting a letter to Sen. Peter Fitzgerald asking for federal funding. County board chair Dale Voyles and Lincoln Mayor Beth Davis will also sign the letter.

Hickman said that funding is largely dependent on whether Congress passes a transportation enhancement act. Most federal projects are funded 80/20, meaning that local government pays 20 percent of the cost.

The county gets substantially more federal dollars for roads than the city of Lincoln does. Hickman said the county gets about $250,000 a year in federal rural transportation funds and $600,000 in motor fuel tax maintenance funds. The city’s yearly allocation is approximately $110,000. As a result the county is in a better position to pay its portion of the Fifth Street Road project. If there is no federal support, Voyles said the county is prepared to assist the city in the project.

 

Several board members indicated that they consider Fifth Street Road a greater priority than improving the streets around the courthouse square, which the city is discussing doing with funds available for work on feeder roads.

In the other road issue, Hickman said the vehicle code has ambiguous terminology regarding weight limits. The only designated truck route in the county runs between the quarry and Route 10. He said that for other county roads he cannot issue a permit for more than 73,283 pounds for a divisible load. A divisible load is one that can be divided into smaller portions, like grain or concrete blocks.

Hickman said he understands farmers’ need to transport their product efficiently but warned, "The thing that eats up roads the most is weight." He is preparing a written explanation of code rules to distribute to county elevators.

The road and bridge committee is asking for $558,800 from the motor fuel tax maintenance program to be used to maintain county roads during 2003. The resolution will be voted on at Tuesday’s adjourned county board meeting. If passed, it will be sent to the Illinois Department of Transportation, which approves MFT money.

 

In other business at Thursday night’s board-of-the-whole meeting, Sheriff Steve Nichols said an audit in progress found doors and locking mechanisms on two cellblocks in need of replacement. Cost for the two doors is $30,000, but Nichols said he thinks he can get a better price if he commits to replace all the cellblock doors over a four-year period. Such a long-term contract needs board approval. Nichols plans to use half his major building repair line item to cover the cost this year.

The sheriff is taking applications to replace correctional officers who have resigned or been terminated. He said he hopes to hire retiring Department of Corrections personnel with security backgrounds so the five-week training period can be waived.

Insurance committee chair Dale Voyles said the committee has voted to raise underinsured and uninsured motorist limits on the county auto liability policy from $20,000/$40,000 to $2 million. The increase carries a yearly price tag of $1,035. St. Paul is the auto insurance carrier.

 

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Premiums on county dental insurance through Guardian Dental have gone up 4 percent, according to agent Jerry Palmer. Voyles termed the new rate "pretty reasonable." The board will vote Tuesday on renewing the policy.

Also up for vote is a petition from J & S Auto to give enterprise zone designation to the property east of Kroger’s on Woodlawn Road. A public hearing to consider the designation is set for 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16, at the zoning office at 529 S. McLean. The Regional Planning Commission has already voted unanimous approval.

Community Action committee chair Paul Gleason reported that senior nutrition served 28,531 home-delivered meals and 12,063 congregate meals in the year ending Sept. 30. Also during the year 22,589 rides were provided through the transportation program. He said a transportation coordinator will be in place by April 1.

Reporting for the tourism committee, Gleason said Richard Schachtsiek, site superintendent at Postville and Mount Pulaski courthouses, is taking early retirement at the end of December. Gleason termed Schachtsiek a "very able director" whose weekend functions brought thousands of people to the two sites.

 

It is uncertain whether a new site superintendent will be named. Board member John Stewart called for a letter to the state historic preservation office noting Schachtsiek’s role in organizing volunteers and asking that he be replaced. Gleason said the 10-year-old Mount Pulaski volunteer program is a model for similar efforts throughout the state.

Health department administrator Lloyd Evans explained the three-phase federal smallpox inoculation plan. In the first phase, to take place in January 2003, core teams from the health department and Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital will go to Champaign to be inoculated. These are the first people who would see smallpox patients. Second, first responders such as police, firefighters and general health care workers will be vaccinated locally. The goal is to contain an outbreak by protecting those who would come in contact with victims.

The third phase is inoculation of the general public, which could occur either before or immediately after exposure. Evans said he does not know of any single event that has led to the smallpox initiative. Use of smallpox in a bioterrorist attack is of low probability but poses a significant risk.

 

In his first report as county board chair Voyles announced plans for a January breakfast including mayors, township supervisors, board members and other county officials to discuss issues and ideas for the coming year. "It is imperative to build this coalition," he said, to coordinate the efforts of county leaders.

The board-of-the-whole meeting was the first conducted by new vice chair Gloria Luster. Lloyd Hellman was absent.

[Lynn Spellman]

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