 The road in question is now known as Aldi Court. It connects
Woodlawn Road/Illinois Route 10 to the driveway of the new Aldi
grocery store. Aukamp said the road is approximately 500 feet long,
ending in a cul-de-sac, and is on the east side of the new store's
parking lot.Aukamp explained that back in the 1970s there was a
dedication of the right of way to the county, and a road was to be
built for what was then Lincoln Office. However, that never came
about. Lincoln Office ended up with a private driveway, and for
years there had been no need to do anything else with it.
Early this year, when Aldi announced they would build on the
former Lincoln Office property, the county had the option of
vacating the road to the private owners or honoring their county
designation and working with the company to get the road put in.
Aukamp said that during that time he spoke with Mark Mathon, who was
then city engineer, and with Tracy Jackson, Lincoln's street
superintendent.
It was understood then that the county would manage the property
until the road was built; then the city would take over jurisdiction
when it was finished. Aukamp said the road had been built by Aldi to
specifications. He also noted that the county is holding a letter of
credit from Aldi that is set to expire in 18 months.
Should the road be found to be defective in that time period; the
letter of credit would pay for the repairs. Aukamp said it made good
sense for the county to keep the letter of credit and hold Aldi
responsible if work did need to be done in the first 18 months, but
he'd like to go ahead and transfer maintenance of the road to the
city now.
He noted that with the road being new, maintenance would more
than likely mean little more than snowplowing.
At the end of the 18 months, when the letter of credit expires,
Aukamp said the city would then take over jurisdiction of the road.
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He explained that in order for this all to happen, the city would
have to pass an ordinance to that effect; the county would need to
pass a resolution; and both would be submitted to the Illinois
Department of Transportation.
During discussion, Darren Forgy was asked if he had any issues
with Aukamp's proposal.
Forgy said he really did not. He told the council that it had
been good that the county stuck with the jurisdiction while Aldi was
building. It made things simpler for the company to do what needed
to be done. He also noted that he felt the county had really done
the city a favor in not forcing them to make the changes while Aldi
was trying to get the project off the ground.
He did qualify that he would want to do an inspection of the road
before the city takes it over.
Aukamp agreed, saying they would do the inspection immediately
prior to the letter of credit expiring, and if there were any issues
at all, those would be addressed before the letter ran out.
This item will be included in the voting agenda Monday.
[By NILA SMITH]
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