South Central Reporter

Macoupin County Board Road and Bridge Committee met Feb. 5.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Members Present: Bernie Kiel, Gordon Heuer, Ross Adden, Todd Armour, Leann Barr, Molly Rosentreter, and Tony Wiggins

Members Absent:

Officials and Department Heads Present: Tom Reinhart and Pete Duncan

1. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m.

1.1 Roll Call

There were 7 members present, with Barr remote.

2. Audit Bills

2.1 Review and Recommend monthly claims

Claims 14515 through 14552 totaling $ 137,621.23 were read and the following motion made:

Motion to approve the claims and recommend payment by the full board.

Moved by: Todd Armour

Seconded by: Molly Rosentreter

Carried

3. Resolutions

4. 50/50 Petitions

4.1 Western Mound #47

The following 50/50 project petition was presented:

Project Estimate County Share

Western Mound #47 $ 12,000.00 $ 6,000.00

The County’s obligation for the project will be the “County Share” only.

Motion to approve the petition and recommend passage by the full board.

Moved by: Todd Armour

Seconded by: Tony Wiggins

Carried

5. New Business

5.1 Resolution to Appropriate County Engineer’s Salary from the Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) Fund for a period beginning January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025

There was no further clarification so no action taken.

5.2 Construction Engineering agreement with Cummins Engineering for the construction of the Lotus Wind Farm

The Construction Engineering Agreement with Cummins Engineering Corporation (CEC) for the construction inspection and observation of the public road improvements required for the Lotus Wind Farm construction was discussed. This contract will be between the County and CEC but all CEC costs will be paid by APEX. There will be no local county funds involved. This agreement was approved by the Committee last month but referred back by the County Board due to confusion about how the agreement would be paid.

The RUA agreement requires APEX to deposit $ 1,000,000 in an escrow account from which the CEC construction engineering invoices will be paid upon approval of the County Engineer. Clerk Duncan stated that previous engineering agreements with CEC for the permitting process and the RUA and the attorneys’ fees have been processed through his office using the original escrow account funded by APEX. Duncan said that it is difficult tracking all the invoices in relation to their individual contracts.

Clerk Duncan proposed that the payments for this agreement be processed in the Highway Department as the rest of the Highway Funds are. Reinhart agreed that would probably be easier for everybody.

Motion that now that the funding and payment has been clarified to again approve the construction engineering agreement with Cummins Engineering Corporation in an amount not to exceed $941,212.92 and recommend passage by the full board.

Moved by: Molly Rosentreter

Seconded by: Todd Armour

Carried

5.3 Review of the County Subdivision Ordinance

The Committee discussed the review and updating of the county’s subdivision ordinance. The ordinance needs updating to account for current technology. There is also a need modify the ordinance to give the Board more flexibility in some articles and to provide better guidance in others. The Committee would like Aaron Coe and a representative from the States Attorney’s office present at next month’s meeting to discuss the ordinance.

6. Old Business

7. Discussion

7.1 Wind Farm

Reinhart reported that the APEX, through their subcontractor Illiana Construction, has begun mobilization to start the road improvements.

7.2 ARPA

Reinhart reported that there was no expenditure of ARPA funds this month.

8. Adjournment

8.1 Adjourn Meeting

https://macoupincountyil.diligent.community/document/3308f387-8826-4cb3-bf8b-a7a7a5a43e65/