Trustee Gohl managed to make an appearance for the second month in a row, after over a year of consistent absences. Perhaps the fact that he’s up for re-election next April has motivated him to fulfill his responsibility as a voting member of the committee.
The meeting began with a general discussion of the plowing services to be provided by Cuba Township for the upcoming winter season for Village roads. Randy Marks, Highway Commissioner for the township, provided an overview of how the township deploys plows based on varying forecasts and weather conditions.
Marks reviewed with the committee the township’s policy of replacing mailboxes that may be damaged by plowing, especially if the post is not properly set in the ground, or the mailbox is not properly secured. If a mailbox is damaged on a Village maintained road, residents can contact the Township Roads Department (website link here), and they will come out and replace it with a basic post, mailbox, or both as a part of their services free of charge.
Final detail work on the Veterans’ Crossing Bridge is nearly complete, and another ceremony is planned next month on Veteran’s Day at the bridge site. The committee discussed concerns expressed by residents regarding line of sight at the bridge intersections and plan to address them, including clearing plant growth obstructing views at stop signs.
The 2016 road resurfacing projects have been completed, and two additional roads (Hawthorne Lane and River Road) which were not scheduled until next year for resurfacing were included in this year’s program. Despite the addition of future projects, this year’s roads maintenance expenses still came in slightly under budget.
Chapel, Church and the northern portion of Haegers Bend Roads are scheduled for resurfacing in 2017. However, since this year’s program was so productive, the committee will be reviewing the overall long-term plan to evaluate future resurfacing projects than may be brought forward while asphalt prices are still reasonable.
The last discussion item was a right of way dedication along Church Road in preparation for Barrington Hills Farm’s planned development of a new HARPS facility – a topic Trustee Cecola has apparently received a number of questions about, specifically as to why approval is taking “so long.” The recording of the process necessary to make this happen can be heard here, and it involves more Village bodies than simply the Roads & Bridges Committee.
It’s unclear if any political hay is being made over any perceived delay, but the recordings bear out the fact that the time needed for approval involved plans submitted by the developer of the property to the county (not Barrington Hills), and the fact that the proposed development is not in Barrington Hills. It was mentioned that the Village requested to be involved when the HARPS plans were being considered by McHenry County, but county officials declined.
The next meeting of the Roads & Bridges Committee is scheduled for October 20th.