Today is January 7th, 2026.

First time, yeah.

And I call the Lake County Public Works and Transportation Committee meeting to order at 8 30 a.m.

In addition to being able to attend in-person remote attendance has been made available to the public via Zoom at the link on the agenda.

This meeting is being recorded through Zoom.

Can you please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge to the United States of America.

And to Republicans stands, one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice.

Can I get a roll call, please?

Yes, Member Kasman.

Member Clark, Chair Clark, I'm sorry.

Member Hewitt.

Member Hunter.

Vice Chair Maine.

Member Roberts.

Member Wasick.

Vice Chairman is absent with prior notice.

All right.

Do we don't have any addenda to the agenda?

Are there any public comments today?

There's no public comment.

All right.

Chairs marks is just happy new year.

I'm really looking forward to another year of working with you all on our uh public works and transportation issues.

Um, no unfinished unfinished business is item 7.1, which is a joint resolution authorizing the first amendment to the amended and restated agreement for retail sanitary sewer service between Lake County and the village of Hawthorne Woods.

Can I get a motion in a second, please?

Motion by Robert, second by Hunter.

Good morning, directors.

Good morning, Chair and uh and committee members, Austin McFarland, public works director.

And Eric Wagner, Planning Building and Development Director.

The Village of Hawthorne Woods desires to enter into an amended and restated agreement for sanitor sewer service.

The amended IGA will cover the Kemper Ridge properties that the village plans to uh annex um during this process.

The property itself is scheduled for mixed residential development with approximately 173 units.

There is a unique aspect to this property in that the Route 53 Greenway corridor goes through a portion of this development.

The village is very aware of that and uh is very supportive of maintaining discorder and as included preservation language in its annexation agreement.

In addition, the state state attorney and um and has also included additional language in the agreement to support a preservation of discarder and its eventual transfer to the proper authority once that is developed.

Um good folks worked on this, and my thanks especially to Director Wagner and to the village and to the state's attorney's office for working to put this agreement together.

The county does have capacity to provide sanitary source service to this area.

The village has moved ahead and approved this agreement, and I certainly recommend approval as well.

Yeah, and this is um I really want to thank you, Director McFarland, um, Director Wagner and the village of Hawthorne Woods and everyone who worked so hard on this uh agreement to ensure that Greenway Corridor, it's gonna be you know very important for the residents of Hawthorne Woods and for all of Lake County to have that there.

So and I know that is so that is specifically in this agreement, correct?

And I and I know we've seen it uh on the thing, so it looks and it really is very well thought out and well planned, and I think it'll definitely um be an asset for the force reserve.

And so for the for the sewer connections, as you said, we have room in our our network to take on these sewer connections.

More than enough.

Yeah, and and I believe the village of Hawthorne Woods has already moved forward, or they're moving forward with this already too.

Like they well, they can't do anything until we certainly have the agreement approved by the board, but certainly they have made a lot of concessions um and also work extensively with the developer to make some concessions, not only to accommodate the corridor, but also to reduce the density in the area.

So I think all around, I think kudos to the village for making some gigantic steps to accommodate everything that we've asked for.

Yeah, I I really cannot appreciate that enough because this is something that will be for the rest of Lake County's history.

It's important that is there.

Right.

Is there any other questions?

Member Hunter.

Thanks.

I uh kudos to you guys with the collaborative effort on this.

This has been a long time coming on.

So this thing is is almost like the Etchosketch where it's shifted in sand a lot of times to try to accommodate everybody.

So I'm glad we're at this point.

So thank you so much.

Member Wasse.

Which is one of the attachments.

So I'm looking at section A.

The language says the last sentence is the open space corridor shall be disubdivided as a separate lot or lots to be conveyed to the village of Hawthorne Woods upon completion acceptance of the corridor improvements outlined in section B.

So I'm I'm just a little bit cautious about that language saying, okay, yes, this general agreement is about preserving the open space corridor, but then you have the sentence saying you're going to subdivide the lot.

So I'm just I'm asking if this is something that we need to change in the legal language here to make it clear that you know the subdivision doesn't really include the corridor.

So I'm just I'm a little bit uh confused on the clarity of the language here.

So the um the provisions for subdividing the open space area on the west portion of the property was specifically intended to sort of separate it out from the from the development itself for the purpose of um accommodating the future connection to the the uh the 53 Greenway.

Um as a plan unit development, this project is locked in in terms of where the features are located.

And you'll recall from your work in the PBZE committee, plan unit developments are treated as their own special ordnance.

And so they are requirements that lock in certain conditions or features in a project.

And so the subdivision of that or the creation of a separate lot or an outlaw for the greenway um portion of the development ensures that it is maintained separate from the rest of the development.

Elsewhere in the agreement, there is language that requires the conveyance of that Greenway Corridor to the eventual greenway authority at such time as the greenway authority is created and is able to accept it.

And so um, notwithstanding some concerns about some language here, there's language elsewhere in the agreement that um that guarantees the transfer of this of this asset to the the future Greenway Authority, which at this point, of course, doesn't exist, but the agreement has been developed in such a way by you know the the attorneys to ensure that when that entity is in place, there's the mechanism for a legal transfer to effectuate that.

And that's something that the county and Hawthorne Woods have agreed to, and that's so it's memorialized within this agreement.

So bottom line, you're confident that the integrity of preserving the Greenway Corridor is in this document.

100%.

Okay, great.

And thanks for your work on this.

This is kind of a difficult thing to negotiate for something that doesn't quite exist yet.

So we're hoping to get it done.

So thank you.

Yeah, I think it's a terrific example of really how coordinating between you know, working with our partners, working together, we can really come up with something that's will be such an asset for our county.

All right, any other questions?

Terrific Al in favor?

All right, aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Thank you.

Thanks.

All right.

So we're on to new business.

Uh the consent agenda agenda is item 8.1.

Can I get a motion in a second, please?

Motion by Kasbin, second by Hunter.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

All right, on a regular agenda, we have item 8.2 is a joint resolution authorizing the execution of the first amendment to the restated and amended agreement for sewage disposal between Lake County and the village of Lake Villa.

Can I get in a motion in a second, please?

Motion by Hunter, second by Roberts.

Good morning again.

Good morning again.

Okay.

So after the dissolution of the Lakes Region Sanitary District, the villages within the impacted region are we're also interested in resolving the issue of overlap sanitary sewer system and what that means is you would have a community or an or subdivision with both county sewer and village sewer.

So neighbors on one side of the street would be paying one bill and the other side would be paying another bill.

So the suggested approach was for the impacted villages to retain all the pipe assets within their boundary, and that would simplify the process.

County board approved the policy on May 15th of 24 to allow for the procedure to address this matter and to follow the approach to move all of these assets that are within the boundary of each of these villages for their ownership.

It's part of the policy a village would need to submit an application and must meet all the criteria outlined in that policy.

Couple key critical criteria within the policy.

A was that as we move through with this policy, there should be no negative financial impact to the customers within those areas.

And then item number B that there would be no significant financial impact to the county as well.

The village off Lake Villa submitted an application that met all the criteria.

The application application was reviewed by staff and submitted to the county administrator as per a policy for um for her review.

Um and that was approved.

The amended IGA outlines the proposed sanitary research system as well as the assets to be transferred to the village.

The amended IGA was approved by the village.

Um it was also reviewed by the state's attorney's office, and I recommend approval of this IGA.

Thank you.

Member Hunter.

Thank you.

Boy, this is a long time coming.

This is if you can imagine living on your street and your neighbors paying different or higher or elevated um bills.

This is what was happening.

It was happening in Lake Villa, it was happening in portions of Realm Lake, um, Fox Lake and Volo too.

And I know they're still trying to work through some of their things to do this, but when the board gave that pin, gave the approval on in May of 24.

It's now taken this long to get to this point.

This this is this is huge, not only for the taxpayers that are there, um, but for the village to be able, and those assets came to the county at zero cost um from Lakes Region Sanitary District.

So I'm really glad we were able to work our way through this.

Um, you know, it took time.

I mean, it really did.

But uh thank you on behalf of the people of Lake Villa that this is done.

Appreciate it.

Member Wasick.

Yes, thank you.

And just a point of clarification, Austin.

So the bigger area in red is that all Lake Villa's uh Lake Villa's boundary.

Okay.

I I didn't I pulled the map off the attachment.

I'm thinking is this all Lake Villa?

That's all Lake Villas.

Okay, and none of that is ours except for those little where those um subdivisions are and those little green boundaries.

We had both county pipes in there as well.

So the idea is to transfer those assets over the village because everything is is within the the village's boundary.

Okay, thank you.

All right.

Yeah, I want to think, I mean, thank you, Director McFarland, and also member Hunter.

All I mean, I I don't even know how many years all this is work is reorganization.

Well, yeah, to get to this point.

Yeah, or and you know, there's been a lot of good points along the way, but I really appreciate all your work on this.

And it really and the village of Lake Villa.

So, you know, when we talked about this last year, was it just last year?

24.

I guess a little over a year ago.

Um, we I remember it was important about the looking at like the efficiencies, is this efficient?

Is this will be this we good for the ratepayers?

Is this good for the county?

Is it will this work for our infrastructure?

So to show this was a very thoughtful, and I think that's probably why it took so long to make sure with the engineering with with everything to make sure, you know, sometimes people say government moves a little slowly, like we do, but we're very methodical and thoughtful, and it's done right.

And that's what we're making sure for the people who live there that this is done right.

So thank you all for the work on this.

And I'm uh excited to see this here today.

This really does make sense.

Um, it'll be efficient and it'll be really an improvement for all the people that live in these places.

And it just it does, it just makes a lot of sense.

And you made sure it made sense.

All right, any other questions?

All right, all in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Thank you.

All right, item 8.3 is a joint resolution authoring uh authorizing a contract with Copenhager Construction Inc.

Union Illinois in the amount of 4,421,079 and 17 cents for non-motorized improvements along Washington Street from Sexton Drive to Almond Road and appropriating $5,305,000 of the county option motor fuel tax funds.

Can I get a motion and a second motion by Kasmin?

Second by Wasick.

Good morning.

Good morning, committee member Shane Schneider, uh County Engineer and DOT director.

Happy New Year.

We've got a couple of good projects to kick us off for the year.

Um, should be a location map coming up.

The first one is uh this low bid contract award to construct a new bike path along Washington Street.

It's kind of in the Gurney and Third Lake area.

So we started working on this in 2021.

Uh did two public uh um public meetings.

Uh we met with the residents along the corridor.

Member Kasbus Kasbin joined us to to address some of the the neighborhood concerns, which we've done successfully.

Um key key points about the project.

Uh it's a 1.5 mile gap that currently exists along the Washington Street corridor.

Uh, once we build this in uh later this summer, and then the Washington and Hunt Club Road intersection improvement completes this year.

We'll have a continuous nine and a half mile stretch of bike path that'll go from the Displains River Trail on the east end all the way to Cedar Lake Road and downtown Round Lake.

So it's a significant connection.

And then with our Cedar Lake Road project that's um in design, that'll complete the connection to the Millennium Trail.

So it's really a significant gap that we're filling in here.

Um there's some additional sidewalk that we're adding along the corridor that's shown in the blue lines, um, just to connect up some of the neighborhoods to uh some of the other regional areas.

Um work closely with the village of Gurney and Third Lake on this.

Um and the village of Gurney has agreed to own and maintain the bike path and sidewalk east of US 45, and the village of Third Lake has agreed to own and maintain the sidewalk and bike path west of US 45.

Oh, go ahead.

Member Cazman.

I want to thank you so much, Shane, for your hard work with the residents of this area.

And I'm I'm grateful to the residents who came forward too and expressed their concerns.

Um Shane and and um the staff met with the residents twice, first to get their feedback and then later on to show how they'd incorporated their feedback and every single thing they said was incorporated into the plan.

So um very grateful to you all.

I think it resulted in the residents feel like they feeling like they were heard, um, and really maximizing that relationship between that their their land and and the sidewalk buffer.

So um with the with a little buffering space in between, as much as possible.

So I'm very grateful to you.

This is gonna be key um to my district.

Um the access to CLC is critical.

Um, and just being able to ride down Washington is a huge deal.

Um, and I'm excited for the extension to the Millennium Trail.

It's gonna be game changing for um our connectivity within my district.

I really appreciate it.

Member Wasick.

Thank you, Chair.

And Shane, this is a great project, long time in coming, but I'm a little confused.

So in the uh agenda, it says that the bike path in green will be on the south side of Washington.

It looks on the map like it's on the north side, unless I'm seeing this wrong.

Yes, so there's two um two different uh sides of the road.

So on the uh, I guess eastern portion of the project from US 45 east to Almond, that will all be on the north side of the road.

And then there'll be crosswalks on all four legs of the intersection at 45 and Washington uh with pedestrian push buttons.

You'll be able to cross um US 45 on any of the four legs, and then it the bike path will transition to the south side of the road and that'll go west, you know, all the way to CLC.

That's where the existing bike path is today.

But there is a little gap of sidewalk that we're filling in on the north side.

That's that blue piece west of 45, it's kind of right adjacent to the cemetery that's there.

So that's currently a gap in the existing sidewalk system.

So we're filling that in.

And the signals at 45, are those um different than what we have now?

Because that's a really busy intersection.

Yeah, they currently don't have pedestrian crossing accommodation, so that'll be added in, um, which will be a big improvement.

And then uh a future project that's shown along US 45, it's like kind of red and white dashed line.

That's an IDOT planned improvement.

Um, they're currently in design for uh an improvement on US 45.

And as part of that, they're going to be installing a bike path on the west side of US 45 from the Washington Street intersection north to Data Drive.

That's that's the line shown on the map there in red and white.

So, what's the timeline for the IDOT project that we get?

Yeah, I mean, that's a good question.

Um, we we they're actively working on it.

I think they told us they have over a hundred parcels they have to acquire through land acquisition.

Um, so that it's uh it's in their multi-year plan, but date uncertain at this point.

Okay.

Um, so we know that just crossing 45 is going to be much safer proposition when we get this thing going, right?

Correct.

Yeah.

Okay.

Definitely a lot safer with uh with the push buttons and the in the formal crosswalks that'll be on the pavement.

Great.

Thank you.

Member Kasmin.

I want to specifically call out um Kevin and Julian for your careful work.

Um you're very skilled in talking to the neighborhood, and I and I just really appreciate your sensitivity and your attention to detail with us.

Thanks.

Member Hunter.

Thanks.

Um, when we do that, it was just through this intersection a half 40 minutes ago.

Um, and it is, it's usually busy.

Is there will that be ADA also when we're doing that?

And so at the same time.

Yeah, the sidewalk ramps and bike path ramps will all be ADA um designs with uh detectable warnings.

Okay, correct.

Thanks.

Yeah, I mean, this is gonna be a game changer, uh, as you said, for this um corridor to have this connectivity.

And I really want to highlight that this is paid for with our county option motor fuel tax funds.

And you know, those funds give us the ability to do more projects like this.

And I, you know, and for this, you know, this committee has really made non-motorized improvements a priority for our county.

And this is how it shows up.

It shows up by us spending our money to include these connectors.

Um, you know, having this east-west connection through this area is a huge benefit to the area.

I know I drive a lot of recently on Hun Club Road and seeing the new bike connector there that the county just built and seeing how that's changing access for that entire area, that one connector, and then having this happen shows that you know our board is really putting our money where we our mouth is.

Like we really want to increase create through safety and well-being for our residents.

So I'm really excited to see this project.

And what is the date of like when is it gonna be done?

Like when is the dates?

You know, assuming the board approves the contract, it'll start as soon as the weather breaks and it'll wrap up, I believe, by the end of October is the is the target date.

Yeah, that is very exciting.

Oh, even the intersection.

Wow.

Yeah.

All right.

Any other questions?

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Item 8.4 is a joint resolution authorizing a contract with burger contractors in Quaconda, Illinois, and the amount of 2,867,174 and 87 cents for the intersection improvements of Deep Lake Road at Depot Street and appropriating $3 million $555,000 of the county option motor fuel tax funds.

Can I get a motion in a second, please?

Motion by Hunter, second by Hewitt.

Okay.

So this is a roundabout improvement at the intersection of Depot and Deep Lake Road in uh Antioch.

Um, we undertook a study of the corridor of Deep Lake Road from 173 north all the way to the Wisconsin state line.

Uh we held uh a couple of um public meetings.

We met individually with a lot of the residents along the corridor.

Ultimately, we determined that the preferred alternative was to construct two roundabouts.

Uh the first one at Depot Street, which is this project, and then next year in 2027, we'll construct a second roundabout at North Avenue and Depot.

Both of these intersections are currently controlled with a stop sign.

So this will be a uh a big safety improvement.

Also in uh improve intersection operations.

Uh we work closely with um the ANIAC Fire Department that's along the corridor uh with ANIAC community school district and the Hill Hillcrest Elementary School, both of whom were great partners.

Um we'll also be constructing bike path along the entire corridor uh that'll go from the Wisconsin state line all the way to 173, um, and then resurfacing the entire roadway.

Um that'll happen next year in 27 with the second roundabout.

Um so uh the project is expected to be completed entirely this year.

There's a hundred-day closure that will happen.

Uh we've plan that sort of begin kind of at the end of the school year this summer.

Uh we work closely with a school district, and their preference is to have it all reopened by the start of school school next fall.

So that's uh that's the timeline that we put into the contract documents.

Um so we'll have a hundred-day closure out there uh over the summer.

And um, those are kind of the key highlights.

Happy to answer any questions.

Yeah, this is um, I mean, we all know roundabouts make it much safer for for motorists and for non-motorized train.

I'm sure with the school there, there's so much so much uh traffic congestion and things like that.

So this will be a really big improvement.

And so this year, so this contract is for doing the roundabout right there at Depot Street.

Correct.

And then is it so next year potentially will be the second roundabout.

Right.

And then that's when is that when the bike trail and everything will be done will be like next year.

Yeah, we'll be we'll build that section that's shown in green on the west side of the road.

That's kind of contiguous contiguous with the improvements that we're building this year, and then everything else will happen in 27.

Okay.

And that'll be good to keep in mind for residents when they're like, are you guys done?

We're like, no.

The whole thing will be done next year.

Yeah, we've been pretty clear.

There's a lot of information on our website that this is a two-year project, and this is part one.

And I think it's important to note also, this is again the county option motor fuel tax.

I mean, those that those funds give us the flexibility to move to really move on these projects to make the you know our transportation network safer.

All right, all in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

That it is it?

All right, do we have a county ministry?

We do not.

All right, and there's no executive session.

Are there any members' remarks?

All right.

Well, I declare this meeting adjourned.

Our next meeting is January 28th, 2026.

Happy New Year and have a great day, everyone, we're not going to be able to do that.