Lake County Public Works & Transportation Committee Meeting - April 8, 2026
Lake County Public Works & Transportation Committee Meeting - April 8, 2026
The Lake County Public Works and Transportation Committee met on April 8, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. to consider a series of routine and operational items, including updates to water and sewer ordinances, modernization of the Adopt-a-Highway program, and several infrastructure maintenance contracts. All votes were unanimous.
Discussion Items
- Ordinance Amending Water, Sewer, and Pretreatment Regulations (Item 8.1): Director Austin McFarland presented the ordinance, driven by USEPA requirements for a formal pretreatment program. The committee approved the ordinance after discussion. No further questions.
- Adopt-a-Highway Program Ordinance Update (Item 8.2): DOT Director Shane Schneider and Assistant County Engineer John Nelson proposed changes to streamline the enrollment process, including year-round applications, 15-day review turnaround, and formalizing the Adopt-a-Path program. The current process requires waiting up to nine months. The committee expressed strong support, noting it would improve participation and community engagement. Member Hunter requested updates when new participants join his district. The ordinance passed.
- Contract for Crack Sealing (Item 8.3): A contract with Denler Inc. for $59,386.94 to seal cracks on various county highways. Vice Chair Maine asked about pricing volatility and force majeure clauses. Member Hunter clarified that force majeure allows reopening discussions but does not unilaterally increase prices. The contract was approved.
- Contract for Hot Mix Asphalt Maintenance (Item 8.4): A contract with Everlast Blacktop Inc. for $499,667.29 for annual pavement patching. The committee approved the contract.
- Dillies Road Bridge Rehabilitation (Item 8.5): A contract with Roush Infrastructure LLC for $2,152,618.82 to replace the bridge deck and beams at Mill Creek. The bridge will be closed for approximately 90 days this summer. Environmental reviews cleared. Approved.
- Township Road Resurfacing (Items 8.6 & 8.7): Contracts for resurfacing roads in Cuba Township ($303,290.71) and Shields Township ($110,418.90), using township motor fuel tax funds. Approved together.
- Speed Zone Change on Trinity Terrace Subdivision (Item 8.8): Reduction from 30 mph to 25 mph on Trinity Lane, Terry Lane, and Tracy Lane in Antioch Township, based on a speed study. Approved.
- AV Upgrade at DOT Conference Room (Item 8.9): Contract with CTI for $49,419 to upgrade audio/video components for cross-platform compatibility. Work expected by mid-summer. Approved.
- Emergency Appropriations for FY2026 (Item 8.10): Carrying forward approximately $215 million for multi-year projects. Approved.
Key Outcomes
- All resolutions and ordinances (Items 8.1 through 8.10) were approved unanimously by the committee.
- The committee will receive a report on the annual construction program (30 projects, $98 million) later this week.
- The next meeting is scheduled for April 29, 2026.
No public comments were received, and no executive session was held.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everyone. Today is April 8th, 2026, and I called 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. Per County Board Rules and the Open Meetings Act, attendance via remote means is permitted for qualifying reasons as long as the majority of the committee members are physically present. We've been notified in advance by Member Hewitt that she would request to participate electronically due to health reasons. So Member Hewitt may be marked as present, and she's eligible to vote on matters before the committee today. As a reminder to members attending remotely, please ensure your camera is on at all times. And can you all please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? And to the Republic for which it stands. Can I get a roll call, please? Yes. Member Casman. Chair Clark. Here. Member Hewitt is not online yet. Member Hunter. Vice Chair Maine. Member Roberts. Member Wasseck. All right. Do we have any public comments today? No public comment. All right. No chairs remarks or unfinished business. Our new business is the consent agenda. Oh no, it's not. There's no agenda. It's an agenda, this regular agenda. Item 8.1 is an ordinance amending chapter 52, wider regulations, chapter 53, sewer regulations, and chapter 54. Can I get a motion in a second? Motion by Hunter, second by Casbin. Good morning, Director McFarland. Good morning, Chair, Committee members. Uh Austin McFarland, Lake County Public Works Director. With me this morning is Brittany Sloan, our engineering supervisor. Last week, we had an opportunity to present some updates on the water, sewer, and pretreatment ordinances for discussion. During that discussion, we cited that the main driver for the updates was as a result of the USCPA requirement for the county to have a formal pretreatment program for its treatment facilities. So when you look at the pretreatment program and the sewer ordinance, those were the ordinances that were primarily impacted by this USCPA requirement. We went along to outline for you some of the major changes to the ordinances that were presented. And so we wanted to bring all of that together to you to add that discussion. So today we're back to um present the ordinance afresh to committee for action. And we're happy to entertain any questions that you may have. Thank you. I know last week we had the discussion where we we talked about the you know changes with the pretreatment ordinance and then just also just codifying some things that practices we're already doing. All right, are there any questions? All right. Oh my god last week was a great it was a great discussion. All right, all in favor. Aye.
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