Milwaukee Avenue Corridor Committee

Milwaukee Avenue Streetscape Committee MEETING SUMMARY Tuesday, June 12, 2012 The following persons were present: Chair Chris Hanusiak, Chuck Ostman, Bob Pilat, Mousa Nazzal, and Steve Vinezeano. Also in attendance were Christopher Bigall and Akram Chaudhry of HR Green. Chair Hanusiak opened the meeting at 8:30 a.m. I. Approve Draft Meeting Summaries: a. The Committee approved the draft summary from May 17, 2012. II. Old Business: a. Banner Program Update. Ostman provided a map showing all of the banner and basket locations. The 60 “best place to raise kids” banners were perfect in number, but now the banners are failing and now there are only 40. What do we do with these banners? Ostman asked if we reduce the stretch with banners. The Chair suggested we put new banners in the next fiscal year budget. Set the map now. Vinezeano stated it may look too spotty when the banners fail and it would be an additional cost for Public Services to maintain what we know is going to fail. Vinezeano asked if the flags could go where these failing banners are planned to go. Ostman stated he may have funds in the EconDev budget to buy the banners. He asked how long we plan to have the “best place” banners. Ostman stated it would cost about $5,000 to buy what we need. Ostman and the Chair stated the banners remaining could go on Waukegan. It was agreed that the new banners have tail grommets like the new banners. III. New Business: a. Brick Paver Issue. Akram Chaudhry provided handouts on the line item breakdown. He stated that the bid for brick paver crosswalk was in the unit of measure of square feet and not square yards. The quantity of 840 was correct, but should have been square yards, which was a typo. The contractors bid on square feet, so the price was substantially lower. He stated how HR Green negotiated the unit price down from 45 to 31.7 before it was known the quantity was incorrect. IDOT has approved the quantity and the unit price already. IDOT controls the agreement with the contractor. When the project originally was bid out, the construction cost came in over the estimated amount by $22,429.00 and a request was sent to IDOT to procure additional grant funding from ITEP I. This was approved by IDOT requiring a future Joint Funding Agreement amendment, which was delayed in the case there were any additions or project needs. Due to the typo, there is now a need to return for ITEP I funds again requiring a match by the Village of an additional $32,000.00. Akram is confident it will get IDOT approval. He reiterated that this cost would have been there if the typo did not exist and it would have most likely been approved by IDOT. A letter was written and sent asking for additional funds, but the decision maker is on vacation until next week, at which time Akram thinks we will get an affirmation on the funds. Now that we are well into the project, he would like to get the amended Joint Agreement for the Board to approve at the July Board of Trustees meeting. With the changes identified, the Village cost (required grant match) for the project went from $404,361.00 to $437,000.00. Now that we are well into the project, he would like to get the amended Joint Agreement for the Board to approve at the July Board of Trustees meeting. The new agreement will show an additional request for $32,000.00. The Chair asked if this could be put in the following budget year and Akram stated yes and pointed out that the first project is still not finalized with final billing from Albion to Neva. Trees still need to be planted next Spring. The Chair asked if the funds are coming from the first ITEPI and Akram stated yes and HRGreen was able to convince IDOT that the funding was warranted. The Chair stated maybe a pre-board would be wise to explain the situation to the board so that there are no surprises. He wants everyone to know what is on the table for July when the amended IDOT Joint Purchasing Agreement is presented. Vinezeano asked if it could be a memo of information with a report from the Chair about what is coming and ask if there were further questions. Ostman asked if the amended agreement was brought to the board for the additional grant funds and grant match required to get the job done. Akram stated no, because it is unknown if there were going to be any additions to cause that agreement to be amended again, but now that we are this far into the project, an amendment for July is wise. Bob stated that in the past, for MFT funds, his department has gone back to the board for amendments due to unforeseen costs, which is what will occur here. He stated that at one time the Village would place additional funds in the project in the case there were unforeseen costs to prevent having to return to the board, but that has changed because the Village didn’t want to lockup MFT funds for the length of a project. The Chair asked if there are any policies for this type of situation. Should there be a policy when there is an overrun? Akram stated most towns add 10% in a contingency to cover unforeseen issues like this. Ostman asked if the construction continues and Akram stated he would like to allow the contractor to order the bricks. Vinezeano asked what would  happen if this was extended into next year. Akram stated it would be extremely expensive and basically a new project with no federal funds from ITEP. If the Board was to say no to the funds, the brick pavers would have to be removed. Ostman asked what the difference is between the $404,361 to $426,790 to $436,646, when it is expected that the work must be done and engineering was going to return to the Board with an amended agreement anyway. He stated the Village needs to do this work no matter what. The Chair agreed, but the additional funds of $32,600 still need to be approved before we move on the brick pavers. He does not think the committee has the power to approve the funds for the pavers. $32,600 is not worth holding up the project. Akram stated that it is really $9,856.01. Bob Pilat stated that the amendment was not going to be needed because the grant was approved for $404,361.00 then the bid was $426,790.75, which IDOT said in a letter they would cover their portion if we cover our match, but the anticipated costs came down to $361,085.76 through some driveway being eliminated. But with the brick paver issue, it increased and the Village’s match portion is about $32,000.00. Ostman asked what was done in the past. Nazzal stated that parts of the projects were simply removed. Pilat stated for some projects, there were supplemental funds requested. The Chair stated that this issue may warrant an emergency situation to be handled with the Board over the phone. Once we get the okay from Akram that the funding will be there from IDOT. Akram stated it would be a verbal and a formal would take a couple weeks, but the bricks need to be ordered for the project. Akram stated one or two weeks will not kill it. Bob and Akram stated it would take a resolution amending the MFT funding allocation and allowing the Mayor to sign the Joint Funding Agreement when it is available. The story will be within the “whereas’” of the resolution. This would prevent delay of the project. The Chair would mention it in his Milwaukee Avenue Streetscape Committee report. IV. Open Discussion Items. a. Chris Bigall brought up an issue with drainage for a sidewalk on the North West corner at Oakton by Riggio’s. Also, he brought up the sidewalk going into the Walgreens side. The committee reiterated the need for grassy area for tree survival. V. Adjournment at 9:20 a.m. Next meeting TBD.