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Baldwin trustees seeking County help with road resurfacing

Posted March 13, 2015 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler The Herald Tribune

CHESTER -- As part of the Randolph County Board of Commissioners meeting on Friday, those in attendance heard from two Village of Baldwin trustees seeking help to resurface a major artery in the municipality.

The trustees, Virgil Chandler and Darrell Mueth, said the village has already received a $100,000 Southwestern Illinois Metropolitan Planning Commission (SWIMPAC) grant for the 5th Street project, but that isn't enough to cover costs.

"This road is in need of repair and we're hoping the county can help us out," Chandler said.

Estimates for the project are in the $200,000 to $219,000 range to resurface both lanes heading north toward the Baldwin Energy Complex and south toward Chester.

"North 5th Street is used almost to the extent of a state highway," said Commissioner David Holder, who has an office in Baldwin.

Holder asked about Truck Access Route Program (TARP) funds, which is a grant through the Illinois Department of Transportation, as a possibility, but was told those require a different type of road material.

Both Mueth and Chandler highlighted the use 5th Street gets from trucks from Monroe, Randolph and St. Clair counties, with Chandler adding he counted 100 tandem tractor-trailers traveling past his house per day.

Commissioner Ronnie White asked if there had to be any Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.

"There are new requirements of handicap access regarding curbs," Mueth said. "We also have a box culvert under the road I'm concerned about."

Chandler said there have been discussions of splitting the project up.

"There's talk of splitting it up because the north side has heavier traffic, but both sides need it," he said.

Holder asked if splitting the project would affect the grant and the trustees told him they were unsure and would prefer to do it all together.

Holder told the trustees he didn't have an answer for them at that point, but he would check with County Engineer Mike Riebeling and go from there.

"It's difficult to get some of these projects funded, but we'll work something out," he said.

The only other agenda item was a "Understanding IMRF" presentation from Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Executive Director Louis Kosiba.

Kosiba also highlighted recent comments made by the county's CPA, Jim Schmersahl, at the Board of Commissioner's previous meeting on Feb. 27.

During Schmersahl's presentation of the county's fiscal year 2014 financial report, he said annual pension costs had gone from $45,699 in 2007 to $760,000 in 2013.

"That's the kind of astronomical increase in IMRF the county has had to deal with in the last few years," he said at the time.

During Friday's meeting Kosiba said the state issues are not the IMRF's issues, as the IMRF is not one of the five state pensions. But the IMRF is the second-largest public pension system in Illinois.

"We cover all counties except Cook and we don't cover police or fire pensions," he said. "There are people who think we fund the entire thing and that's not true."

Kosiba, who was accompanied by IMRF Field Representative Christine Fine, gave a packet of information to the commissioners and media in attendance.

The data showed that the 449 retired IMRF members in Randolph County have an economic impact of more than $4.6 million. There are 167 active members, including elected officials and regular workforce.

Employer contributions to IMRF increased slightly, 13.16 percent to 13.23 percent, from 2014 to 2015 with a funded status of 92.29 percent.

Holder, who is also the board's budget director, asked Kosiba if the county was going to "get over the hump" on pension costs and would see contributions start to decline. Holder said during the board's previous meeting that 16 county employees have been cut in the past three years for financial reasons.

Another two have moved from full time to part time.

"I can't predict what's going to happen with Randolph County, but with Tier 2 employees coming in, you'll see costs start to moderate," Kosiba said.

According to the IMRF, the cost to employers to provide a regular Tier 2 pension is 41 percent less than a Tier 1. Pension amounts are calculated using a formula that includes years of service and an average of an employee's final salary.

A page in the packet at Friday's meeting showed the IMRF is expecting a 50 percent turnover in its membership by 2019, with more Tier 2 members coming on board.

"There may be some unique things happening in Randolph County," Kosiba said. "If an employer increases an employee's salary toward the end of retirement, that may affect retirement funds."

The next meeting of the Board of Commissioners is March 27 at 9 a.m.

Roundup

General assistance for the period was $1,590 and the Randolph County Care Center had 63 residents.

Riebeling presented the results of bids on material costs for three road projects in Randolph County. Marathon Ashland won the bid for two projects, while Heartland Asphalt Materials won the bid for the third on a coin toss with Marathon Ashland.

Marathon Ashland asked for a unit price of $3.01 per gallon of bituminous material for MC-800, compared to last year's cost of $3.14 per gallon. The company also asked for $540 per ton of material for PG46-28, compared to $644.58 per ton in 2014.

Total cost for the two projects is $363,180.

Both Marathon Ashland and Heartland Asphalt Materials had the same $144,000 bid for HFE-150, which led to the coin toss. The $2 per gallon cost for the material is 17 cents cheaper than a year ago.

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