Peoria County committee approves jail kitchen upgrades, road agreements and bridge work

Peoria County committee members on [date not specified] approved a set of construction and engineering actions including low-bid awards for a jail kitchen refresh, additional county participation in road improvements to serve a proposed truck stop, and design work for two bridges.

Staff recommended awarding three packages for a jail kitchen improvement project—general trades, HVAC/plumbing and electrical—at a combined low-bid cost of $294,000 and asked the committee to keep an additional $53,000 in contingency for unexpected conditions. "What you have before you in your packet today are the bid results for the jail kitchen improvement slash refresh," said Kyle, the staff presenter, who described replacing three large pieces of steam kitchen equipment and making HVAC improvements. The committee approved the recommendation by voice vote.

The committee also approved a revised agreement with Beck Oil Company to make improvements to Kickapoo Creek Road and Civil Defense Road for a proposed truck stop and gas station. Financial officer Amy McCord said the county would use ARPA interest, the county matching tax fund and the county highway fund to help cover project costs and that the highway fund would be reimbursed from future revenues and developer reimbursements if available. The committee carried the motion to proceed.

Limestone Township’s annual seal-coating program drew a single bid from R E Cullinan and Sons for $242,624.51; the committee accepted the bid to be paid from the township motor fuel tax account.

The committee advanced an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Peoria to formalize cost-sharing on the Sheridan Road project. Under the agreement, the county and city will split engineering and right-of-way easement responsibilities evenly; construction costs beyond the $10,000,000 previously provided from the Illinois Department of Transportation will also be split evenly, staff said.

Jeff, a county highway/engineering presenter, briefed the committee on two bridge items. For a 44-foot precast bridge on Airport Road near Tuscarora Road (about 1,350 vehicles per day, sufficiency rating 64.6), staff recommended an engineering agreement to replace a damaged beam and address deterioration. On Taylor Road—a 284-foot steel-beam bridge that carries about 3,000 vehicles per day—Jeff said the county intends to rehabilitate the deck, replace failing expansion joints and bearings, repair delaminated concrete, replace railing and repaint beams; he estimated a full replacement later could reach $4–5 million if deferred. "We want to go through and do a rehabilitation of the bridge," Jeff said; the motions to authorize the engineering and design work carried.

The committee also followed county counsel’s recommendation to continue holding certain executive-session minutes in confidence and to destroy executive-session audio recordings older than two years that are unrelated to pending litigation; members approved that record-retention action.

Votes at a glance: jail kitchen contract awards (motion carried; combined low bids $294,000; $53,000 contingency requested); Beck Oil Company agreement for Kickapoo Creek/Civil Defense Road improvements (motion carried; additional appropriations from ARPA interest, county matching tax fund, county highway fund; reimbursement plan described); Limestone Township seal-coat bid to R E Cullinan and Sons for $242,624.51 (motion carried); Sheridan Road intergovernmental agreement with City of Peoria to split engineering, easements and costs above $10,000,000 IDOT funding (motion carried); Airport Road bridge engineering agreement (motion carried); Taylor Road bridge rehabilitation planning and design (motion carried); retention/destruction of executive-session records (motion carried).

Committee members and staff said some sanitary-district projects and plant work are slated to begin in the coming weeks and that a larger jail project will go through RFQ/RFP processes for engineering and design. Contracts and agreements approved at the meeting will be finalized through the county’s standard procurement and execution processes.