Rock Island County Public Works and Facilities Committee met July 7

Larry Burns (D), Board Member - District 3 | Rock Island County

By Rock Island Today Reports

Aug 9, 2025

Rock Island County Public Works and Facilities Committee met July 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

1. Call Meeting to Order:

Chairman Larry Burns called the Public Works and Facilities meeting to order at 8:30am

Members in Attendance: Larry Burns, Dave Adams, Rich Morthland, Bob Westpfahl, Chuck Layer, Tim Foster

Also Present: Richard Brunk, Matt Miller, Greg Thorpe, Josh Boudi, Jim Grafton, Jared VanTieghem, Jim Nelson, Nick Camlin, Liz Mast.

2. Public Comment-- None

3. Approval of June 9th Public Works & Facilities Minutes:

Motion: Dave Adams Second: Tim Foster

via voice vote

Motion carried

4. Reports to Committee:

• Zoning Director Thorpe gave a report from Zoning & Building. Director Thorpe reported that in June Zoning issued 39 permits, brought in net revenue of $309,565.00, estimated value of the work $42M. Year to date they are behind in activity from last year but that permit jumped us over in fees and valuation. 5 New houses, 4 ZBA cases, a new vehicle purchase and we have a grant with IDNR to buy some properties in the flood plain. This had been stagnant for a while but it is moving again.

Motion to approve: Richard Morthland Second: Chuck Layer

via voice vote

Motion carried

• GIS director Josh Boudi reported GIS recorder fees were $26,930.00, Josh explained his hope was to hit $30,000.00. Hopefully it will pick up next month.

Motion: Dave Adams Second: Chuck Layer

via voice vote

Motion carried

• County Engineer Matt Miller gave a Highway Department Report. Engineer Miller reported that there wasn’t much going on at Highway except mowing and spraying. We got our new road widener in and it works great trying to make sure everyone gets an opportunity to use it. We are working with GIS right now.

Motion: Dave Adams Second: Tim Foster

via voice vote

Motion carried

• County Administrator Jim Grafton reported that at Animal Control the HVAC work is done and they are working on the punch list. E & H Restoration met with us last week and they should start within the next two weeks and some damage was found on the Southeast corner of the building so that will be a change order.

Motion: Dave Adams Second: Richard Morthland via voice vote

Motion carried

• County Board Chairman Richard Brunk reported on the monument work at Historic Courthouse Square. He was not sure if the granite had been mined

5. Consider Zoning Board of Appeals Cases

a. SU-25-205 John Deere & Co Demonstration Site CR

b. SU-25-204 Charity & Eric Becker Kennel HA

c. SU-25-206 Marvin Jones Kennel HA

Motion: Dave Adams Second: Richard Morthland via voice vote

Motion carried

6. Consider Utility Agreement with Frontier North Inc.

Motion: Dave Adams Second: Chuck Layer

Discussion: County Engineer Matt Miller noted that this agreement has not been updated and for a long time and it needs to be updated with better language to protect the County. via voice vote

Motion carried

7. Consider Road use Agreement with Sandpiper Solar

Motion: Richard Morthland Second: Tim Foster

Discussion: County Engineer Matt Miller explained this has to do with the Sandpiper Solar that was in here a month or so ago. This is a road use agreement so that if there is any damage to the roads either in the Township or County they will have to come in and fix after the project is complete. This will protect us due to the heavy traffic on the roads it will break the roads down. Mr. Adams had a concern whether we would see the damage right away or not. Usually in those types of cases we would see the damage almost immediately we don’t have to worry about months or years away.

via voice vote

Motion carried

8. Consider establishment of Barber Pollination Garden in Historic Courthouse Square Motion: Dave Adams Second: Tim Foster

Discussion: Chairman Brunk explained that as you remember Barber Park used to be by Rocky Stadium and during the County’s Financial hardships that property was sold to bring in some revenue and the small green space between the County Office Building and the City of Rock Island City Hall was designated to replace that. With the Historic Courthouse Square, we were approached about a year and a half ago by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife if we had any property to use as a Pollination Garden. So, we thought we could do something a little more appropriate to honor the Barber’s service to the County. Mr. Westpfahl asked where are you going to put it. Chairman Brunk answered the Northern end of the square essentially behind the Civil War monument. Mr. Westpfahl said he thought that was a bad idea. All that does is grows up in weeds and attract Bumblebees. Mr. Westpfahl said he thought it would be to close to the public. Chairman Brunk said it will be set back far enough from the sidewalk it should be OK. via voice vote

Motion carried

9. Consider Bids related to Fleet Service Centers Alignment Rack

Motion: Dave Adams Second: Chuck Layer

Discussion: Jared VanTieghem explained that a recent RFP for bids from the Fleet Center netted two bids for the Alignment Rack. The Low bid was Mohawk Lifts at a total Cost of $80,716.85. Bob Westpfahl asked how many alignments do we usually do in the County? The answer is lots, every time they change tires they need to align the vehicle. Mr. Grafton noted that they are not going to do the software upgrade at Fleet so we can get this in place. Mr. Grafton said he would rather get the equipment in place and in use so we do not have to sub that work out1:36

9. (Continued)

via voice vote

Motion carried

10. Consider Bids related to Zoning Building purchase of a vehicle Motion: Chuck Layer Second: Dave Adams

via voice vote

Motion carried

11. Closed Session: None

12. Consider action needed based on closed session: None

13. Committee member opportunity for brief comment: None

12. Motion to adjourn

Motion: Dave Adams Second: Tim Foster via voice vote

Motion carried