Kankakee Times

The Kankakee County Buildings and Grounds Committee met Wednesday, April 13.

The committee is a standing committee of the county board.

Here are the meeting minutes as provided by the Kankakee County Buildings and Grounds Committee:

Buildings & Grounds Committee Meeting

April 13, 2016

9 a.m.

Members Present

Mr. McConnell, Mr. LaGesse, Mr. Snipes, Mr. Sirois, Mr. Enz, Ms. Peters, Mr. Washington, Mr. Hildebrand, Mr. Tripp, and Mr. Wheeler

Members Absent

Mr. Einfeldt

In Attendance

 Board Members

Mr. Bossert and Mr. Byrne

 Department Heads

Brian Gadbois, Mike Downey, Debbie Woodruff, Erich Blair, Nick Allen, and Lori Gadbois

 Media

None

1. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by the Vice-Chairman, Mr. McConnell, at 9:00 a.m. Quorum present.

2. Public Comment

3. Approval of Minutes – February 10, 2016

Mr. Wheeler made a motion to approve the minutes, and Mr. Washington seconded it.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

4. Buildings and Grounds – Brian Gadbois

 Courthouse Improvement Request

Mr. Gadbois stated that there are some things at the Courthouse that need to be repaired as soon as possible. There is a concrete pad in front of the doors that he has previously spoken to the committee about, and it’s now at a point where it has to come off. The whole front half has a jagged edge hanging off of it at the entry door to the Courthouse. There are two pads there, and a decision has to be made for that front porch concrete pad. Are we going to pour one pad or are we going to pour two small ones? It is past deteriorated. He would like to get two or three contractors to quote this, and the porches would have to come off on Friday afternoon at 4:30. They have to be poured and reformed on Saturday, so that they are functional on Monday morning. The other option is to modify the entryway. He met with Kevin Kennison, and it was discussed to modify the entryway and do one pad at a time. They’re looking at a yard to a yard and a half of concrete if they replace the two pads. It costs more to have the driver bring over a half yard than it does anything else. Mr. Tripp asked if it’s limestone or concrete.

Mr. Gadbois stated that it’s concrete on top of the limestone stairs. He doesn’t know if they drilled the limestone and rebarred it, if there’s wire in the concrete, if it’s attached, or what. In 2015, the porches were starting to fall and the limestone steps were starting to cave in. That was about an $80,000 repair eight to ten years ago when they brought all of that back up to level. It’s now happened again and right back where it was before. They were only going to have to replace a small section of it, but now it’s the whole thing. Even if we don’t have the money to fix the limestone, the stoop has to be repaired. That’s the cheapest fix right now.

Mr. Gadbois stated that he has quotes from 2014 from outside contractors when they were previously talking about the ramp, the steps, and the masonry improvements that were needed to be done around there. There was a $100,000 grant, but that was thrown out by Governor Rauner, and we went into hold mode. There is the same issue on the back porch. It has deteriorated away to the point where they had to fill it with something because the gap is so big and they can’t re-caulk. Mr. Washington stated that when concrete is done, they can use a four bag mix, a six bag mix, or higher. The higher the mix, the stronger it is. The problem that’s there now is maybe the concrete mix was a lower bag mix.

Mr. LaGesse asked if the pad is the one with the yellow lines around it right in front of the door. Mr. Gadbois stated yes. When you step onto the top step, it’s about two feet, and then you step up onto that pad and walk directly into the Courthouse. If the pad is taken away, you have to step up into the Courthouse.

Mr. LaGesse asked if we have to meet any ADA requirements with the pad.

Mr. Gadbois said no.

Mr. LaGesse asked why there couldn’t be a concrete ramp instead of a pad.

Mr. Gadbois stated that then they would have to take out all of the limestone stairs.

Mr. Gadbois stated that the only issue they have there is the ramp itself. Coming into the basement, for ADA compliance, is where it’s bad. The front porch has nothing to do with ADA compliance because we can never be ADA compliant there unless they install the ramp off the exit door and go to the east.

Mr. Gadbois once again showed the committee pictures of the outside of the Courthouse that he had shown them at a previous meeting.

Mr. Wheeler stated that, when he was in engineering, there was a process called lagging stone crushers. Really thick, high impact rubber was put on the sides of the stone crushers so that when the big rocks hit, it wouldn’t damage the metal. He wondered if that might be a possibility to have thick traction rubber that could be pulled out if need be. It may be a lot cheaper, and there wouldn’t be the degradation over time.

Mr. Gadbois said that he will look into that as a possible resolution.

Mr. McConnell stated that Mr. Gadbois should proceed to get the quotes and get it done.

 Jerome Combs Detention Center Shower Repairs

Mr. Gadbois stated that Chad Kolitwenzew, Chief of Corrections, is present in order to discuss this issue as well. In 2013, they went out to bid on the showers. They started in A-Pod and worked their way through. Mr. Gadbois brought pictures to show to the committee that he had taken of the showers.

Mr. Sirois asked who designed the building, and what year was it built?

Chief Kolitwenzew stated that it was built in 2004, and opened on February 11, 2005. He stated that everyone needs to understand that it’s a 24/7 building, not a one shower a day building.

Mr. Sirois asked, when it was designed, was it designed for a 24/7 building?

Chief Kolitwenzew stated yes.

Mr. Sirois asked who the architect was.

Chief Kolitwenzew stated that it was Facility Group. He stated that this kind of thing is not uncommon in jails across the United States. Water does not go well with a lot of things. The fact is that the showers are used every day, seven days a week.

Mr. Sirois stated that having cinder blocks in the shower, as porous as they are, is very poor design by the architect, especially in a 24/7 building.

Mr. Gadbois stated that he currently has two bids, one from Galaxy Painting, and the other from Kleist. Those are from October 2013, and one was for $19,000 and the other for $24,000. He stated that, in the time since, the price has probably gone up another $5,000. They would have to use acid on the showers, then an epoxy muriatic acid, and then a phosphoric acid. After that, they move into the epoxy sealer and then the epoxy paint.

Mr. Tripp stated that, in his opinion, the epoxy is the way to go. Once it’s done, they have to be maintained and cleaned on a regular basis.

Mr. Gadbois stated that what he would like to do is go out to bid on this and quote this project, then come back to the committee with some quotes. He has several other company names that he has acquired, and he would like to call them and get about four or five different ones.

Mr. Sirois asked whose budget would these repairs be coming out of and will they have the room for this?

Mr. Bossert stated that the committee will have to evaluate once the quotes come back and see what they have. If we can hold off until July 1 when the tax money comes in, we hope to have some breathing room.

Mr. Downey stated that is something doable. The Maintenance budget is part of the Sheriff’s budget, so it’s all the same budget.

Mr. Enz asked Mr. Downey if they have inspections periodically in that facility.

Mr. Downey stated yes, every year by both the Illinois Department of Corrections and the U. S. Marshals.

Mr. Washington asked if there is any process that can be done to restore the stainless steel.

Mr. Gadbois stated there are none that he is aware of, but he will look into it.

 EnerNOC Update

Mr. Gadbois previously spoke to the committee about a system called EnerNOC Support that we are on where we use our generators as emergency back-up to ComEd. There was a lawsuit filed in the U. S. Supreme Court for this in the entire nation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a lawsuit stating that all generators have to meet EPA standards in order to qualify for this program. Two out of six of our generators don’t qualify. He is supposed to be getting more information on this, but it was just approved by the U. S. Supreme Court that we will no longer be able to use two of our generators. One is a 600 watt generator at the Public Safety Building, and the other one is at the old jail in downtown Kankakee. They are both diesel generators, so they don’t meet EPA requirements. We can continue to use the generators, but when we do our annual test with EPA, we can’t use them. We have received about $18,000 since June 1 last year. We will continue to receive those payments through May 31. On June 1, we drop to $6,629 annually. He will be talking to them again because one thing they couldn’t answer over the phone was what he has to do to get the generators up to code.

 Facility Dude Reports

Mr. Gadbois reviewed the February and March 2016 Facility Dude Reports with the committee.

 Monthly Financial Report

Mr. Gadbois reviewed the financial report with the committee. He stated that the committee needs to

give him some leeway on what he knows needs to get done and needs to get done immediately. He

can’t come back to the committee every time he needs to spend $25 at Menards. He needs to be

able to continue to operate. He doesn’t have a problem answering any questions since there are no

secrets in his office, but when he moves forward with something, the committee has to trust that

they’ve given him the authority to do so. A lot of questions came up about the door that he replaced

on the garage. It was $1,753 to replace the door. He had quotes for $4,500, $3,600, and $1,750. He

replaced the door because it was completely separated in half. The door encloses all of the voting

equipment that they have in the County. He went to an outside contractor because he didn’t have

anyone qualified to make the change. He evaluates his staff and uses them for what he can, but

when he knows they can’t do it, he goes to outside. He believes that he has proven beyond a

reasonable doubt what his qualifications are, and he would be happy to answer any questions that

anyone might have about things he is having done.

Mr. Snipes stated that there is no doubt that Mr. Gadbois is doing a tremendous job, but perhaps

there needs to be a threshold that is put in place.

Mr. McConnell stated that he doesn’t believe a threshold is the point since Mr. Gadbois has

communicated extremely well with the committee and has done a tremendous job. If it’s an

emergency, Mr. Gadbois needs to do it and then let the committee know what he’s done. He can’t

wait for the committee to say he can go and do this or that when it’s not an emergency in his

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judgment. Mr. Gadbois has always come to the committee with problems that are beyond whatever

scope they want to look at. The committee hired him to use his expertise, and he has never gone

beyond a reasonable threshold.

Mr. Bossert stated that the committee has a department head with a budget and he has the authority

to make some decisions. Mr. Gadbois does come to him with issues at the 189 E. Court Street

building, and the same with the courthouse and jail operations. He doesn’t think that a threshold

needs to be discussed as Mr. Gadbois has a budget and he needs to work with it. He can inform the

committee when bigger issues come up.

Mrs. Woodruff stated that, from an audit standpoint, there is an ordinance in place that requires we go

out for bid for anything over $30,000. If there is a request or an intention to set any other threshold

beyond that, they would have to pass a purchasing ordinance that would apply county-wide and

which would state that any other threshold below that $30,000 would have to go through whatever

other committee required. Anything that comes through her office that is over $30,000, she makes

sure that it has gone out for bid, and anything beyond that is strictly subject to the constraints of the

budget.

? Building Report

Mr. Gadbois reviewed the county buildings with the committee and updated them on various repairs

that were made in each building.

? First Floor Building Remodel Update

Mr. McConnell stated that they received the quotes back for the counters and some other things, and

they all came in quite a bit over the $30,000 threshold. After taking a look at things, he and Brian

decided that they’re going to ask that the price of the counters be taken out of the quotes. They’re

going to see how much Maintenance can do and then see where they’re at from there. They think

that they can use the existing counters, along with the counters from the Treasurer’s, with a little

modification. He believes that they can utilize most of the counters down there. The cost of the

cabinetry was $18,000, and they thought that was too high.

Mr. Bossert stated that he and Mr. McConnell spoke about the idea of removing the cabinetry, and

what can be done in house. When the Assessment area counter was built, that was all done in

house. There is just framework with a top, and then basically shelving. There aren’t any drawers or

anything elaborate, so if it’s possible to relocate that or replicate it without a lot of investment, it will be

a way to save some money.

Mr. Gadbois contacted Ideal Asbestos Test Company in Bloomington, and they came and did tests

throughout the first floor. There is asbestos down there. The tile underneath the carpet is asbestos.

By law, general contractors can no longer add asbestos removal into their bid package. It has to be

separate. What was happening was they were pulling it out, not getting the asbestos removal

companies, and just throwing it in a landfill. So a law went into effect that we can no longer combine

those two things together under a general contractor. I also contacted Abel Plus Services. Paul

Middleton from that company came down and we discussed doing it two different ways. One way

would be pulling it up completely, heat the tiles, get them out of there, and encapsulate the rest of the

floor. That would be close to $30,000. I called him back the other day and asked about pulling up the

carpet with an asbestos removal company. If any of the tiles come up or break, they will dispose of

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them by law the way they need to do it. It doesn’t look like all of the tiles are going to come up since

they’re down there pretty good, but we can’t take a chance of pulling it up ourselves. Mr. Middleton

came back with a price where he will come here three different times, in three different phases, and it

will cost $12,850. At the same time, Mr. Gadbois will buy the plywood from either Lowes or Menards.

He figured about 9,000 square feet, but he can always take back what is not used, and that would be

about $5,000. That totals about $17,850 to get the carpet removed, Luan put down around what

there is on the first floor. That price does not include carpeting. He would like to complete that

portion of the remodel, put everyone in place, and then bring in the carpet layers as the last step. We

have permission through Abel that says we are completely legal by doing this, and also through Ideal.

Both companies will be here, and an air quality test will be performed after the project is completed to

make sure we don’t have any problems, which they don’t foresee.

5. Other Business

Mr. Gadbois stated that he was just notified that, by June 1 of this year, the MSDS reports are being

switched out. It is required by OSHA that we have MSDS books in every one of our buildings listing

every chemical that we have in that building. We do have all of that. What they have done now is

eliminated the “M”. It’s now SDS. All the sheets that have MSDS on them have to be switched out to

SDS sheets. He has ten books to do, and there are probably 150 pages in each one of those books.

They have to be copied, put together, and put in those books by June 1 of this year. He just started

pulling the books and has some of them back.

Mr. Downey stated that, on their end, they will have their Administrative Assistants help Mr. Gadbois

to at least take some of that away so he has time to work on other issues that are more pressing.

Mr. Downey asked that for all County Board Members who don’t deal with Mr. Gadbois on a daily

basis, the things that he does for the entire county are priceless from the standpoint of the money he

saves, the budget that he works under, and the conditions that he works under. Mr. Gadbois has a

staff that works hard for him, and he works hard for all of us.

6. Old/New Business

7. Adjournment

A motion was made by Mr. LaGesse, and seconded by Mr. Enz, to adjourn the meeting at

10:16 a.m. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Pat McConnell, Vice-Chairman

Diane Owens, Executive Coordinator