McHenry County DOT approves maintenance contracts, equipment purchases and message-board budget reallocation

The McHenry County Division of Transportation committee approved multiple routine operations items including an appropriation for signal maintenance, several equipment purchases and a contract structure for road-weather sensors.

The committee approved an annual signal maintenance and lighting maintenance contract appropriation of $550,000 for FY 2026. Staff explained the county solicits bids for base items that typically range from $175,000 to $325,000 and budgets above the low bid to keep room for upgrades, knockdowns and work needed to interface traffic signals with Kane County’s transportation management center.

“Those bids range from 175,000 to $325,000. We appropriate over that low bid amount in order to have options for upgrades and knockdowns and some other items that we have to connect into Kane County DOT,” a staff presenter said. The committee voted to approve the appropriation; members recorded unanimous support in the meeting transcript.

The committee also approved the purchase of a replacement zero-turn lawn mower. Committee members said the mower under replacement had been in service since 2011 and county staff estimated auction resale of the old unit at roughly $4,000 after administrative costs. Staff described mower replacement timing as condition-based rather than on a fixed schedule; one presenter said units can be in service 10–15 years with good maintenance.

A separate agenda item addressed a contract to lease and support advanced road-weather sensors positioned at multiple county points. Staff described sensors that provide live friction/grip and other pavement-condition data; the county previously owned some units but now leases a vendor-owned product so the vendor provides monitoring, recalibration and replacement service. The county has sensors “strategically situated throughout the county,” staff said, and the leased system shares live data with the county’s weather forecasting service.

“There’s a balance that we’re trying to do: our own services, the materials, and the labor,” a staff presenter said. “They’re the pros at this. They’re gonna be better than us coming up with something.” Committee members asked whether long-term ownership would be cheaper, and staff replied that ownership would require dedicated IT and maintenance capacity the county does not currently have.

Separately, staff asked the committee to approve a budget adjustment that would reallocate funds freed by a lower-than-expected sign-materials bid. Staff said the lower bid allows the county to move $660,000 from account 519 to account 6040 to purchase additional message boards used for traffic warnings, event notifications and construction notices. The committee indicated no objection to that adjustment.

All of the above items were presented as routine, and the meeting record shows committee members voting in favor of the appropriations and purchases. Staff said these procurements and budget adjustments are cost-neutral within the department’s FY-26 planning and will be handled through routine contracting procedures.