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Board approves leaseback with North Shore Waste, accepts bond results and awards transfer-station final bid package
Summary
Cook County approved a 20-year leaseback with North Shore Waste for the new transfer station, accepted bid results that produced a AAA‑rated bond sale and awarded final construction bid packages after value‑engineering reduced costs.
The Cook County Board on June 10 approved a leaseback agreement with North Shore Waste for the planned transfer station, accepted the results of two bond sales for solid waste and jail projects, and approved the final transfer-station construction bid package after a series of value‑engineering reductions.
Leaseback and financing: County staff and the auditor presented a 37‑page leaseback to the board detailing a long-term lease of the solid-waste facility to North Shore Waste. The board approved the lease back unanimously. The county’s bond advisor, Bruce Kimball of Ehlers, reported the results of the sale: the 2025B solid-waste revenue bonds ($6,200,000 par) drew three bids; the winning bid came from Baird with a reported true interest cost (TIC) of about 4.55% and produced a premium that increased available construction proceeds by roughly $100,000. Kimball said the county’s underlying S&P rating was affirmed at AA and the bond received AAA credit enhancement under the state program.
On the jail and law-enforcement center expansion bonds (2025A), the board received a separate sale report. TD Securities submitted the winning bid on the 20‑year issue with an approximate TIC of 4.27%; that sale also produced a premium, yielding more proceeds than initially budgeted. The board passed resolutions authorizing both bond issues without dissent.
Transfer-station bids and value engineering: County project staff and the construction manager described irregularities between an early round of bids (which came in under budget) and follow-up bids (which were significantly higher). The project team reviewed mechanical and electrical packages and pursued targeted reductions and clarifications with bidders. Examples offered to the board included removing insulated garage doors where they were not needed, moving a water well location closer to the building to shorten piping runs, and eliminating unnecessary south-facing windows in vehicle-storage areas. The construction manager reported the value-engineering effort reduced a previously $1 million overage to an approximately $180,000–$200,000 overage, with staff seeking further modest reductions across packages.
Final action on the transfer station: After the value‑engineering review and contractor discussions, the board voted to approve the final bid package for the transfer station; the motion passed unanimously. Staff noted some subpackages will still require return-to-board approvals as final contract documents are completed.
Why it matters: the approvals move a long-running solid-waste consolidation project into construction and commit county finance structures (leaseback and bonds) to underwrite the work. The board and staff emphasized careful oversight of scope and costs in a volatile market for precast, steel and specialized trades.
Implementation notes: staff and bond counsel noted one technicality: because the solid-waste bonds were structured as private-activity bonds subject to cost-of-issuance limits, the county will advance about $55,000 at closing to reconcile issuance limits; that amount is expected to be repaid from the solid-waste utility over time. Construction manager and staff said Hovland and Grand Marais sites are advancing and the Hovland site could open midsummer.
Ending: County officials said they will continue weekly budget and construction meetings and will bring any remaining subpackage awards or contract changes back to the board for approval as needed.
