Belvidere committee approves extra design funds for Parking Lot 7, forwards joint funding agreement to council

Belvidere’s public works director, Brent Anderson, told the committee the city has federal TAP and state DCEO grants for reconstruction of municipal Parking Lot 7 and an existing agreement with Arc Design Resources not to exceed $119,700 for design, engineering and construction administration.

"Due to this time delay and additional requirements from the federal government, Arc Design Resources has requested an additional $30,000 be added to their contract," Anderson said, and recommended approval of the change order to cover the added scope. He said the additional work items will be paid from grant and capital funds.

Alderman Peterson moved to approve the change order; Alderman Stevens seconded. Council discussed elements of the project, including a changeable message LED sign, and whether to install EV chargers now or to place underground conduit for a future charger. "At least we're gonna put the infrastructure in underground so that at some point in the future, the actual charging station itself could be installed," Anderson said.

Anderson also flagged a new federal review concerning the American brook lamprey that could add requirements; he said the city would monitor the issue and that similar prior reviews required a small contribution toward study. The committee approved the $30,000 additional cost by voice vote.

The committee also voted to forward a resolution to the full city council to approve a joint-funding agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation for Parking Lot 7 improvements. Anderson said the city's local share is $630,000, of which a large portion (about $500,000) is expected to come from DCEO grant funds and roughly $216,000 from federal ITEP funds, with the remainder to be covered from capital funds.

The resolution was moved by Alderman Stevens and seconded by Alderman Peterson; the committee approved forwarding the measure to the city council.