TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF JANUARY 23, 2025
COMMITTEE ON PROCUREMENT
Mr. Brian A. Perkovich, Executive Director
Title
Authorization to donate an obsolete Jordan Spreader to the Illinois Railway Museum
Body
Dear Sir:
Authorization is requested to donate an obsolete Jordan Spreader (Spreader) located at the Stickney WRP to the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM). In 1963, the District acquired a new spreader from the O.F. Jordan Company of East Chicago, Indiana, to replace another spreader, originally acquired as used equipment in 1941. The spreaders were used to plow dried sludge off the District train tracks and embankment at HASMA. The original spreader and its replacement continued to be used in this manner through the 1970s and then later at LASMA. Drying cells at both HASMA and LASMA now have steeper concrete sides slopes that allow dried sludge to be discharged from the side-dumping cars and flow away from the tracks and embankment top without the use of the spreader, making the spreader obsolete.
The IRM contacted the District and expressed interest in acquiring the spreader. They do not have an artifact of this type and would like to add it to their collection. The IRM is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation in the State of Illinois located in Union, Illinois. The mission of the IRM is to educate the public as to our nation’s railroad and railway history by collecting, preserving, and restoring rolling stock, artifacts, structures, and related transportation equipment for display to the public; exhibiting and operating restored rolling stock and equipment on a demonstration rail line; and collecting, preserving, and maintaining a reference library of publications, technical information, and other materials regarding railroads, railways, and related forms of transportation for research and other purposes.
In 1990, the District donated to the IRM one of its side-dumping rail cars used to haul dried sludge from the West Side Sewage Treatment Works sand drying beds to HASMA. The rail car donated, CSDX 39, was no longer used in regular service. Today, CSDX 39 resides on a rail siding at the IRM for public display.
The District has been storing the obsolete spreader on a rail siding at the Stickney WRP where it is exposed to the weather and is in a state of disrepair. The estimated scrap value is $18,400,00. The spreader weighs approximately 127,000 pounds (63.5 tons), which makes disassembling and moving the parts difficult and costly. Displaying the spreader at the IRM and describing its historical use for solids treatment outweighs its scrap value. The IRM will be responsible for all labor, equipment and permitting associated with preparing and transporting the spreader via rail to the IRM.
In view of the foregoing, it is recommended that the Director of Procurement and Materials Management be authorized to donate the obsolete spreader to the IRM.
Requested, John P. Murray, Director of Maintenance and Operations, EJS:JS:SH:SSG
Recommended, Darlene A. LoCascio, Director of Procurement and Materials Management
Respectfully Submitted, Marcelino Garcia, Chairman Committee on Procurement
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for January 23, 2025