County Opens Bids For Old 15 & Old 30 Road Projects

February 16, 2022 at 1:33 a.m.


Bids for two Kosciusko County Highway Department Community Crossings road projects were opened Tuesday morning during the Commissioners meeting.

Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty said the projects included Old 15 from Milford to Leesburg, and Old 30 from the county line to Ind. 13.

Community Crossings is a partnership between the Indiana Department of Transportation and Indiana communities to invest in infrastructure projects that catalyze economic development, create jobs and strengthen local transportation networks, according to the state website. In order to qualify for funding, local governments were required to provide local matching funds of 50% for larger communities (up to $1 million) or 25% for smaller communities.

Brooks Construction, for Old 30, bid $782,464; and, for Old 15, bid $764,905.

Phend & Brown bid a total of $1,410,939 for both projects. Separately, the company bid $707,704 for Old 30 and $703,225 for Old 15.

Moriarty asked for the Commissioners’ approval to take the bids under advisement and he will return in two weeks with a recommendation, which they OK’d.

Commissioner Cary Groninger asked if the projects were a “mill and pave or just an overlay?”

Moriarty said, “These are going to be spots where with concrete roads that heave up, we’re going to cut those out and mill those down. Have then a mill and overlay, just a slight mill, not too much, just the bad areas with a microfilm in between the base and the surface. But it’s a long time coming and exciting for the county to get this grant to get matching funds. What an opportunity.”

The Commissioners then approved two unanimous recommendations from the Area Plan Commission to rezone property, as presented by Area Plan Director Dan Richard.

The first was a petition from Paul and Kelley Faler to rezone two platted lots within a subdivision in the area of the fish hatchery of Lake Wawasee. The Falers want to go from commercial to residential. The site was once a former grocery store, but more recently was a restaurant that burned down, Richard said.

Kelley Faler said the property has not been developed in over 20 years and they purchased it in 2018 after it was on the market for over a year as a commercial property. They want to put one or two homes on the property.

With no remonstrators, the Commissioners accepted the recommendation from the Plan Commission.

The second petition was from Richard and Kathy Schlipf, who did not attend the Commissioners meeting, but there also were no remonstrators.

Richard said the rezoning was from public use to agricultural. The property previously had a church on it but the church was sold and the new property owners want to use it as a residential site. It is on the southwest corner of the intersection of CR 1000N and CR 425W.

The Commissioners voted to accept the recommendation of the Area Plan Commission.

The first piece of business brought before the Commissioners Tuesday was a report from Tony Peterson, Kosciusko Area Bus Service director, on the quarterly CARES Act claim.

He said the claim was for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 and represented $170,161 in federal funds for operating expenses.

Groninger asked when the CARES funding ended. Peterson said it should have ended this last quarter, but “we still have $562,564 left. So it’s going to carry well into 2022.”

The report was unanimously approved.

The next Commissioners meeting is at 9 a.m. March 1.

Bids for two Kosciusko County Highway Department Community Crossings road projects were opened Tuesday morning during the Commissioners meeting.

Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty said the projects included Old 15 from Milford to Leesburg, and Old 30 from the county line to Ind. 13.

Community Crossings is a partnership between the Indiana Department of Transportation and Indiana communities to invest in infrastructure projects that catalyze economic development, create jobs and strengthen local transportation networks, according to the state website. In order to qualify for funding, local governments were required to provide local matching funds of 50% for larger communities (up to $1 million) or 25% for smaller communities.

Brooks Construction, for Old 30, bid $782,464; and, for Old 15, bid $764,905.

Phend & Brown bid a total of $1,410,939 for both projects. Separately, the company bid $707,704 for Old 30 and $703,225 for Old 15.

Moriarty asked for the Commissioners’ approval to take the bids under advisement and he will return in two weeks with a recommendation, which they OK’d.

Commissioner Cary Groninger asked if the projects were a “mill and pave or just an overlay?”

Moriarty said, “These are going to be spots where with concrete roads that heave up, we’re going to cut those out and mill those down. Have then a mill and overlay, just a slight mill, not too much, just the bad areas with a microfilm in between the base and the surface. But it’s a long time coming and exciting for the county to get this grant to get matching funds. What an opportunity.”

The Commissioners then approved two unanimous recommendations from the Area Plan Commission to rezone property, as presented by Area Plan Director Dan Richard.

The first was a petition from Paul and Kelley Faler to rezone two platted lots within a subdivision in the area of the fish hatchery of Lake Wawasee. The Falers want to go from commercial to residential. The site was once a former grocery store, but more recently was a restaurant that burned down, Richard said.

Kelley Faler said the property has not been developed in over 20 years and they purchased it in 2018 after it was on the market for over a year as a commercial property. They want to put one or two homes on the property.

With no remonstrators, the Commissioners accepted the recommendation from the Plan Commission.

The second petition was from Richard and Kathy Schlipf, who did not attend the Commissioners meeting, but there also were no remonstrators.

Richard said the rezoning was from public use to agricultural. The property previously had a church on it but the church was sold and the new property owners want to use it as a residential site. It is on the southwest corner of the intersection of CR 1000N and CR 425W.

The Commissioners voted to accept the recommendation of the Area Plan Commission.

The first piece of business brought before the Commissioners Tuesday was a report from Tony Peterson, Kosciusko Area Bus Service director, on the quarterly CARES Act claim.

He said the claim was for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 and represented $170,161 in federal funds for operating expenses.

Groninger asked when the CARES funding ended. Peterson said it should have ended this last quarter, but “we still have $562,564 left. So it’s going to carry well into 2022.”

The report was unanimously approved.

The next Commissioners meeting is at 9 a.m. March 1.

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