Bids For County Road Projects Come In Under Engineer’s Estimate
February 15, 2023 at 1:12 a.m.
By David [email protected]
Launched in 2016, the Community Crossings Matching Grant Program provides funding to cities, towns, and counties across Indiana to make improvements to local roads and bridges. For counties like Kosciusko County, the program provides grants of 50% of eligible costs for road and bridge projects, up to $1 million.
Three bids were opened Tuesday and all were for combining the projects on Old 30 and Pierceton Road.
Niblock Excavating’s total bid was $1,568,426.58; Phend & Brown bid a total of $1,469,013.33; and Brooks Construction bid totaled $1,579,126.52.
Kosciusko County Highway Department Superintendent Steve Moriarty recommended that the bids be taken under advisement and then at the Feb. 28 commissioners meeting the project will be awarded.
After the commissioners meeting, Moriarty said the project for Old 30 is from Ind. 13 to CR 450E, and the project for Pierceton Road is from the town limits of Winona Lake to the town limits of Pierceton.
He said the engineer’s estimate for both projects was around $2.1 million. “It’s all under, so that’s good for us.”
Moriarty also asked the commissioners for their approval for the bridge No. 161 plans.
“What this says is that we went through them. We inspected them. It just needs to have your signature on the title sheet so it can go to the next step to be approved by (Indiana Department of Transportation),” he said.
Commissioner Cary Groninger asked if bridge No. 161 was the bridge over Walnut Creek at Ind. 15 and CR 200S. Moriarty said that was correct. The commissioners approved the request.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Approved a bid from Design Collaborative, Fort Wayne, for $19,500 for wallpapering, carpeting and painting, where needed, in the Justice Building, as presented by County Administrator Marsha McSherry.
A bid from Moake Park, Fort Wayne, was $78,840. A third company that was solicited for a bid did not provide one.
“This would include schematic design, construction documents, bidding and permitting and construction administration,” McSherry said. “Cary and I have both reviewed these proposals and our recommendation would be to go with Design Collaborative.”
Commissioner Bob Conley said that while the bids were “apple to apple,” there was still a tremendous difference in price.
Groninger said he and McSherry did spend some time interviewing Design Collaborative to make sure their quote was complete and they felt “really good” about what was in the quote.
• Approved memorandum of understandings (MOUs) with Warsaw Community Schools and Tippecanoe Valley High School for access to the county’s communication system, as presented by Emergency Management Agency Assistant Director Kip Shuter.
Shuter said with the access, WCS’ transportation department can hear and learn about incidents happening in the county so they can avoid them on their bus routes. Access for TVHS basically will be for a panic button emergency alert from the school in case of emergency.
Groninger said it was good for the county to work with the school corporations as the county continues to build out its communication system.
• Approved Conley to serve on the county’s opioid committee, which had its first closed meeting following the commissioners meeting.
Conley said, “We have our settlement from the opioid settlement that was negotiated and there’s several million dollars in that settlement, so we have a committee that we put together.”
He said at the committee meeting Tuesday they had to go through about 15 pages of requirements the county has to adhere to in order to properly disperse the funds.
“We’ll go through that with the help of our county attorney right after this meeting,” Conley said.
The County Council appointed Sue Ann Mitchell and Kathleen Groninger as their representatives to the committee Thursday.
• Approved the appointments to the county’s security committee, including Prosecutor Brad Voelz, sheriff’s appointment Mike Mulligan, Judge Mike Reed, Groninger, court security Mike Spiegle and McSherry.
The county council appointed Councilman Tony Ciriello to the committee at their meeting Thursday.
• Approved the ordinance adopting the revised Health Department fee schedule. The fee schedule changes were presented to and approved by the commissioners at their Jan. 31 meeting.
Under the new fee schedule, birth and death certificates, paternity affidavits and genealogy reports are $10 each. Birth certificates were $7, death certificates were $5 and paternity affidavits were $10.
Food service establishments yearly permits are $50, up from $20; daily food permits, $15, up from $3; septic system permits, $50, up from $25; and private well permits, $25, including water test, up from $10.
Immunization validation is $1; there’s no fee for routine vaccinations for insurance or Medicaid eligible; and only an administration fee for underinsured or no insurance. Travel vaccines are an administration fee plus the cost of the vaccine. A TB test is the cost of the material.
• Approved Kristy Mayer to serve on the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA), replacing Susie Stookey who is stepping down from the board this year. The appointment was requested by County Assessor Gail Chapman.
Launched in 2016, the Community Crossings Matching Grant Program provides funding to cities, towns, and counties across Indiana to make improvements to local roads and bridges. For counties like Kosciusko County, the program provides grants of 50% of eligible costs for road and bridge projects, up to $1 million.
Three bids were opened Tuesday and all were for combining the projects on Old 30 and Pierceton Road.
Niblock Excavating’s total bid was $1,568,426.58; Phend & Brown bid a total of $1,469,013.33; and Brooks Construction bid totaled $1,579,126.52.
Kosciusko County Highway Department Superintendent Steve Moriarty recommended that the bids be taken under advisement and then at the Feb. 28 commissioners meeting the project will be awarded.
After the commissioners meeting, Moriarty said the project for Old 30 is from Ind. 13 to CR 450E, and the project for Pierceton Road is from the town limits of Winona Lake to the town limits of Pierceton.
He said the engineer’s estimate for both projects was around $2.1 million. “It’s all under, so that’s good for us.”
Moriarty also asked the commissioners for their approval for the bridge No. 161 plans.
“What this says is that we went through them. We inspected them. It just needs to have your signature on the title sheet so it can go to the next step to be approved by (Indiana Department of Transportation),” he said.
Commissioner Cary Groninger asked if bridge No. 161 was the bridge over Walnut Creek at Ind. 15 and CR 200S. Moriarty said that was correct. The commissioners approved the request.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Approved a bid from Design Collaborative, Fort Wayne, for $19,500 for wallpapering, carpeting and painting, where needed, in the Justice Building, as presented by County Administrator Marsha McSherry.
A bid from Moake Park, Fort Wayne, was $78,840. A third company that was solicited for a bid did not provide one.
“This would include schematic design, construction documents, bidding and permitting and construction administration,” McSherry said. “Cary and I have both reviewed these proposals and our recommendation would be to go with Design Collaborative.”
Commissioner Bob Conley said that while the bids were “apple to apple,” there was still a tremendous difference in price.
Groninger said he and McSherry did spend some time interviewing Design Collaborative to make sure their quote was complete and they felt “really good” about what was in the quote.
• Approved memorandum of understandings (MOUs) with Warsaw Community Schools and Tippecanoe Valley High School for access to the county’s communication system, as presented by Emergency Management Agency Assistant Director Kip Shuter.
Shuter said with the access, WCS’ transportation department can hear and learn about incidents happening in the county so they can avoid them on their bus routes. Access for TVHS basically will be for a panic button emergency alert from the school in case of emergency.
Groninger said it was good for the county to work with the school corporations as the county continues to build out its communication system.
• Approved Conley to serve on the county’s opioid committee, which had its first closed meeting following the commissioners meeting.
Conley said, “We have our settlement from the opioid settlement that was negotiated and there’s several million dollars in that settlement, so we have a committee that we put together.”
He said at the committee meeting Tuesday they had to go through about 15 pages of requirements the county has to adhere to in order to properly disperse the funds.
“We’ll go through that with the help of our county attorney right after this meeting,” Conley said.
The County Council appointed Sue Ann Mitchell and Kathleen Groninger as their representatives to the committee Thursday.
• Approved the appointments to the county’s security committee, including Prosecutor Brad Voelz, sheriff’s appointment Mike Mulligan, Judge Mike Reed, Groninger, court security Mike Spiegle and McSherry.
The county council appointed Councilman Tony Ciriello to the committee at their meeting Thursday.
• Approved the ordinance adopting the revised Health Department fee schedule. The fee schedule changes were presented to and approved by the commissioners at their Jan. 31 meeting.
Under the new fee schedule, birth and death certificates, paternity affidavits and genealogy reports are $10 each. Birth certificates were $7, death certificates were $5 and paternity affidavits were $10.
Food service establishments yearly permits are $50, up from $20; daily food permits, $15, up from $3; septic system permits, $50, up from $25; and private well permits, $25, including water test, up from $10.
Immunization validation is $1; there’s no fee for routine vaccinations for insurance or Medicaid eligible; and only an administration fee for underinsured or no insurance. Travel vaccines are an administration fee plus the cost of the vaccine. A TB test is the cost of the material.
• Approved Kristy Mayer to serve on the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA), replacing Susie Stookey who is stepping down from the board this year. The appointment was requested by County Assessor Gail Chapman.
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