Drainage issues put the Chinworth Trail Extension project over budget, but the Kosciusko County Commissioners approved the bid Tuesday for the project with overages associated with drainage to be paid out of the Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT).
In presenting the bid recommendation for the trail extension project for $970,247 from Niblock Excavating, Rob Bishop, Kosciusko County Parks and Recreation Board president, said the bid was the lowest of the bids received and recommended by the parks board.
“That is over the dollar amount that we have available to us, and the reason it came in over the dollar amount, you may recall that we increased the budget to our vendor because we had drainage issues. We’ve gone through the bid, which was $970,247 ... we think the drainage issues cost us $394,994 on the construction side, and we allocated another $11,250 to doing the design work. So we essentially have in excess of about a $400,000 increase in our costs due to drainage issues that we didn’t expect to run into. So that leaves us a little short,” Bishop stated.
The project itself - not including the drainage issue - is about an estimated $100,000 under budget, he said. “So other than that, we would have come in where we thought we were going to come in.”
Bishop said the parks board is aware that they don’t have enough money for the extension project, but is hopeful that the commissioners could come up with the difference to fund it.
“It is, obviously, going to cure what’s been a long-term drainage issue when I talked to (Kosciusko County Highway Department Superintendent) Steve Moriarty, in addition to creating this first section of trail. So I guess we’re throwing ourselves on your mercy for this,” Bishop said.
Commissioner Brad Jackson asked what the total amount was the parks board was requesting from the commissioners.
“Roughly $170,000, I believe,” Bishop said. “... You allocated $750,000 to us for this project initially. We spent $71,250 on the design work, and so we have roughly $680,000 left.”
The $750,000 are American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that have to be allocated and under contract by Dec. 31, 2024, and spent by Dec. 31, 2026.
Commissioner Cary Groninger said they’ll need a total of $970,247 and asked County Administrator Marsha McSherry to speak on matching funds that had been set aside for projects.
“In the EDIT fund, there’s a line item with $250,000 in it for HELP (Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program) project match dollars that could be used for this. And there was also in the EDIT fund a line item for $500,000 for parks and rec. So, either one of those line items could be used to make up the difference in this project. That is the capital improvement plan that’s been approved by the commissioners, so those dollars are set aside for this year.”
Groninger reminded everyone the trail extension is a HELP project that started several years ago. “So this is a project that was identified as a project of how we could impact our community with this trail extension to the west. Not only are we fixing the drainage along Old Road 30 that’s been in need of some care, but we’re also then going to provide access on to the west to the West Haven Trailer Park and some of those other areas out there, making a connection back to our trail system. Because we currently have people walking along Old Road 30 and CR 350W to get back to that trail system. It’s just not a real safe scenario by any stretch,” he said.
He said he feels like the parks board has done their due diligence to make sure the project is something that the county will be able to be proud of once it’s completed. Groninger made a motion to approve the contract with Niblock Excavating and use the remaining funds out of EDIT to make up the difference to pay for the drainage solutions.
Commissioner Bob Conley said his concern was that it appeared to him that, “We are building out a project and then looking for a way to fund it. I’ve got a real issue with that.”
Bishop said he understood Conley’s concerns and in a normal stretch, this wouldn’t be how the parks board would come to the commissioners. However, with the $750,000 being ARPA funds, they’re “under the gun” to get it done.
“My concern though is that when we formed the parks board, I made a commitment that I wouldn’t support spending tax dollars for that,” Commissioner Brad Jackson said. “In the Turkey Creek area, the Wawasee Trails Committee up there, has basically the whole time worked with the county but not taken money. We’ve helped with grants and stuff like that, but not directly funded them.”
He said he didn’t have a problem with the trail extension project itself, but with going back on the commitment not to use tax dollars for the park board.
Groninger said the funding of the trail itself has been in front of the commissioners already and they voted to make it a HELP project. He said the parks board has done everything they were supposed to do, but it’s because of the drainage issue that already existed on Old 30 that’s caused the cost overage and not the trail project itself.
The $750,000 is coming from the ARPA funds, and the EDIT funds are being used to address the drainage issues - infrastructure that the county would be spending money on anyway, Groninger pointed out.
“So it’s infrastructure we’re fixing for the highway department that we’re spending the EDIT funds on. We’re not spending ARPA funds on drainage, because actually we’re spending almost $100,000 worth of ARPA funds on county drainage, if you want to look at it from that perspective,” he said.
Jackson asked that the numbers be given to him again.
Groninger said the bid was $970,247. Minus about $400,000, he said that left about $570,000. The parks board has $680,000 to spend from ARPA funds that are set aside for the trail extension.
“So that means $100,000 of the ARPA funds is being spent on the drainage portion of the roadway. So all the additional EDIT funds that would be required, all of that would be spent on drainage along Old Road 30,” Groninger said.
Conley asked how much was in the EDIT fund. McSherry said it’s around $11 million currently.
“When you approved your capital improvement plan, which is a three-year plan that you are required by state statute to set, the commissioners did approve two line items in that fund for 2024. As I said, it was $250,000 for HELP projects and then there’s $500,000 this year that was designated for parks and rec projects. So you do have that appropriated in this year’s budget,” she stated.
Bishop said Groninger had a good point in that they’re fixing a drainage problem along Old Road 30 that has existed for decades.
“Our project is under budget. Fixing the drainage issue has put us over. So I don’t view it as we’re using tax dollars to pave the trail. We’re using the tax dollars to fix the drainage issue, which is there, regardless. That’s what put us over,” Bishop said.
Jackson did eventually second Groninger’s motion to approve the bid and use EDIT funds, and the motion passed 3-0.