Two weeks after opening bids for construction work in two offices at the Kosciusko County Justice Building, the county commissioners awarded the project Tuesday to Davis Construction.
County Administrator Marsha McSherry said the bids were opened at the April 22 commissioners meeting.
“It’s for the public defender’s office in the Justice Building and the clerk’s office for the voter area. And after reviewing those quotes, we are following the procurement policy. We were able to accept three bids. We had one contractor who declined to bid,” she said.
Schenkel Construction bid $100,139 but that was only for the public defender’s office and they did not bid on the clerk’s office part of the project. That put them out of the running.
Total bid for both parts of the project from Robinson Construction was $139,692, while Davis Construction bid $127,868.99.
McSherry said, “We did do a comparison. There was one add for Davis that was not included, and that brings them up within approximately $12,000 of the Robinson Construction, which is still the low bid.”
She recommended the commissioners go with the lowest bidder on the project, so the commissioners accepted the Davis Construction bid.
For the county’s property, liability and workers compensation insurance renewal, McSherry deferred to county attorney Ed Ormsby.
He said they’ve had quotes submitted by Bliss McKnight and Travelers. Bliss McKnight is the county’s current carrier. The commissioners have been given quotes, he said, and Bliss McKnight is a little bit higher than Travelers’ quote, but there are some services that Travelers did not include in their bid that Bliss McKnight did. Ormsby said it was up to the commissioners on who they were most comfortable with.
Commissioner Bob Conley said he looked at both bids and they had meetings with both insurance companies. He was comfortable with Bliss McKnight “because a lot of the programs they offer, they don’t even charge for.” He made a motion to accept Bliss McKnight.
Commissioner Sue Ann Mitchell said she believed the quotes for the low bid were unrealistic. “They’re back to what we were paying for insurance in 2021. That was kind of a red flag for me,” she said. “And then they have some very limited experience in providing insurance for counties that are near our size, or even providing full coverage. And then they spoke about the differences that they could make in our insurance, which seem to be very unrealistic to me.”
On the other hand, the insurance company that the county has had for a few years, “dealing with Bliss McKnight, it appears to be a realistic estimate of what their costs are going to be. We’ve been provided excellent service by that insurance company,” Mitchell said, adding that Bliss McKnight is a “well-established insurance company that is working for large county governments equal to or greater than ours.”
She then seconded Conley’s motion to accept Bliss McKnight.
Commissioner Cary Groninger said they always try to be good stewards of the county’s dollars. “Even though Bliss McKnight isn’t low, it is a reduction in our insurance costs of about $56,000 over last year. So we’re still saving the county money, even though we’re not selecting the low bidder.”
He said both insurance companies are reputable companies, but the county’s past history has been really strong with Bliss McKnight.
The motion passed 3-0.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Approved for the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department to purchase two vehicles and a trailer, as requested by Lt. Mike Mulligan.
One vehicle is a 2025 Dodge Durango from Warsaw Buick GMC and will be used for patrol by the department’s investigation division. Cost is $40,941 and funds will come out of the KCSD’s vehicle budget.
The second vehicle, a 2025 Dodge Durango from LaPorte Chrysler, will be used for jail transport. Cost is $41,893 and funds will come out of the commissary fund.
The trailer will be used for storing all the equipment and other stuff for Camp HERO. Mulligan said it’s a 2025 V-nose enclosed trailer for $8,000, with the funds coming from donations.
• Approved the 2024 Highway Annual Report, as presented by Kosciusko County Highway Department Superintendent Steve Moriarty. He said it’s the document that they turn in to Indiana LTAP and they upload it.
• Approved the 2025 road program, as presented by Moriarty. “These are the roads that we are planning on working on this highway season,” he said.
Groninger said, “It shows we’re going to touch on 138 miles of our roads this year. So, we roughly have about 1,100 miles of road in Kosciusko County. Our goal is always to try to hit that 10% of our roads that we touch each year, so at 138 we’re going above and beyond, so appreciate your guys’ efforts in trying to stretch our dollars.”
• Approved certifying Moriarty to sign the contract extension with Ransbottom for the Lakeland Landfill after it’s reviewed by Ormsby.
• Approved an agreement with the Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG) for the 2025-26 pictometry oblique imagery flight, as requested by County Assessor Gail Chapman.
She said the flight is already finished and the images are being used now for the current quarterly assessment.
“I’m really pleased with the imagery this time. More so, I think, than the last flight that we took, so it looks really, really good,” Chapman stated.
Total cost is $67,773, with Chapman paying for half of that out of her 2025 budget and the other half out of her 2026 budget.
• Approved the supporting documentation required for Kosciusko Area Bus Service’s (KABS’) 2026 INDOT operating and capital grant application, as requested by KABS General Manager Kristin Rude.
Through the application, KABS is requesting $485,616 in federal funds and $136,817 in state funds, subject to change pending INDOT’s approval.
In addition to operating funds, KABS is requesting capital funds for the purchase of two new Ford Transit 16-Class Passenger Vehicles, which will be replacement vehicles for two other vehicles in KABS’ fleet. Each of the vehicles is priced at $132,000, with federal funds to cover $112,200 for each one.
• Heard from Veteran Service Officer Darryl McDowell that May is a federally recognized Military Appreciation Month.
May 8 is Victory in Europe (VE) Day.
May 17, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., is the Goodwill presentation of the Military Stand Down for veterans at Grace College’s Gordon Health & Wellness Center, 100 Publishers Drive, Winona Lake.
May 26 is Memorial Day.
• Heard a 2025 first quarter Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program (HELP) report from Kosciusko County Community Coordinator Amy Roe.
She noted, “Lord willing,” that at 4 p.m. May 29 there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first brick-and-mortar project at School Street, over by Pierceton Elementary School. More information is to be announced.
That, hopefully, will be followed by Milford’s in June and Mentone’s in July or August.