Menu
County awards $1.99 million Community Crossings bid
It turns out Putnam County didn’t need a full $1.5 million in state funds to repave 14.4 miles of county roads anyway.
When the Indiana Department of Transportation awarded the Community Crossings grant funding back in April, it was noted with some amusement that the technicalities of the paperwork brought the Putnam County award in at $1,499,999.44, or six cents shy of the maximum amount.
On Monday, the Putnam County Commissioners awarded the bid for 2024 Community Crossings work to Milestone Contractors, whose bid of $1,988,374.15 came in at more than $11,000 less than the original $2 million estimate.
With INDOT set to pay 75 percent of the bid amount through the Community Crossings program, the state will issue the grant for $1,491,280.61, or about $8,700 less than originally projected.
County Engineer Jim Peck told the commissioners he reviewed both bids received last month, which also included a $2.3 million estimated from Howard Companies, and found both to meet the specifications laid out in the request for proposal.
Peck, therefore, recommended going with the lower bid, which the commissioners did unanimously.
The project will pave three stretches of road.
The first area, all of which is in Franklin Township, begins with five miles of 1000 North from U.S. 231 at Fincastle to Bainbridge-Roachdale Road at Carpentersville, as well as for two miles south from 1000 North on 100 East to 800 North, then east for one mile to the bend of Bainbridge-Roachdale Road a mile north of Bainbridge.
The second area in the application is County Road 725 East in Floyd Township, stretching 1.74 miles from U.S. 36 at Groveland to Valley Forge Drive at Heritage Lake.
The final area is in Washington Township, roughly described as County Road 300 West, but actually encompassing several roads as it stretches 4.4 miles from U.S. 40 at Manhattan on the north end to the intersection of County Road 1050 South on the south end, including 450 West, 400 West, 800 South, 375 West, 350 West, 875 South, 375 West, 950 South, 325 West and 300 West.
Outside of Community Crossings, another piece of recent news relating to INDOT is not so good.
Last month, Peck reported to the commissioners that the contractor working on the U.S. 231 project in Greencastle had been hauling excavated material out Rangeline Road east of Greencastle and north on 225 East, where a private citizen was taking it.
While there is certainly no problem with this arrangement overall, the extra weight of the loaded tri-axle dump trucks is playing havoc on what had previously been solid county roads.
“It is literally destroyed,” Commissioner Rick Woodall said.
Roads within Greencastle receiving extra wear during construction will likely entitle the city to some compensation from the state, as they are considered unofficial local detours. However, the state has already told county officials no such arrangement exists for the hauling situation.
Woodall wondered aloud if the county might seek compensation from the road contractor, Rieth-Riley, but had not had a chance to consult with County Attorney Jim Ensley on the matter.
County roads will be the site of two other unofficial detours in the coming months.
The first, set to commence June 14, is for construction on State Road 42 in southeastern Putnam County in the area of the two 90-degree turns at the Morgan County line.
In Putnam County, the detour will follow County Road 1050 South and County Road 850 East.
The commissioners signed the detour agreement.
The second, already agreed to by the commissioners, involves the replacement of a U.S. 36 bridge over Mocassin Branch just west of Union Chapel in Clinton Township with two box Culverts.
Though it caused some consternation with county officials, the unofficial detour will follow County Road 600 West south to County Road 600 North then back north on County Road 775 West to 36.
Peck brought it up Monday simply to give INDOT’s date estimates, which are to begin construction on July 20 for what is expected to be a 30-day closure. However, things can go wrong, and the final project date is estimated at Nov. 27.
The commissioners noted the trouble the matter will cause if the project lasts into October and restricts traffic going to the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival.
As an aside, Peck said the estimated cost of the project is in excess of $1.6 million. Both he and the commissioners expressed appreciation that a culvert project is not taking such a high figure out of the county budget.
The engineer also noted that the Putnam County Council is now seriously looking at increasing the wheel tax/surtax on vehicles registered in Putnam County.
This would increase the cost of vehicle registrations in the county but would also provide more funds to the county for roads and bridges.
The Council is set for first reading of such an ordinance during its June 18 meeting, according to a legal advertisement set for publication in the Friday, June 7 Banner Graphic.
While the deadline for such an ordinance to be enacted for 2025 had previously been believed to be June 30, County Council attorney Trudy Selvia has researched the matter further, discovering that the deadline is Sept. 30.
Either way, the Council appears ready to move forward. More details on the proposed wheel tax/surtax will be published prior to the June 18 meeting.
Woodall and fellow commissioners David Berry and Tom Helmer were joined for the meeting by Peck, Ensley and Auditor Kristina Berish.