City awards bids on street, sidewalk work

East side, west side, all around the town ... it’s time for annual street repair and resurfacing work in the City of Greencastle.

During its June meeting, the Greencastle Board of Public Works and Safety accepted the bid for street repair and resurfacing work from Grady Brothers Asphalt Contractors, Indianapolis, lowest of three bidders on the project at a total price of $887,071.82.

Also bidding on the city street work were Wabash Valley Asphalt, Terre Haute, and Midwest Paving, Noblesville.

No exact timetable has been announced for starting the work. While it will be contingent on weather as well as getting all the proper paperwork and insurance coordinated with Grady Brothers, it should commence within the next two weeks.

Five of the street projects are supported financially by INDOT’s Community Crossings Grant funding for a total amount of $642,832. Not reflected in that amount is the Jackson Street project, which is being bid out separately with bids due back July 21.

Community Crossings-funded projects (2016 application/2017 implementation) are:

-- Anderson Street, milling, resurfacing and curb replacement, $138,252.56.

-- West Washington Street, milling, resurfacing and storm sewers, $140,988.30.

-- Martinsville Street, milling, resurfacing and partial curb and sidewalk work, $77,344.60.

-- Market Street, milling, resurfacing and partial curb and sidewalk work, $130,976.30.

-- Indianapolis Road, spot milling and resurfacing, crack repair and seal, $63,149.94.

-- East Washington Street, spot milling and resurfacing, crack repair and seal, $40,595.59.

-- Jackson Street, spot milling and resurfacing, crack repair and seal, $79,946.28.

Local funding only will be used on the following projects:

-- General mobilization, $33,981.48.

-- Evensview Drive, mill and resurface, $32,1129.92.

-- Shadowlawn east, mill and resurface, $23,798.85.

-- Shadowlawn west, mill and resurface, $64,986.29.

-- Tacoma Drive, mill and resurface, $34,199.19.

-- Street Department, seal coat parking lot, $4,722.81.

-- Vine Street parking lot, seal coat parking area, $2,209.09.

-- Robe-Ann Park driveway, mill and resurface, $13,902.88.

-- Robe-Ann Park Anderson Street entrance, mill and resurface, $2,201.81.

-- Robe-Ann Park parking area, paving, $3,685.93.

Mayor Bill Dory reported that through a variety of funding options, the city will have $925,320 available for street work this year.

Of that, $294,832 will be in Community Crossings funds (for work on Anderson, West Washington, Martinsville, Market and Indianapolis/Washington/Jackson streets), while Redevelopment (TIF funds) will cover 50 percent of the Market Street work at $65,488, and the city’s Local Option Income Tax (LOIT) distribution will provide $200,000 as a match for the Community Crossings grant.

The city’s Motor Vehicle Highway Fund will provide $365,500 for the projects, while the share destined to come from the Park Department budget has yet to be determined. There are EDIT funds targeted for park improvements that could be used on the Robe-Ann roadway system.

Meanwhile, it was also announced that Spiker Excavating, Greencastle, has submitted the low bid and the only bid of $233,451.14 on the 2017 city sidewalk project.

City Engineer Garth Hughes said this year’s sidewalk project will be ”way more comprehensive than in the past because we’ve wanted to infill some sidewalks.”

To do that, however, will require curb, gutter and drainage work and the addition of handicap ramps where needed.

The sidewalk work will be funded by Local Road and Street money along with possible EDIT funds.

Hughes also addressed the next round of Community Crossings Fund grant applications (2017 application/2018 implementation), noting that the city plans to target $1 million in grant funds, which will necessitate a $1 million local match for 2018.

However, he cautioned that while every city that applied for Community Crossings funds last year was funded this year, more interest in the program will mean certainly more applications and more competition for those tax dollars for 2017.

“Next year’s project seems even bigger than this year’s,” Hughes offered in assessing Greencastle’s plan.

The proposed work for 2018 includes milling, asphalt overlays and repaving (not full resurfacing) along East Franklin Street, from the square to Indianapolis Road; the proposed widening of Indianapolis Road to three lanes with sidewalks on at least one side, from east of the Kroger main entrance to Percy Julian Drive (at the stoplight at McDonald’s); and curb, sidewalk, storm sewers and asphalt overlays on Fifth Street.

The Fifth Street work, Mayor Dory noted, would represents the city’s “first stab at drainage under the (Community Crossings) program.”