Revised bids slightly better for county paving prospects
The last time the Putnam County Commissioners talked 2019 paving projects, the news was pretty bad.
Bids from Wabash Valley Asphalt showed that the county would have to spend nearly its entire 2019 road budget on new hot mix asphalt projects, leaving limited funds for the chip-and-seal work that is actually used for a majority of the mileage.
On Monday, County Highway Supervisor Mike Ricketts presented revised numbers from Wabash Valley that paint a slightly better picture.
The revisions do not reduce the asking price greatly, but bring the bids down $58,637.73.
Among the county’s concerns were the estimates for Community Crossings work, a program in which the Indiana Department of Transportation will pay 75 percent of the estimated cost of a project. Putnam County was approved for a $1 million grant in 2019, meaning that a total figure of $1.33 million was the aim.
Instead, the new figure is still over the original estimate with a cost of $1,563,307.61. That’s still better than the more than $1.6 million cited in the first May meeting.
The differences come in just two projects.
Right-of-Way Road in Greencastle and Marion townships is estimated by Wabash Valley at $568,145.43, down from $619,558.16.
Likewise, the bid for Shortcut Road/500 North in Monroe Township is now $378,565.65, down from $385,790.65.
While none of this exactly solves the county’s problems — more than $2.1 million of the county’s $2.3 million road budget will go to hot mix — funding should be available to pave 68 miles of road in some form.
The commissioners will have to help fund gravel, wedging and chip-and-seal projects, likely from economic development income tax dollars.
That move will require Putnam County Council approval and will likely not come until later in the year.