Community Crossings bids come in under budget for county
After two straight years of receiving only one bid each year for Community Crossings road projects — bids that were well over the projected budget — the Putnam County Commissioners got some good news Monday.
Not only were four bids submitted for the matching funds grant projects, but three of the four came in with dollar amounts below the projected $1.38 million budget.
Now the county just has to wait to see if the Indiana Department of Transportation approves funding for the first $1 million of the project.
In past years, INDOT has announced recipients of Community Crossings, which funds up to 75 percent of road projects for small counties and municipalities, in March. However, COVID-19 considerations delayed the second round of 2020 funding, thus delaying the first announcement for 2021.
County Highway Superintendent Mike Ricketts told the commissioners that an announcement from the state was expected in the next week or two.
In the meantime, Ricketts has the four bids to consider and will give a recommendation to the commissioners during their April 19 meeting.
The proposed projects will install new hot mix asphalt on approximately 12 miles of roadway at four locations in the county — portions of Bainbridge-Roachdale Road, West Walnut Street Road, Lonestar Road (County Road 150 West) and Broad Park Road (County Road 1000 East).
The submitted bids were as follows:
• Milestone Contractors, Terre Haute: $1,253,021.56;
• Rieth-Riley, Indianapolis: $1,397,342.07;
• DC Constructions, Noblesville: $1,298,318.94;
• Midwest Paving, Noblesville: $1,272,163.16.
While having more than one bid come in certainly seems to help the competitive nature of the process, Ricketts also said he had worked with an outside consultant on the estimates this year to try “so we wouldn’t get a surprise.”
The commissioners took all four bids under advisement until Ricketts can fully review them.
The county now awaits word on the funding from the state. If the grant is not approved, the projects will not take place this year.
Ricketts also discussed the county’s current leases on road graders, which will expire in September.
The three John Deere graders the County Highway currently leases come at an annual cost of $24,134.08 per grader. That price tag has risen significantly.
The bid from West Side Tractors for John Deere graders is $40,956.07 per grader, per year. Meanwhile, the cost for Caterpillars through McCallister Machinery is $39,782.58 per grader, per year.
Ricketts recommended going with the Caterpillars, not only for their lower prices but because the department had long used Cats before the current three-year lease with John Deere.
“We noticed the difference because we had Cat and then went to Deere,” Ricketts said. “With Cat being cheaper and we like running Cat, that’s what we want.
“The service and quality of equipment is much better with Cat,” he later added.
Ricketts also told the commissioners he would like to do five-year leases rather than three years.
The sticking point on this matter, for Commissioner Rick Woodall in particular, was the need to buy new tires for the machines over a five-year period. In three years, tires do not need to be replaced.
At a cost of $15,000 per grader, the new sets of tires would add about $45,000 to the cost of the machines, besides the $46,000 annual charges in lease payments as compared to the current budget.
Ricketts explained that three-year leases are cumbersome, and there’s no telling how the cost might go up after three years. Furthermore, he’s looking at the department’s future equipment plans.
“I’m basically wanting to see if we can start buying them instead of leasing,” Ricketts said.
After further discussion, the commissioners unanimously approved the five-year leases with McCallister. With the order submitted in April, it should ensure the graders are ready in September.
Finally, Ricketts told the commissioners he has been working with Wabash Power on an agreement to repair roads northeast of NewMaysville.
Wabash Power has been working on a project for Hendricks Power to install large, metal power poles that are running from Hendricks County to the Heritage Lake area.
In the process, county roads 900 East, 825 East, 900 North and 1100 North have been damaged by the trucks.
The work will be ongoing until late this year, so Ricketts said stone has been put on the roads to make the driveable.
However, once the work is completed, the power company will compensate the county for repairs, which will be made in 2022.