Board of Works approves bids for more construction work

Make way for some more construction projects in and around Greencastle as what amounts to the Summer of Construction continues locally.

Construction firms have been selected by the Greencastle Board of Works for the latest City of Greencastle Community Crossings project and the city’s twice-delayed sidewalk project.

Greencastle was awarded a $1 million grant by the State of Indiana Community Crossings Matching Grant Program earlier this year. The city will be responsible for a 25 percent local match.

Feutz Construction, Paris, Ill., was the lowest of three bidders on the project with a $905,874 submission that was below engineering estimates on the project.

In addition to currently working on the Locust Street project, Feutz has done previous Community Crossings work in Greencastle on the project that refurbished Wood and Tennessee streets and provided sidewalks along the east and south side of Robe-Ann Park in 2021.

Board member Craig Tuggle, attending his final meeting with his resignation necessary with a move to Indianapolis to accommodate his new job, made the motion to accept the Feutz bid.

Also submitting bids on the Community Crossings project were Howard Companies, Indianapolis, $989,000, and Milestone Contractors, Indianapolis, $981,948.

The street projects enumerated in the Community Crossings grant, are:

• Poplar Street from Jackson to Locust Street, full-depth pavement replacement.

• Poplar Street from Madison to Jackson Street, full-depth pavement replacement.

• Madison Street from Poplar to Franklin Street, including storm water improvements involving pipe and catch basins.

• Gardenside Drive from Wood Street to Hammond Drive.

• Hammond Drive from Gardenside Drive to Washington Street.

• Ohio Street from Locust to Crown Street.

All of the project areas will also include miscellaneous curb and sidewalk work.

Mayor Dory noted that any unused portion of the $1 million grant will have to be returned to the state and cannot be used for other projects.

Meanwhile, the Board of Works also selected the contractor for the 2023 sidewalk project, accepting a $239,900 bid from Owl Creek Construction, Evansville. Board member Trudy Selvia made the motion for approval.

The only other sidewalk bid came from Edward Jones Construction, Indianapolis, at $333,035.

Four bids on the project were received in June with three of the submissions considered incomplete and a fourth “extremely high,” according to Mayor Bill Dory.

A May bid letting on the city sidewalk project produced zero submissions.

In other business, the board:

• Approved a $90,000 bid on well cleaning for city wells No. 3 and No. 7 from National Water Service, the firm that does the city’s annual well testing. The work will include pressure washing, and for No. 3 chemical treatment.

• Authorized a $1,510,352 payout to Miller Pipeline for work on the Albin Pond Road project. The project is approximately 60-70 percent complete and is expected to be finished by the end of August. Mayor Dory noted that patches in the concrete are only temporary and will be milled and replaced with asphalt once other work is done.

• Approved a sewer leak adjustment of $1,276.52 for McClure Oil, 1148 Bloomington St. Manager Todd Pierce reported two incidents in which $5,500 worth of repairs were necessary as McClure had to reroute water lines that were under the concrete parking slab. As with all such adjustments, McClure is paying for the water lost but not the sewage portion of the bill that is based on water consumption because the water did not end up in the sanitary sewer system.

• Okayed five emergency repairs for main breaks of valve replacements at 1002 Albin Pond Rd., Shadowlawn and Redbud Lane, Sycamore and Crown streets, Albin Pond Road and Castleton Drive and 627 Anderson St. The latter was a 3/4-inch water service line leak.

• Approved new Fire Department Standard Operating Procedures as submitted by Fire Chief John Burgess.

• Approved monthly claims for the Water Department in the amount of $83,096, fueled by a $350,000 bill for 77 new fire hydrants, and $53,190 for the Wastewater Department.

• Heard Mayor Dory thank Tuggle for his service and “for sharing wisdom and expertise.” Tuggle responded by saying, “I appreciate the opportunity to be on the board. I’ve enjoyed it and I’ve learned a lot.”

The Board of Works will next meet in regular session at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16 at City Hall.