County chooses Milestone for Community Crossings work

With the matter at hand of paving 9.5 miles of roads, Putnam County is moving forward with a contractor.

The Putnam County Commissioners recently voted during their first meeting of May to have Milestone Contractors perform the work at a cost of $1,616,278.51.

The work is being performed through the Community Crossings grant program in which the state pays for 75 percent of a project up to $1 million.

While the work in question was originally estimated to be within the $1.333 million scope, the department had set aside $400,000 to cover any excess costs.

With Milestone’s bid being the lower of two — DC Construction Services submitted a bid of $1,990,264.93 — new County Highway Superintendent Jim Peck plans to go before the Putnam County Council to allocate the additional $216,278.51 to complete the project.

With the costs of materials continuing to rise, Commissioner Rick Woodall said he has begun asking state legislators to increase the maximum funding awarded in the Community Crossing program, as $1 million is a lot of money, but it does not go too far when it comes to paving roads.

The funding will go toward:

• Heritage Drive from Betsy Ross Drive north to Victory Hill Court: 3.7 miles representing most of the western and northern portions of the main path around Heritage Lake.

• County Road 100 East from 25 South to 200 North: 2.6 miles in Greencastle Township stretching from the northeastern edge of Greencastle, north through the old Crowe’s Bridge area and winding northeast to 200 North.

• County Road 300 West from 1050 South to Ivanwald Drive: 0.7 miles in Washington Township.

• County Road 1075 South from 300 West to 525 West: 2.5 miles west from the 300 West project as 1075/1100 South winds along with Deer Creek in Washington Township.

The road project won’t be the only reason Peck appears before the Council during its Tuesday, May 17 meeting, as high fuel prices will have him requesting an additional $400,000 for that line item.

There will also be a request for $40,000 for equipment to purchase a Total Patcher at a cost of $37,000. However, this money should already be accounted for, as the department has brought in about $131,000 by selling old equipment.

In other business, the Commissioners:

• Approved additional items as part of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funding.

These included $40,000 to the Putnam County Public Library, $50,000 for Mental Health America of Putnam County, $21,000 to Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association and $50,000 to each of the county’s volunteer fire departments.

Of these, Mental Health America had requested $100,000, while the library had requested $194,000. The Commissioners emphasized that they were still considering the additional funding for the library.

Additionally, funding for Beyond Homeless Inc. and the Putnam County Emergency Food Pantry was tabled for further discussion.

In April, the Commissioners approved more than $6 million in funding to various organizations out of the county’s total award of $7.3 million.

• Approved a $6,702.50 contract with Newgent Lawn Care Service to mow the area around the county’s nine covered bridges.

This will mean mowing around each of the nine covered bridges 14 times, or every other week.

• Approved a contract with DLZ Engineering to do a study of how many square feet will be needed for a county annex.

The need for an annex is clear to county leaders, though a path forward is more murky. As such, the study will involve speaking to elected officials and department heads to identify the needed public space and storage and parking needs for the proposed structure.

The Commissioners approved spending $7,500 out of the annex fund to perform the study.

• Accepted a resolution from Van Bibber Lake granting full police powers to deputies who do security at the Clinton Township community.

The private community already contracts with some of the county’s deputies to provide security. The agreement with the county simply acknowledges that the officers, though they are off duty with the county, retain their policing power while on duty at Van Bibber.

The resolution was approved unanimously.

The Commissioners next meet at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 16 on the first floor of the Putnam County Courthouse.