By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The Darke County Board of Commissioners met Thursday to discuss Construction Contracts. Commissioners Matt Aultman, Mike Stegall, and Larry Holmes were present.

A Construction Contract between the Darke County Commissioners and Mikesell Excavating, Inc. was accepted during the meeting. The contract states the contractor shall complete all work as indicated in the Request for Quotes Documents dated Nov. 7, 2022 for the project entitled Darke County Demolition and Site Revitalization Program for one property at 907 Peters Road, Union City.

“As we continue to tear down houses, this property came in and bid at $14,800,” Aultman said.

Holmes said it is nice seeing these projects move forward, as they came in “most cost effective than we (the commissioners) anticipated.” He said it will allow them to do more, and these projects “do make a noticeable difference.”

“I am pleased to see this move forward,” Holmes said.

The work in the contract shall be completed no later than Feb. 28, 2023 and lot-regrading and seeding must be completed by May 31.

A State of Ohio Agreement for the PY 2022 Chip grant between ODOD and the Darke County Board of Commissioners was agreed upon. The grant funds in the amount of $51,900 are to be used for the sole and express purpose of providing for the project listed.

“This is going to be for the lead laser we talked about in an earlier session. This is just the formalizing of that for the assessment facilities,” Aultman said.

Darke County had been awarded $66,900 though the Community Housing Impact and Preservation Lead Assistance Program (CHIP-LAP). At the time, OCD will process an amendment to add the additional $15,000 for lead abatement activity.

The Brownfield Remediation Program grant agreement between ODOD and Darke County Board of Commissioners for the Gettysburg School Partial Demolition for the period of Jan. 1 through June 30.

“We kind of alluded to this in Tuesday’s session. We do have contracts in hand, so we are just formalizing what we shared Tuesday,” Aultman said.

Holmes advised he thinks the county is fortunate to see this grant, and he said “a lot of counties participated but a lot of counties did not.”

“Again, this allows us to do things that wouldn’t get done otherwise,” Holmes said.

Aultman said around 63 out of the 88 counties got BrownField money granted to them.

An expense request for Sheriff Mark Whittaker was approved. He will be attending the BSSA Sheriff’s Only Conference in Columbus in February. Total estimated cost for the trip is $780: $250 for lodging, $180 for meals, and $350 for registration.

The Darke County Board of Commissioners meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 1:30 p.m. at their office located at 520 S. Broadway Street in Greenville. To contact the office, call 937-547-7370.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].