By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — Commissioners met to look at bids for a $1,750,000 project. Commissioners Marshall Combs and Larry Holmes were present. Commissioner Matt Aultman was absent due to a Farm Bureau conflict.

Five sealed bids for the Arcanum Critical Infrastructure project were opened during the meeting with the lowest bid coming in from M&T Excavating, LLC in Bradford. With an engineer’s estimate at $1,750,000, M&T Excavating’s base bid came to $1,472,158.

Citizen Joe Heintz, questioned the commissioners on the project specifics. Wondering where the money is going, he inquired about drainage in the ditches between farming plots, the mileage for the project, and how many pounds of weight the road could hold upon completion.

“If we have semi trucks driving on that road all day, and it begins to break down a lot quicker than expected that’s not good,” Heintz said. “What about drainage in the ditches in relation to farming plots?”

Commissioner Holmes said he doesn’t know the answers to Heintz questions and directed him to ask the Access Engineer or the Arcanum Village Administrator the specifics.

“You are asking some details that the engineer would need to respond to,” Holmes said. “I don’t know the exact details there. They are details about the project that I’m not aware of.”

Holmes said when the project was put out for bid, the engineer would have discussed the details of the project with them, but both Combs and Holmes admitted they would have to look up the details.

“I know the surface has been deteriorating for quite some time,” Combs said. “It was always a concern: debris, the smoothness of the road.”

The roads are going to be a portion of Arcanum instead of the full town. He said it is work that has been needed done for a while, but what will happen underneath the road is a mystery to him regarding angling and drainage.

Each bidder advised they had a bid bond with their base bids. A bid bond protects investors, and if the company backs out before the completion of the project, the bond will be put into place.

“It is a way for them to stay accountable and have to complete the scope of the work if something happened to the scope of their company where they decide to proceed with the job,” Combs said.

The commissioners approved accepting the bids for review. Continuing on with reconstruction, the commissioners approved a notice of an award for the Darke County Brownfield & Remediation Program-Gettysburg School for the Roof Reconstruction portion of the project. Denlinger Enterprises, Inc.’s contract had been accepted on March 12 for a contract price of $74,900.

$28,946 was approved to be advanced to cover Lamps construction invoice for Chadwich home repair. The money will advance back once revenue is received, but the home repairs will include roofing and HVAC reconstruction. Combs said he is not sure if he has actually seen the invoice for the specific repairs in the home.

“I’m not sure if I’ve actually seen the invoice for the scope of the work that is going on into the home, but I believe it involves some of the plumbing in some of the walls that was in there,” Combs said.

Combs said it was a dated home that needed some upgrades on the wear and tear without any additions. Individuals are selected by filling out an application, and they must meet annual income and number of people in the household requirements. There are repairs and rehabs. Someone will go out assess the home, they have a good walk through with all bidders and contractors, open sealed bids, award the bid to the lowest bidder, and then the repairs will be completed.

Another grant was issued for the Economic Development of the VSL Lings Project. $218,411 will advance back once money is received, but it will go towards “Reed Road and waterways to get to and from.”

“It’s a way to expand that area and help the flow of water and sewage. It’s an infrastructure with water flowing under ground, so it was a need. The business, if you drive by has been booming,” Combs said.

He expressed the grant is a need, and no one has presented an update at this time.

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