GREENVILLE — The Darke County Board of Commissioners met Wednesday afternoon to discuss the resurfacing of county roadways. Commissioners Matt Aultman, Mike Stegall, and Larry Holmes were all present.
Prior to the meeting, the Darke County Commissioners signed a proclamation designating March 24 as National Ag Day in Darke County. A number of local agriculture leaders were in attendance for the signing.
The proclamation encourages all Americans to understand how food and fiber products are produced, appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant, and affordable projects, value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy, and acknowledge and consider career opportunities in the agriculture, food and fiber industry.
Darke County Engineer Jim Surber attended to meeting to hear the unsealing of bids from Walls Brothers Asphalt in Greenville to repave 15.06 miles of county roadway. The board also heard bids for approximately six miles of township roadway resurfacing in five separate townships. The Darke County commissioners do not act on township roadways, but rather accept bids and present them to the townships to act on at their own discretion.
The roadways in Darke County are as follows: Hillgrove-Woodington Road, Coletown-Lightsville Road, Weavers-Fort Jefferson Road, Bishop Road, Horatio-Harris Creek Road, Delisle-Fourman Road, and Rossburg-Lightsville Road. The bid from Walls Bros. Asphalt for all seven roads is a total of $1,238,105.34.
The board approved a motion to accept the bid for review by the county engineer. Upon review, Surber will return to the commissioners to request approval to begin the project.
The township roadways are as follows: In Liberty Township, Ross Road. In Greenville Township, Clover Leaf Drive, Naomi Drive, East Noll Road, Auburn Drive, Carol Lane, Woodbriar Lane, 5K Avenue, and Ludy Drive. In Neave Township, Vietor Road. In Patterson Township, Conover Road. In Washington Township, Hillgrove-Fort Jefferson Road, Cherry Street, and Locust Street. The bid from Walls Bros. Asphalt for all of the previously mentioned roadways is $534,756.67.
The commissioners and Surber reiterated that township roadway resurfacing is not approved by the Darke County Commissioners. Instead, the county accepts bids as a service to the townships and shares the information to the different township boards for their own approval.
“We’re doing this as a service to the townships,” said Surber. “It saves them from having to advertise and have a bid opening, we accept the bids here and those are turned over to the respective township board of trustees and then they decide whether or not to execute a contact.”
The board approved new signage posted on eight bridges throughout the county due to a recent change in federal law raising the maximum gross weight of a two axle emergency vehicle from 15 tons to 28.75 tons, and three axle emergency vehicles from 23 tons to 43 tons. This was approved in response to a letter from the county engineer’s office outlining its assessment of county bridges, per the change in weight limits. It was determined that eight bridges total, five on township roads and three on county roads, require postings. These limitations only apply to special emergency vehicles, and are posted at each bridge for both directions of travel, as well as each roadway intersection preceding the bridge, for a total of four signs per bridge.
The board approved an amendment to renovation work being done at the Darke County Board of Elections (BOE). The original agreement between Arcon Builders and the board stated a contact completion date of April 30, but after discussion with the BOE, it was determined that the project will require more time. The completion date was extended to May 31.
To conclude, the commissioners approved the submission of the National Ag Day proclamation to the Darke County Journal.
The Darke County Board of Commissioners meet every Monday and Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at the county administrative office located at 520 S. Broadway in Greenville. To contact them, call 937-547-7370.
