Bids reopened for guardrail project

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Bids for a guardrail project in the county were opened at the weekly Wednesday morning meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners.

The description for the project states that “This project consists of the removal of obsolete guardrail and installation of new type MGS guardrail at various locations throughout Highland County, Ohio.”

The bidders and their bids were: * Lake Erie Construction Company, $294,875; M.P. Dory Co., $310,879; and PDK Construction, Inc., $292,321.

However, Christian Dunlap, Highland County deputy engineer, said the project couldn’t be awarded at the morning’s meeting. He said that was because he had to get authorization from the Ohio Department of Transportation to check if the lowest bidder was compliant. He said it should be awarded at next week’s meeting.

Bids for the project were previously opened on July 6, 2022, but the bids were not accepted due to being too much over the estimate, so a project re-bid was required.

Commissioner Terry Britton said, “I gotta say, this electronic bidding is working a lot better. We’re getting a lot more bids and it appears to be pretty competitive bids.”

In other news, board president Jeff Duncan said Highland County hosted a joint meeting with surrounding counties about American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for Appalachia on Tuesday, saying it had a “really great turnout.” He said there were four different counties represented, multiple stakeholders from Highland County involved in planning the grant, and John Carey, director of the Governor’s Office of Appalachia.

Duncan said Highland County is working to keep in contact with neighboring counties about what projects they’re working on and if they can partner together. He said the state has emphasized that if counties can work together, that would bring higher scores on the state’s scoring sheets.

Duncan and commissioner Dave Daniels said the four projects that the state has emphasized as the main ones to be stressed are downtown revitalization, tourism, workforce development and health care needs.

Duncan said the board doesn’t have an update on previous uses of ARPA money. He said they have bids out and are waiting on some to get returned, but don’t want to proceed with those until they start getting solid numbers back.

In other news, the board approved a motion to lease a new copier from Canon for the Highland County Recorder’s office.

Chad McConnaughey, Highland County recorder, said that the office’s lease runs out in October for its current copier, and that he was “really happy” with services. He said the new copier would raise the rate by $27 a month to a total of $1,104 per year. McConnaughey said even with the rise in price, it would still fall under his budget.

Daniels said that the lab and control room of the Rocky Fork Wastewater Treatment Plant have been having problems with heat and air mechanics.

Ashleigh Willey, a board clerk, said the plant sent the board of commissioners a few quotes.

Daniels said the board probably only needs to look them over and make a determination. He said the units are 20 years old because there haven’t been any upgrades or replacements.

The commissioners approved two authorizations to execute, Rolling Acres 2022 WPCLF-WSRLA Nomination and Rocky Fork Lake 2022 WPCLF-WSRLA nomination.

The board also signed a letter of support for the Community Action Committee of Fayette County for an application to USDA Rural Development for the Self-Help Housing Program Technical Assistance Grant.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.

Christopher Fauber (left) and Christian Dunlap discuss the bids for a guardrail project at Wednesday’s county commissioners meeting.
https://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2022/08/web1_DSC_0566.jpgChristopher Fauber (left) and Christian Dunlap discuss the bids for a guardrail project at Wednesday’s county commissioners meeting. Jacob Clary | The Times-Gazette
Highland working with other counties on ARPA funds

By Jacob Clary

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