The Highland County Board of Commissioners received and approved one bid for the Rainsboro Sanitary Sewer Force Main project from Unger Construction at its weekly Wednesday meeting.

Steve Canter, engineer for Environmental Engineering, recommended the bid be awarded to the lone bidder, Unger Construction, for $495,670.

“The bid is to furnish all necessary labor, materials, tools, machinery, warranties and all other items required to construct approximately 11,300 Linear Feet of four-inch HDPE Sanitary Sewer Force Main and other infrastructure according to the contract documents,” the project description said.

Canter said it was good that Unger Construction received the bid because they got the other part of the project regarding a lift station, meaning there will be no “finger-pointing.”

In other news, the board of commissioners approved multiple purchases for county entities:

* The purchase of new JAVS Recording Software for the Domestic Relations courtroom, which was about $10,000 for the whole purchase, including the recording system, an optional microphone and an optional assisted listening system.

* An addition to the 911 Central Square location for $4,549.31. Scott Miller, Highland County 911 coordinator sergeant, said this addition is to help tie the recording of radio traffic to specific calls and cases. He said the system would need to have an interface with the county’s Central Square Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) System to do that, which is what the purchase will help facilitate.

* The $26,000 purchase of a new washer/dryer system for the Highland County Justice Center as well as a $1,000 purchase of parts to repair the dryer. Commissioner Dave Daniels said the new dryer will not come in until December, meaning the old dryer would need to be repaired in the meantime.

* New slate roofing for the old jail for an estimated cost of $3,109. Commissioner Terry Britton said the work would include replacing or redoing around 50 slates and also sealing the ceiling.

* Two 2023 Dodge Durangos for $41,315 for Highland County Sheriff’s Office. Commissioner Jeff Duncan said the county already bought two new vehicles this year, but also said apparently “they’re going to be hard to get next year, if you can get them at all,” which he said was why they bought two more.

The board of commissioners also approved a Letter of Support to the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services for Family Violence Prevention & Services Act (FVPSA) funding.

Daniels said the commissioners received a request from the Cave Lake Leadership Center in Pike County for another letter of aupport. He said the organization intends to submit an American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) application and asked Highland County to pen a letter of support for them. He also said he didn’t think the letter needed to be sent before next week.

The board of commissioners approved a renewal contract with Maximus for its upcoming cost allocation plan cycle. Daniels said the contract is for a shared services agreement that the county has with other divisions that helps it determine what percentage of costs goes with each specific agency.

There were six resolutions approved by the commissioners:

* Res. No. 22-190 is authorization for a request for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the auditor’s budget in the amount of $6,000.

* Res. No. 22-191 is authorization for the Highland County Engineer to purchase one 2022 John Deere 624P Wheel Loader from Murphy Tractor, not to exceed $183,896.

* Res. No. 22-192 is authorization for a request to establish a new fund within Children Services — 2110 Children Services Retention.

* Res. No. 22-193 is authorization for a request from Children Services Special to Children Services Retention in the amount of $39,000.

* Res. No. 22-194 is authorization for a budget modification from xounty – Transfers Out to Attorney – Indigent Fees – County Miscellaneous in the amount of $50,000.

* Res. No. 22-195 is the awarding of the Rainsboro Sanitary Sewer Force Main bid to Unger Construction in the total awarded amount of $495,670.

There was also one contract approved by the board:

* Contract 95 is between the board of commissioners, the Highland County Engineer and Aero-Mark Inc. for Change Order #1 on HIG-CR-VAR pavement markings FY23 PID 107074.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.