Monday evening the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety opened bids for this year’s Community Crossing Projects.
In April, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) the city was awarded $632,030.50 in state matching funds for local road projects through Community Crossings, a component of Governor Holcomb’s Next Level Roads program. Because the City of Plymouth has a population of over 10,000, they are required to match the grant by 50%.
City Street Superintendent Jim Marquardt has selected Gibson and LaPorte Streets on the north and south side of Lincoln Junior High for this funding. With the demolition of a good portion of Lincoln Junior High and the construction of the new building, the roads were impacted by all the heavy construction traffic.
Three companies bid on the project. The high bidder was Reeth Riely Construction Company Inc. of South Bend submitted a joint bid of $1,516,667. Milestone Construction North Inc. from South Bend was the next highest bidder at $1,449,000 and E & B Paving Inc. from Rochester was the low bidder at $1,321.195.
City Attorney Sean Surrisi said the city has 4-month from the grant award to get the project under a contract which gives them until early August to sign a contract. He said the city needs to sort out the financials of the project and determine where the city’s matching funds will come from.
The Street Superintendent will meet with VS Engineering, the company hired to write the specs for the road construction project. They will review the bids and make a recommendation to the Board of Public Works and Safety at their next meeting on Monday, July 10th.
