COLUMBUS, Indf. — Bartholomew County government usually pays $1 million to match a $1 million state grant match for road overlays.
But to get $1 million from the state for Phase II of the Community Crossings road overlay program, the local match will now be more than $1.8 million.
That came as a surprise to most of the Bartholomew County commissioners, as well as county highway Superintendent Dwight Smith, during the commissioners’ Monday meeting.
However, Smith understands why the local match skyrocketed. When the county applied for Phase II funding for new blacktop through Indiana’s Community Crossing program, they agreed to carry out all projects in their application if given the money, he said.
Unfortunately, the agreement was made before the price of crude oil soared to historic highs.
If Bartholomew County receives the grant and doesn’t do everything in its original proposal, Smith said the state will take some of that grant money back.
Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said he thought the bids that were opened Monday to lay 27 miles of new asphalt on deteriorating county roads would rise to between $90,000 to $100,000 more per mile than last year.
But the cost ended up rising to over $140,000 per mile, compared to $79,018 per mile cost in 2021.
“It almost makes you not want to pave anything,” Kleinhenz said.
The two bids for the overlay project were:
- Milestone Contractors, Inc. of Columbus: $2,811,075
- Dave O’Mara Contractors of North Vernon: $2,948,621
The highway department will be allowed to look over both bids, and make a recommendation to the commissioners “in the next week or two,” commissioner Chairman Carl Lienhoop said.
For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
