Some paving projects in town will be delayed until next spring after the Nashville Town Council voted to reapply for a state grant to pave roads when project bids came in higher than expected.
Nashville Town Council will reapply for the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Community Crossings grant program after bids came in higher than expected for paving projects in town.
The town was approved for $200,745 in funding from the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Community Crossings grant program this year. A 25-percent local match is also required as part of the grant, which equaled $66,915 for the town.
The town roads to be paved include sections of Artist Drive, Franklin Street, Hillside Drive, Jefferson Street, Mound Street, Redbud Drive, Snyder Road, Washington Street, Wells Drive and Locust Lane; and four roads in the Pine Tree Hills subdivision: Pine Hills Drive, Pine Brook Trail, Pine Lake Circle and Pine Water Court.
The total distance to be paved is 2.664 miles. The town is responsible for 11.261 miles of road in total.
On Friday, June 25 the town council opened bids for the paving projects in town, which all came in above $200,745 and the local match combined. The lowest of the bids was $381,289.07.
The two other bids were $383,600 and $418,915.
During a special meeting on June 30, the town council voted to reject the bids and reapply for more Community Crossings funding.
Charlie Day is a retired Bartholomew County engineer the town council hired to help with the Community Crossings grant application. At the June 30 meeting, Day said he believed the bids were at an inflated rate in order to meet the deadline for construction as well as companies lacking labor for projects and the cost escalation of materials.
Day presented two options to the council: Reduce the quantity of asphalt to be used in the projects and rebid in July, or reapply for the next round of grants in July and increase the town’s request amount.
Day recommended going with option two, or submitting the same plan of 15 town roads to be repaved, but raise the price tag for the project.
He said the raised bids were “unforeseen.”
“I’m sure everyone realizes that all (construction) prices went up,” council member David Rudd said.
Reapplying will not return unfavorably for the town, Day continued.
Town Treasurer-Clerk Brenda Young said that the grant funding has not been given to the town yet and is given once a bid is awarded to a contractor.
Town had estimated that the cost of asphalt would be $80 per ton of half inch overlay material and $100 per ton of thin overlay mix. Prices from one bidder ended up being about $112 per ton of half inch overlay and $125 per thin overlay mix.
Reapplying in July, the town can anticipate potential approval by sometime in late August or early September roads with bidding out happening this winter and construction happening next spring.
