City Manager Norbert Klopsch is in his fifth year overseeing the public works department.
“We have a lot of projects gearing up now throughout the community as four projects we recently put out for bid,” Klopsch said.
Beginning in a few weeks and lasting for a few months, a city contractor will repair concrete roadways. The work is scheduled to take place on Park Avenue between Harman Avenue and Oakwood Avenue; on Ridgeway Road from Park Road to the south corporation line; and on Fairforest Circle. Construction notice postcards will be mailed out to homeowners in the areas.
Six bidders sought the contract, and the city accepted the low bid of $131,000 by TH Solutions. The high bid was $194,000, and the engineer estimated the project would cost $151,400.
“The contractor will maintain one lane of traffic throughout the project, and cars will be able to maneuver around the project,” Klopsch said.
The 2019 asphalt street resurfacing project was put out to bid in February. The project will take place on the following streets: Spirea Drive, Greenmount Boulevard, Peach Orchard Avenue ( Far Hills Avenue to Shroyer Road). East Drive (Shafor Boulevard Avenue to Shroyer Road), Hathaway Road (Patterson Road to south corporation line), Hilltop Avenue, Fairmont Avenue and Hillview Avenue (Alpine Lane to south corporation line).
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“We have a fairly big project this year. What we have done the last six or eight years is a thin overlay program where we mill off a little over an inch,” Klopsch said. “We take that off, and then we put the same amount back, and we have a beautiful new, smooth street. We are finding that while we do get some reflective cracking back, for the most part the streets are holding up, and we are getting 10 to 15 years of life.”
The John R. Jurgensen Company submitted the accepted bid of $399,560. The highest bid was $442,378, while the engineer’s estimate to get the work done was $425,397.
“For this particular work, there are only two contractors in this part of Ohio that bid the residential mill and overlay work - John R. Jurgensen and Barrett Paving,” Klopsch said. “If you look back the last 20 or 30 years, one of the two pretty much gets the job every year.”
The city also put out to bid its 2019 sidewalk, curb and apron program, which will take place in the area by Far Hills, Forrer, Shroyer, Acorn and Patterson.
“It is our annual project,” Klopsch said. “We split the community up into four sections and each year we tackle one section and inspect all sidewalks, curbs and aprons.”
Arcon Builders has the winning low bid for the project at $185,785 as opposed to the high bid received at $231,220. The engineer’s estimate for the work was $199,400. The city had $175,000 in its budget to complete the work, but will take money from from its street budget to pay the extra money needed.
“We have money in the street budget that we can use to complete this work,” Klopsch said. “We used Arcon last year and they did a fantastic job. The $10,000 extra is historically close to what has been budgeted for this work.”
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