Trustees award pacts for 2 project phases

State grants are paying for large parts of both projects.
By MARY SMITH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MINERAL RIDGE -- Township trustees awarded contracts Thursday for both phases of the Niles-Carver Road project, with Trustee John Vogel casting the dissenting vote on both projects.
The 2-1 vote in favor of both phases allows the projects to continue.
Contracts were awarded to Shelly Company of Twinsburg for $159,651 for paving of both phases of the Niles-Carver Road safety upgrade. The contract for piping was awarded to Parella Pannunzio Inc. of Youngstown for $78,318.
Township Administrator David Pugh said a pre-construction meeting will be held next week to decide when work will start. Contractors are planning to begin the work this year, he said.
The project area for Phase I is on Niles-Carver Road from Ohltown-Girard Road north to Salt Springs Road. Phase II, which is to include Salt Springs to the Niles city limits, will include paving, some berm work and some drainage improvements.
Vogel's 'no' vote
Vogel said he voted against the projects because he thinks they are ill-conceived. He said where the township should be focusing safety work is on erosion control and flooding problems on Salt Springs Road and Ohltown-McDonald Road, which he said should be piped and paved.
He also contends the township could have used the Trumbull County Engineer to engineer the projects, rather than pay MS Consultants of Youngstown $50,000 for the engineering.
Phase I of the project, which was approved for an interest-free state loan, was expected to cost $157,000. Bids are currently in at about $10,000 over projected costs based on original specifications, Pugh said. The project was bid for paving, berm work and drainage improvements.
Pugh said the added expense is coming from the fact that the project will require that new pipe be put in places where the township had hoped it could use pipe that was already existing.
He added some of the extra cost may wind up being saved when paving is done, because the paving was bid for a 26-foot-wide roadway, and some of the road is only 24 or 23 feet wide.
No berms
There may also be areas of the road where berming will not be done, because berming is not done on residential properties that have grass right up to the road. He said water filters through the grass and it is not necessary to cut a patch to lay down gravel to help with the water absorption.
Phase II's estimated cost was to be covered by a state grant of $180,000, and the local share is to be $55,000. Bids are about $80,000 under projected cost for the project, Pugh said.
He added that prices for plastic pipe for the project have come in much higher than expected because the refinery that makes the components for the piping is still not back in operation because of Hurricane Katrina. He said there has become a shortage in the pipe, and prices are going up.