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$450K road project lacks bids
By jeanne starmack
campbell
For the second time, no one has bid on a $450,000 road project that will help the industrial property along the Mahoning River become more business-friendly.
Bid openings for paving Casey Drive, an access road along property in the brownfields, were set for Aug. 19, and no bids were received. The city advertised for bids again and set another bid opening for Monday. Again, no bids were received, said city administrator Jack Dill.
Dill said he was surprised no one bid on the project.
“It’s an easy project,” he said. “Just paving the road and stormwater work.”
The access road forms an L-shape around properties owned by companies called Casey Corp., Sherman International and Monroe Steel.
There is also a 13-acre parcel of property within the L-shape that the city owns, and eight of those acres are buildable, he said.
Dill said he contacted some of the half-dozen contractors who had bid packets for the project to ask them why they did not submit bids.
“They said they are busy and they don’t think they can get it done by winter,” he said.
Dill said there was no start date in the project specifications, but the city wanted the project started this year.
“We wanted them to start — put down a sub-base, because it’s got large pot holes in it, and there’s close to 100 employees that use those roads,” he said.
He said the city will rebid the project in January and open bids in February so the contractor can start in the spring and be finished by winter.
The money for the project is coming from a state grant.