The Starke County Commissioners opened bids on Monday morning for two Community Crossings projects planned for the county.
The county received $1 million in Community Crossings Matching Grant funds for the paving of Range Road from State Road 10 to Toto Road, and 250 N. from U.S. 35 to Range Road. The county’s 25 percent match will come from the county’s CEDIT (County Economic Development Income Tax) Fund.
Three companies bid on both projects. Rieth-Riley Construction Co., Inc. submitted the lowest bid for both projects. The company bid almost $671,000 on the Range Road project and nearly $780,000 on the project on 250 N. The bids from E&B Paving and Phend and Brown were well above the lowest bids submitted.
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler commented that the lowest bid was below the engineer’s estimate for both projects.
Ritzler asked the commissioners to approve the lowest bid from Rieth-Riley contingent upon further review, which they did with a unanimous vote.
