Bids from three companies were opened during the Starke County Commissioners meeting Monday night for Constellation of Starke projects that will be funded with money from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA). The county was a finalist in the 2019 Regional Stellar Communities Designation process and funding was given to the county for that honor.
The county received $333,000 to be spent on projects. The Constellation of Starke Committee came up with projects in four communities in Starke County with public input. The projects include a trail head at Bass Lake, a restroom project at Norwayne Field in North Judson, a new shelter at Wythogan Park in Knox, and a pavilion at the Koontz Lake Beach.
The projects were bid out before, but the bids were rejected as they came in too high with the funds available. They were bid a little differently this time, with the base bid as the basic project cost and alternates for possible add-on items if funding allows.
In this round of bid opening, Gariup Construction, Brown and Brown and Michiana Contracting presented bids. When the commissioners opened bids Monday, the base bid cost for the Koontz Lake project ranged from $91,000 to $125,500; the base bid cost for the Bass Lake project ranged from $110,000 to $172,000; the base bid cost for the Norwayne Field project ranged from $155,000 to $185,000; and the base bid cost for the Wythogan Park project ranged from $97,000 to $144,800.
Several alternate bids were also presented which will be taken under advisement by the engineers and K-IRPC to make sure the county is getting maximum value of the dollar for the projects and for the match from the communities.
A recommendation will be brought before the commissioners during their next meeting.
