Apr 18, 2023
An attempt to improve the Iron Horse River Trail in Montpelier was temporarily stalled after no bids were received for the project.
The village received $1.2 million in grants from the Ohio Department of Transportation for the project, which would fully fund the project.
“That will run off the end of North Pleasant (Street) and it’s a trail that has two wooden walkways over some low ground and then a paved trail that connects all the way to River Street,” said Justin Houk, deputy village manager.
They put the project out to bid, but nobody responded.
Officials reached out to two companies that had expressed interest in bidding on the project, who both said the engineer’s estimate was low.
“They also were concerned about the completion date being done this year, so he was going to talk to them about pushing it back to next year,” Houk said during last week’s village council meeting. “The guy from ODOT said our funding will still be good through then, so it’s not a big deal funding wise.”
Reached on Monday, Houk said the village decided to have Poggemeyer Design Group, the engineering company, come up with a new estimate.
With a new estimate, the village will try to re-bid the project.
However, he hasn’t heard back from Poggemeyer, yet.
Whether the village would be willing to continue with the project if the cost exceeds the grant is an unknown, Houk said.
Changing the completion date shouldn’t be an issue, but Houk was unsure when the project would get started.
Many factors affect the start date, he said, including the bids and the weather, as much of the land could be wet for a good portion of the year.
The village part in it is done, Houk added. They cleared some land in the area to facilitate the construction, so they just have to wait for the bid process to go through.
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