ALL PRESENT … Councilors Suzette Boesger and Linda Short address the bills, while Councilor Chris Meeker attends via the telephone linkup. (PHOTO BY TIM KAYS, STAFF)
By: Tim Kays
Members of the Fayette Village Council convened in their first regular session of 2021 on the evening of January 13. Prior to the opening of the business portion of the agenda, Council selected Rodney Kessler as the 2021 Council President.
“I attended the new bid opening for the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) South Cherry Street Improvement Project yesterday at the Fulton County Commissioners office,” reported Village Administrator Genna Biddix.
“As a reminder, the engineer’s estimate for this project was $24,500. We received six bids as follows M&M Asphalt at $18,150, Morlock Asphalt at $22,540, Henry Bergman at $23,740, Ward Construction at $24,500, Geddes Paving at $26,653, Gerken Paving at $30,550.
Ms. Biddix singled out the bids of M&M and Morlock, saying, “…they both did not acknowledge the bid agenda by the bid opening deadline for the new prevailing wage rates for 2021, so their bids were not complete.”
“And for that reason, we can decline their bid because the ORC (Ohio Revised Code) is lowest and best, and after a little bit of research it looks like primarily their experience is more driveways and things of that nature, and there’s a catch basin reconstruction in this short stretch of pavement.’
“Bergman’s a lot bigger. They should have some experience, and they’re still the lowest and the best with a complete bid packet. So as long as it passes the legal process we should be okay, but then per ORC, the lowest and best bidder wins the project.”
“To move forward, we must give a letter of recommendation to Maumee Valley Planning, who will then send the recommendation to the Commissioners. After the recommendation has been made to go to the lowest bidder, Henry W. Bergman, Inc., the bid packet will be reviewed by the county prosecutor, the village and the Commissioners to be signed and approved.”
“Following approval, we will schedule a pre-construction meeting and outline the details of the project timeline. Austin Serna with Maumee Valley Planning will be facilitating everything for us through these stages of the process.”
Council approved the recommendation to move forward with the $23,740 bid of Henry W. Bergman, Inc. for the CDBG South Cherry Street Improvement Project.
Ms. Biddix also addressed the request for quotes (RFQ) for the Water Distribution System Project. “I released an RFQ on our website on January 6, for the Water Distribution System Project. The link is https://villageoffayette.com/2238/RFQ.”
“The project description is listed as, ‘The proposed project consists of design and construction of multiple phases of water distribution system upgrades and replacement. It is anticipated that the Village will use a combination of funding sources to complete these projects, therefore the selected firm must document experience with state and federal funding programs for water projects.’”
Continuing, Ms. Biddix said, “To help cut down on the chaos of this process I have also outlined in the RFQ that Statements of Qualification will be received by email only, and must be sent to me at my e-mail address (gbiddix@villageoffayette.com), no later than January 29. Questions concerning this proposal shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to me.”
“Firms are not permitted to communicate with any other village employees, legislators or representatives during the selection process. the village reserves the right to reject any proposal for violation of this provision.”
“Basically this is a huge project, and I don’t want any of us to be bogged down by endless meetings with engineers that aren’t necessarily qualified to do it.”
“The RFQ is really specific to people having experience with rural water distribution system projects, experience with large distribution system projects in general so that’s going to really narrow the field quite a bit. I anticipate that Public Works will be the committee that makes the decision on this.”
Ms. Biddix addressed Council about holiday hours at the village offices, saying, “In years past, you have voted to allow us to close the office for an ‘in-service’ workday on the four minor Federal holidays throughout the year that we are normally open for…Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Columbus Day and Veteran’s Day.”
“There is a motion on the agenda tonight asking for the same in 2021. These workdays are very helpful to office staff in preparing and maintaining records for audits and such, and my office is a giant mess, so that’s what I want to work on.” Council unanimously agreed to the request.
VFO Karin Sauerlender addressed the capital budget for 2021, and noted that one of the projects tentatively scheduled is a splash pad. “You’ll notice the splash pad is in there at $100,000,” she said.
“Remember, we do have a $50,000 grant. So the other $50,000, if it costs that much, is going to come from our funds. We had planned to take a portion of it from the park, and then the rest would be transferred in from the general fund. That’s what’s in the budget right now.”
Council agreed to the payment of bills in the amount of $56,681.99, then moved on to the third and final reading of Ordinance 2020-11, establishing revised water and sewer rates, tap charges and meter fees. Council then heard the first reading of Ordinance 2021-01, a measure setting the wages, salaries and medical benefits for the employees and officials of the village.
Council would later retire into executive session to discuss this Ordinance, but prior to that they agreed to grant Ms. Biddix time and a half pay for two hours work on New Year’s Day.
Upon returning to regular session, Council suspended the rules of reading and adopted a slightly amended version of the measure. According to Ms. Biddix, the measure provides a raise of approximately 1.5 percent to village employees.
Tim can be reached at tim@thevillagereporter.com
