The Village of Pioneer will get a new road this summer and it won’t cost local taxpayers a dime.
A bid opening for the Clark Street project drew several contractors Dec. 15 to the fourth floor of the Williams County Courthouse. The bids ranged from a high of $2.2 million to a low of $1.9 million.
Pioneer Mayor Ed Kidston was pleased as the lowest bid was below the total amount of grants the village qualified for in connection with the project. The low bid came from Salenbien at $1,916,600.40 and the high bid was from Crestline at $2.48 million.
The engineer’s estimate was $2,053,213.37
“We are just tickled pink,” the mayor said. “Zero, zero, zero local dollars in this thing.”
“This is awesome.”
The village bid the project at the right time of year, Kidston said. As a result the community received bids close to or below the engineer’s estimate.
“We got a grant to pay for the whole thing,” Kidston said.
The bulk of the grants ($1,098,000) came from the Economic Development Administration, Village Administrator Al Fiser said. Other grants are from CDBG, 629 and Jobs and Commerce, he said.
The total is $2 million.
The project will extend Clark Street north three-quarters of a mile and west for a half-mile west to connect with Corway Drive so trucks for Reifel Industries can avoid Baubice Street and North Central School, Kidston said. The company occupies 300,000 square feet of floor space and houses 250 employees, he said.
“It takes Reifel Industries, which sets on the east side of our village and connects it in to the Industrial Park,” Kidston said Dec. 15. “That’s really really important because the way Reifel has expanded; they have a lot of truck traffic that goes right by the school.
“It will divert all that truck traffic into the industrial park where it should be.”
Reifel applies corrosion-resistant coating to various metal pieces for a wide variety of customers. The business began in March 1984.
Kidston said the project is all due to the rapid growth of Reifel, which began in a chicken coop and now is a large and growing operation.
The truck traffic which had been using Baubice will now use the Industrial Park where it rightfully should go, he said.
“Then they can get on 15 and go north or south,” Kidston said. “This is something I really worked hard on getting an answer here.
“You don’t want to stunt Reifel’s growth, you want them to keep growing and keep creating jobs. But all that truck traffic by the school was a real problem.
“This is a dream come true.”
The following bids were received:
ER Zeller $2,022,993.05
Miller Bros. $2,157,767
Vernon Nagel $1,976,366.55
Underground Utilities Inc., $1,953,227.16
Crestline Paving $2,248,685.45
Geddes Paving $2,222,600
Bryan Excavating $1,953,738.45
George Gradel $2.2156210.31
Salenbien $1,916,600.40
Gerken {Paving $2,104,169.35
James Pruitt may be reached at
publisher@thevillagereporter.com