Commissioners open bids for paving new parking lot on Jefferson St.

This week, the Marshall County Commissioners opened three bids to pave the county's vacant land at 211 West Jefferson Street and create additional parking spaces.

The commissioners purchased the former law offices of Doug Hite and Joe Simanski at the end of 2020 and demolished the building in May 2021.

The county has been in violation of the city zoning ordinance, which requires a parking area to be paved within a year.   The city has allowed the county some leeway since the space was a staging area for the renovation of the courthouse.  That project has been completed for over a year, and Commissioner Kevin Overmyer wants to create the parking lot to meet the city’s standards.

Milestone proposed to the commissioners to pave the lot for $49,500, under the county’s threshold.  The proposal was accidentally signed by Commissioner President Stan Klotz last month, but he was able to get control of it before it was presented to Milestone.

The commissioners had Highway Superintendent Jason Peters seek a second quote just under Milestone’s. Since the local media advertised the original amount, the commissioners decided to pursue three sealed bids for the project.

Those sealed bids were opened on Monday.  Milestone offered a bid of $53,500, while Reith Riley’s bid was $92,229.  The low bid came from Brooks Construction at $48,140.  The bids were taken under advisement for review by Bill Schoff, the county’s Director of Building and Grounds.  He will make a recommendation at the next commissioner’s meeting on Monday, October 7^th.