MANSFIELD — Richland County commissioners on Thursday awarded a $596.580.85 contract to a Sandusky company for a major storm sewer improvement project in the Village of Plymouth.
The bid from Ed Burdue & Co., LLC, was the lowest of seven commissioners received and opened on March 7.
Bids were opened during a meeting with Richland County Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Jotika Shetty and Jason Burgholter, director of transportation with K.E. McCartney & Associates.
The project will be funded primarily through the county’s share of federal Community Development Block Grant dollars.
Burholter told commissioners on Thursday he had reviewed all seven bids, including the proposal from Burdue.
“Everything lined up pretty much with what we had in our estimates,” Burgholter said.
“I talked to Ed Burdue. I talked to our construction guys who worked (with the company) in the past. I don’t have any concerns with them being awarded the project,” he said.
Burgholter said Burdue told him his company is ready to go work as soon as the contract was approved. He said it will be completed this fall, either late October or early November.
Commissioners awarded the engineering contract to McCartney in March 2022 for the project along West Broadway Street that will correct flooding that occurs during rain events and is creating a safety issue.
“We’re trying to fix a drainage issue primarily,” Burgholter said on March 7 about the area, also known as Baseline Road.
“With that, we’re going to be adding new curb and gutter, storm sewer, tying into an existing system, eliminating a lot of the old system, and then finishing up with as much resurfacing as we can do with the budget.
“Right now, essentially everything off the street is going over the curb in places and into peoples’ front yards. The existing storm sewer is undersized and plugged.
“So it’s just upgrading all of that to collect the water and get it out of that area of town,” he said.
West Broadway runs east and west through the village and connects from the western edge of Plymouth to the center of town, which has all essential services like City Hall, police department, fire department, etc.
Village officials have said Plymouth’s current situation makes transport of patients by EMS “treacherous” when floods cut the neighborhood from access by emergency and fire services.
