County declares emergency and approves contracts for storm-damaged bridge repair

The Warren County Board of County Commissioners on June 11 declared an emergency under the Local Public Contract Law and authorized repairs to Bridge 10003A on Harmony Station Road in Harmony Township, responding to damage from July 2023 storm events.

Resolution 331-25 declared the emergency and authorized emergency bridge repair to Sparwick Contracting, Inc. in the contract amount of $3,974.00; the recorded vote was James Kern III, Lori Ciesla, Jason Sarnoski: yes. The board also awarded a professional engineering services contract to Van Cleef Engineering for survey, hydrology and geotechnical work on Bridge 10003A in the amount of $53,894.00 (Resolution 330-25). Both awards were recorded as approved by the commissioners.

County Director of Engineering Michael Finelli briefed the board on resurfacing projects, saying the 2022 resurfacing project was expected to be completed within two weeks and that the 2023 project would go out to bid on June 13, with bids received mid-July and award at the July 23 meeting. County Public Works Director Emily Hammer updated the board on the July 2023 storm damage to Lommason Glen Road in White Township, saying the project "is on track for completion fall of 2024." (as stated to the board).

Why it matters: the board invoked the emergency contracting exception to address storm damage and authorized engineering and repair contracts to restore bridge safety and road function. The minutes also show scheduling for resurfacing projects and the procurement timeline for 2023 resurfacing work.