The Butler County Commission approved a contract not to exceed $8,000 on Tuesday to hire engineering services and pursue a federal Bridge Investment Program grant in partnership with a neighboring county.

Public-works Director Curtis Mader told commissioners the counties plan to submit a joint application focusing on corridors rather than individual bridges to improve competitiveness for federal funding. “Right now we're throwing out 15 bridges per county,” Mader said, adding that the counties expect to show a combined project value in the tens of millions of dollars to the Federal Highway Administration. He said the joint approach and a corridor focus “increase your score” with federal reviewers.

Mader said the initial $8,000 contract covers engineering services to develop the grant application; if the grant is awarded, the counties will execute a fuller contract for design and construction engineering. A motion to approve the contract, which included a not-to-exceed amount of $8,000, passed unanimously.

Commissioners discussed the scope and timeline. Mader said the application deadline is in the fall and that staff planned a coordination meeting the following week to refine corridor priorities. He characterized the program as “pretty minimal cost for what we possibly could get” given a potential $25 million target across partner counties.

The commission approved the contract by a 5–0 vote and authorized staff to proceed with the application.