Elkhart Board of Works adopts preliminary engineering report, awards multiple contracts and levies utility penalties

The City of Elkhart Board of Works on March 18 adopted a preliminary engineering report, advanced several construction bids for city facilities and levied fines on three industrial wastewater permit holders.

The actions finalize spending and procurement steps for projects including street resurfacing and curb ramps, the Lerner Theatre roof replacement, police and fleet vehicle purchases, and wastewater work; the board also approved a design‑build procurement and technical review committee for a new street department salt facility.

Board members opened bids for Lerner Theatre north roof replacement and sent the results to staff for award at the May 6 meeting. Boentrager Enterprises Inc. submitted a base bid of $298,241 (alternate 1: $278,823); Hoekstra Roofing Company submitted a base bid of $802,535 (alternate 1: $790,755); and Sleigh Tile Roofing & Sheet Metal Co. submitted a base bid of $649,812 (alternate 1: $640,812). The board voted to assign the bid packages to staff for award at the May 6, 2025 meeting.

On capital and routine finance items, the board approved the claims and allowance docket totaling $7,683,415.51. Deputy Controller Erin (last name redacted) told the board the docket will in future include account line summaries grouped by fund and account line. She noted subsidy funding on this docket totaled $2,712,500, a $500,000 transfer to capital outlay under Ordinance 5640, and American Rescue Plan claims of $13,124.22.

In engineering business, the board adopted Resolution 25‑R‑06 accepting a preliminary engineering report (PER). Assistant City Engineer Jeff Schafer explained the next step: "We submit the PER to IFA. They review the PER, rank the PER with all the other PERs ... determine which of the rankings receive funding, and then, we move forward from there." (IFA = Indiana Finance Authority, as discussed by staff during the meeting.)

The board authorized the vice president to execute an on‑call professional services agreement with DLZ Indiana for small engineering/professional services (typically in the ~$20,000 range). Schafer said these are "for small professional services contracts, usually in the range of say $20,000" and clarified the scope of work and fees are handled at the staff level.

On procurement: the board awarded Bid 25‑06 (2025 ADA curb ramp replacement) to TX Concrete LLC for $242,200 after the apparent…