County awards emergency Hamilton Trail culvert replacement to Milestone Contractors

Saint Joseph County commissioners voted July 1 to award a $213,848.60 contract to Milestone Contractors for a small-structure replacement on Hamilton Trail over the Sandmere Ditch.

County infrastructure staff said the culvert replacement is urgent because the road is heavily traveled and local construction activity increased safety concerns. Adam Via, Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Growth, presented the bid and said the county received Milestone’s bid for $213,848.60.

The contract award was added to the meeting agenda as an amendment, and commissioners approved a motion to accept the bid and have the highway department review it and report back during the same meeting. Christopher Burke, the project consultant, attended and the department said it would review the submission with the project engineer before recommending award. The engineering estimate was not provided at the meeting.

After that review, the board voted to approve awarding the small-structure replacement to Milestone Contractors. Commissioners recorded aye votes during roll call. The county will proceed with the replacement under the contract amount presented.

The county characterized the work as an emergency due to traffic volumes and nearby construction; staff noted they did not receive needed paperwork earlier because a staff member was on leave. The county did not provide a written engineer’s estimate at the public meeting and did not specify the contractor’s schedule for completing the work.