Allegany County legislators approved a resolution to reimburse utility relocation costs for the Andover Bridge project and authorized the chairman to sign the agreement, subject to county attorney review. The agreement pertains to municipally owned facilities and carries a reimbursement cap of $65,000 for the county’s immediate obligation under the item presented.

During discussion, Department of Public Works staff warned the board that the overall bridge cost estimate has risen since the project’s 2019 scope. Staff reported the engineer’s current estimate is about $2.7 million, up from an initial $2.4 million in the project documents. That change would raise the county’s local share from roughly $121,000 as originally scoped to about $1.1 million under the current estimate; the village of Andover’s share was cited as increasing to about $173,000.

“Numbers have dramatically changed since 2019,” a county staff member said, noting inflation and project delays following protracted right-of-way work and consultant performance issues. Staff told the board that if the county opts not to proceed with construction it would likely have to reimburse the state for design costs, quoted at about $300,000.

Board members asked whether Andover could afford the increased local share and whether CHIPS funds could be used; staff said CHIPS funds could be applied but that they would need to identify available county funding sources if the county agrees to the higher local obligation. Staff also said construction would likely occur next year with some early demolition work possible sooner, and that the town had requested a pedestrian bridge for school walkers as part of the project.

The board approved the agreement to move forward on the municipal-utilities relocation item and will address the larger funding decision in an upcoming county-level meeting. The chairman was authorized to execute the contract subject to county attorney review.