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Athens to Amend Columbus Road Path Funding after Bids Exceed Estimate; ODOT Increases Grant
Summary
Council committees reviewed a rebid and appropriation amendment after the low bid for the Columbus Road shared-use path came in about 35% over the engineer's estimate; ODOT agreed to increase the city grant and the city will rebid with a revised engineer estimate.
Athens City Council committee members discussed an amendment to the Columbus Road shared-use path project after the low construction bid of $1,495,000 came in about 35% over the engineer's estimate.
The administration told the Committee of the Whole that the city and the Ohio Department of Transportation reviewed the engineer’s estimate and concluded the estimate was low for several items. ODOT agreed to increase the city’s grant by roughly $347,000 to cover eligible construction costs and allow the city to rebid the project with a new engineering estimate of $1,341,665, the administration said. The city also requested an additional $75,000 from the street fund as a contingency; if unused, it would be returned to the street fund unappropriated balance.
The committee discussion noted the state is allowing the city to carry the award into state fiscal year 2026, but the administration said it wants to rebid immediately so the project can be completed during the current calendar year. No formal public objection was recorded during the committee discussion.
At the special session later in the evening, the council adopted an ordinance authorizing the local-let project agreement for the Columbus Road shared-use path (ordinance 60-25). The council also later considered and read an amendment to the prior construction ordinance (ordinance 57-25) to reflect the increased ODOT cap and related city appropriations (ordinance 72-25 as read).
