Board of Public Works approves contracts, event permits and personnel actions March 5

The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Carmel on March 5, 2025 approved a slate of bid awards, purchase orders, event permits, union agreements and personnel items during a regularly scheduled meeting at Carmel City Hall.

The approvals included contracts and awards for road, path and utility work; agreements with municipal unions; event and street-use permits for spring and fall festivals; and personnel appointments and resolutions. Most items were presented by city staff and passed by unanimous voice vote.

Why it matters: The votes authorize construction and maintenance projects that affect city streets, park and plaza use, and public safety staffing; several contracts total millions of dollars and several schedule work to be completed before the 2025 school year and fall seasons.

Votes at a glance - Approval of minutes from the Feb. 19, 2025 meeting — motion approved by voice vote. - City of Carmel RFQ — vehicles 2025 (Carmel Police Department): awards recommended by Chief Drake Sterling to multiple vendors for different vehicle groups; motion approved by voice vote. - 90 Ninth Street multiuse path (Westfield Boulevard to Haverstik Road): bid award recommended to Calumet Civil Contractors and corresponding purchase order for $575,000.20; motion approved by voice vote. - 106th Street Ridge Repair: bid awarded to Reith Riley (low responsive bid of $939,658.97). Substantial completion scheduled June 30, final completion before August; motion approved by voice vote. - Smoky Row Road reconstruction (Reith Riley) — final contract change order (amount not specified in the meeting record); motion approved by voice vote. - Street paving contract (Howard Asphalt LLC doing business as Howard Companies) — $6,853,166.82; substantial completion expected before school starts, final completion by November; motion approved by voice vote. - Tree removal and stump grinding (Angel Oak Tree Care/Angel's Touch Lawn Care Inc.) — $75,000; motion approved by voice vote. - Mulching contract (TMT Incorporated) — $80,287.50 for tree-ring mulch installation; motion approved by voice vote. - West Ground storage tank (Preload LLC) — change order No. 1 reduced the contract by approximately $202,037 (a subtraction of $202,037 reported by counsel; described in meeting as a reduction of “over 10%”); motion approved by voice vote. - Multiple park, plaza and street-use permits (Cherry Blossom Festival; Midtown block party; Memorial Day ceremony at Veterans Memorial Plaza; Eid event; virtual summer fun run/walk; associate picnic; OctoberFest; Community Wine Festival; Diwali celebration) — all motions approved by voice vote. - Two valet parking spaces for Roma, with existing conditions similar to prior valet operations — motion approved by voice vote. - Resolution BPW03-05-25-01: appointment of Britney Sanford as a special police/community service officer for the Carmel Police Department — motion approved by voice vote (oath administered during the meeting). - Agreements with employee organizations: Carmel Professional Firefighters (Local 4444) and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 185 — motions approved by voice vote. - Add-on resolution (second sublease and management agreement with Clay Township): authorized execution of a second sublease and management agreement to transfer control of third and fourth floors of the fire department headquarters building to the Carmel Fire Department — motion approved by voice vote.

Supporting details and context - The Board repeatedly used unanimous voice votes; individual roll-call tallies were not recorded in the public transcript. - Project schedules cited in presentations include a projected May 26 start for the 90 Ninth Street path (coordinated to begin after school lets out) and paving substantially complete before the 2025 school year. - The West Ground tank change order was described by counsel as a significant reduction in contract cost; the transcript records the dollar reduction but not a complete contract history.

What the Board did not specify in the meeting record - Several purchase order or change-order amounts were recorded unclearly or garbled in the transcript (for example, one Reith Riley line-item appears as a nonstandard numeric string). Where numeric amounts were unclear in the record, this article notes the amount as “not specified in the meeting record.”

Ending The Board completed business without further discussion and adjourned. Items that require future follow-up include contract execution steps, construction start dates and final completion confirmations for the larger capital contracts.