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Commissioners approve two amendments to Pierce Road design contracts after cost escalation
Summary
St. Joseph County commissioners on July 29 approved Amendment No. 3 to the Lochmiller Group preliminary engineering contract for Pierce Road ($203,760) and Amendment No. 3 to the Lochmiller Group right-of-way contract ($2,969) after costs rose and INDOT allowed the project to be split into phases.
St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners on July 29 approved two contract amendments with the Lochmiller Group to keep the Pierce Road reconstruction project moving after rising costs forced the county to split the work into phases.
The board approved Amendment No. 3 to the preliminary engineering contract in the amount of $203,760 and Amendment No. 3 to the right-of-way services contract in the amount of $2,969. Both votes were unanimous (Commissioners Morton, Hazen and Maxmeier voted aye).
The amendments were presented by Skye Matters of the county's Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Growth. Matters said the original scope covered Pierce Road from U.S. 31 east to Miami Highway but inflation and unsuitable soils increased costs so much that the county's match would have been roughly $7 million. "Working with INDOT and the consultant, we ended up being able to break this project into two phases," Matters said, and INDOT allowed federal funds originally allotted for the full stretch to be used for phase 1.
Matters told commissioners the design work must be revised so the project can be shown as two separate phases and that Lochmiller will perform the additional engineering to split and refine drainage and other elements. He said the amendment to the preliminary engineering agreement is for $203,760. "We will end up with a phase 1 that's being constructed and pretty much a phase 2 that is probably about 90% shovel ready," Matters said, adding that a near-ready phase 2 will strengthen future funding applications.
A county speaker identified in the record as Mr. Meadows pressed whether staff were confident additional funding would be available; Matters said he was "pretty confident" but acknowledged that INDOT's programming is full for the next few years and that timing will depend on future federal or state funding opportunities.
The right-of-way amendment covers added or changed parcels that emerged during property acquisition work; the amount presented for that amendment was $2,969. The board approved that amendment by unanimous vote.
The commissioners noted the project dates back to an original agreement from 2019 and said they want to clear the project's DES (design) number from INDOT records by moving forward with the phased approach.
Ending: County staff said they will seek additional funding for the eastern phase when appropriate and that the revised design should position the county well for future grant applications.
