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Evansville Public Works Board approves contracts, change orders and permits; Market Street affordable units cut from 59 to 24
Summary
At an April 17 meeting, the Evansville City Board of Public Works approved multiple finance agreements, contract amendments and change orders, including an amendment reducing affordable units at Market Street Apartments from 59 to 24, and opened bids for the 2025 mill-and-overlay Phase 2 project.
The Evansville City Board of Public Works on April 17 approved a series of contractual agreements, change orders and right-of-way permits and opened bids for the city's 2025 mill-and-overlay Phase 2 street project.
The board approved an amendment to a $2.5 million agreement for Market Street Apartments at 304 Market Street that reduces the number of affordable units from 59 to 24, each targeted to households with incomes at or below 65% of area median income. Rebecca Butcher, addressing the board, said the project's renovation costs exceeded initial estimates and that the full contracted funds had already been expended on repairs including extensive water and mold damage. The board approved the amendment by voice vote; individual roll-call votes were not recorded in the meeting transcript.
The amendment preserves a smaller number of income-restricted units tied to the original funding while reflecting higher-than-expected construction and repair costs, officials said. "The project was'it exceeded $2,500,000.0. The overall project, the renovations were incredible," Butcher said, describing mold and water damage that increased costs.
City finance staff also secured two consulting agreements. The board approved a not-to-exceed $20,000 agreement with Reedy Financial Group for on-call governmental accounting and financial advising. Robert Gunter of the controller's office said the firm will assist as-needed following passage of Senate Bill 1 and that the city previously used the firm. The contract specifies hourly rates that vary by staff role (an hourly range was noted in the record as roughly $50 to $285 depending on who performs the work). Gunter said, "we're very pleased with their assistance." The board also approved a $40,000 contract with Baker Tilly Advisory Group LLP to assist with preparation and analysis of the city's annual comprehensive financial report for the year ended Dec. 31, 2024.
Public-works construction items approved included several change orders and an open-bid report. The board approved Change Order No. 1 with E&B Paving LLC for the 2025 Phase 1 mill-and-overlay project, a $2,500 increase tied to CenterPoint Gas requiring hydroexcavation of a high-pressure main on Oak Grove Road prior to pavement placement; officials said those excavation requirements were not identified during the bid phase.
The board approved Change Order No. 2 with Koberstein Contracting for Stinson Avenue Drainage Improvements (project 24-019), increasing the contract by $9,929.66 to a new total of $186,646.58. Staff said much of the extra work resulted from excavation that encountered what appeared to be an old dump site and required additional geotextile fabric and stone.
A change order with the Indiana Department of Transportation for the Walnut Street project (R41599), associated with work near Alexander AME Church, increased by $17,334.66 to a total contract value of $21,422,737.71; the board noted that funding for the additional work is shared with INDOT.
On right-of-way permits, the board accepted the city engineer's recommendations for Appendix A permit applications 2132 and 2142 with no exceptions, and conditioned permits 2136'2139 on compliance with AASHTO clear-zone requirements and the Indiana Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (Indiana MUTCD) for site-specific maintenance-of-traffic measures. Staff said applications 2136'2139 relate to small-cell utility pole installations by Crown Castle and must meet the city's sidewalk-utility-pole policy.
The board also approved a guided walking tour of Oak Hill Cemetery on May 10, 2025, as part of Historic Preservation Month. Timothy Miller, who identified himself as the city's new historic preservation officer, said former officer Dennis Au will lead the "Here Lies Evansville" tour and the city will promote the event through city communications and partner organizations.
Finally, the board opened and acknowledged two bids for the city engineers' 2025 Phase 2 mill-and-overlay project (25-002). Counsel read the submissions: J.H. Rudolph bid $2,702,214.44 and E&B Paving bid $2,648,270.95. A motion to take the bids under advisement passed by voice vote.
Most items were approved by voice vote during the approximately 14-minute business session; individual board member votes were not recorded in the transcript. The board adjourned at 1:44 p.m.
