Nicholas County Fiscal Court approved an agreement with Hayworth, Meyer, Bolland Professional Engineers LLC (HMB) to provide engineering services for a waterline installation at the BCNCJEDA Industrial Park.

Speaker 2, who presented the item, said the work will be paid from House Bill 723 funding and an ARC sewers grant. "Because of this type of funding and the money we're utilizing to pay for these services, we can utilize that without asking for bids," Speaker 2 said, citing the county's procurement interpretation. Speaker 2 provided a line-item estimate: design $160,000; advertising and bidding $20,000; engineering during construction $50,000; and construction observation $80,000 — a package the presenters described as ‘‘in the ballpark’’ of expected costs.

The presiding official (Speaker 1) said bidding could be expected in March–April and that the project timeline would be roughly 10 months, putting completion near the same time next year. Court members also reported a productive meeting with Kentucky American regarding hook-up locations and line sizing.

Speaker 1 called for the motion; the motion to approve the engineering-services agreement was made by Mister Hughes and seconded by Mister Holbrook. The court approved the agreement by voice vote.

What court approved was the county entering the contract with HMB to complete design and provide construction-phase engineering and observation; specific construction costs and contract amounts for construction itself were not finalized at the meeting. The presenters said the design and construction-administration tasks would be paid from the specified House Bill 723 funds and the ARC sewers grant where allowed. The court’s record notes that ARC funds cannot be used for design work in the contract, which helped justify the procurement path the county described.

Next steps: the court expects to finalize the engineering contract paperwork, advertise and bid the construction contract in spring, and proceed through the design and environmental work before bidding construction.