St. Joseph County commissioners approve road bid, multiple change orders, health training contract and clerk grant application; AI lab and mobile clinic items T

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a series of routine and project-specific items, including a $2,531,777.79 bid award for Fillmore Road improvements, several project change orders and a health-department training contract, while tabling two items for additional information.

Bill Schallio, the county’s economic development director, recommended awarding the Fillmore Road Improvements and IEC infrastructure contract to HRP Construction for $2,531,777.79. The board moved, seconded and approved the bid award by voice vote.

Skye Meaders of the Department of Infrastructure, Planning & Growth advised the board to accept Contract R-37496 so the Douglas Road added travel-lanes project (Ivy to State Road 23) can be formally accepted by NDOT and warranties and bonds can commence; the board approved acceptance.

Meaders also presented change orders for the Douglas/Ironwood travel-lanes and bridge work. Change Order Number 205 reduced a stormwater-management line item by $40,415.95 and was approved. On the SJEC water-transmission-main and Fillmore Road utilities project, Meaders described a major Change Order Number 1 tied to alignment changes, repaving and the need for additional geogrid and aggregate where unsuitable soils were found. The figure for Change Order Number 1 is transcribed in the record as "1,000,000,12,876.73"; staff described the change as roughly a 19.7% increase and recommended approval, which the board granted. A smaller Change Order Number 2 for the same water project was listed as $8,989.75 and was also approved; staff said the affected segment of work should be finished in about two weeks.

Staff noted two previously approved contracts required reapproval after addenda were added to satisfy State Board of Accounts requirements: the Alexander Drive satellite garage project (storage building and site development) and an AIA addendum for the Granger East Highway Garage demolition and site-clearing project. The board reapproved both contracts and discussed retaining the underlying county property while exploring possible use arrangements with a local church.

Brianna McCall of the St. Joseph County Health Department asked the board to approve a contract with GreenTree Environmental Services to provide initial lead-based-paint training. McCall said the contract requires training a minimum of 10 contractors, with an option—using Health First Indiana funds—to train up to 20. The transcript lists the minimum initial fee as "35100" and says if 20 seats are filled the cost would be $9,000; those figures are inconsistent in the record. The board approved the contract.

Amy Rolfes, clerk of the circuit court, asked the commissioners to support applying for a Secretary of State grant to upgrade absentee-processing election technology; she said a prior round provided approximately $110,000. The board agreed to support applying for roughly $20,000 in the new funding round.

The board tabled two items pending additional information. A recommendation to table a PSEP priority-dispatch AI lab renewal and addendum was made and approved; staff will return with more detail. Separately, an item about the Health Department hosting a mobile immunization clinic (including a proposed flu clinic in the building lobby) was placed on the agenda in error and was tabled; Health Department staff (Jenny Parcel was named) will follow department channels and return next week.

Several routine items were also approved by voice vote, including the accounts-payable docket and two county-council-passed ordinances (Ordinance 63-24 and Ordinance 64-24). With no public comment, the board recessed.