Xenia approves $1.817 million paving contract and directs surplus funds to pothole, sidewalk repairs

The Xenia City Council voted March 26 to award the 2026 street paving contract to the low bidder, John R. Jurgensen Company, and then debated how to allocate roughly $400,000 in budget surplus produced by the low bid.

Service Director Merriman told council the engineer's estimate for the program was $2,143,819 and that John R. Jurgensen submitted the low bid at $1,817,038.30. Merriman outlined three recommended uses for the residual funds: about $50,000 to repair a block of South King Street tied to a new water-service stub; approximately $137,000 for targeted full-depth pothole repairs on high-traffic thoroughfares; and roughly $200,000 for concrete (curb and sidewalk) rehabilitation associated with a planned water-line replacement on North King/Harbine/Catherine.

Councilmembers debated priorities. One councilmember said he preferred finishing existing sidewalk and curb work before moving to other streets, while others favored using surplus funds to repave additional neighborhood streets. After discussion, council indicated a split preference and ultimately directed staff to proceed with the award and to use available funds for two repaving projects (Seneca and Cheyenne) plus one sidewalk/concrete package — leaving some concrete work on North King and adjacent streets unfinished but scheduled for future programming.

Merriman cautioned council that if they choose not to add the concrete work now, those sections will remain disturbed or delayed until additional funds can be programmed; he also noted that replacing existing hydrants and other mandatory utility-related removals would still require funding even if some concrete work is deferred.

Council approved the resolution to award the contract and authorized staff to negotiate and execute a change order to incorporate the additional work approved by council within the available budget.