Commissioners approve road maintenance contracts, standardize billing language and table on‑call engineering agreement

At its meeting the Morrow County Board of Commissioners took action on consent‑agenda contracting items that included crack sealing, rock crushing and a tabled on‑call engineering services agreement.

Commissioners raised concerns about inconsistent billing and invoice language across contracts, specifically section 5.3, and asked staff to standardize wording so bills describe work, who performed it and itemize expenses. A county staff member said the county would work with procurement and legal staff to adopt the standardized language for future short‑term contracts.

On the crack‑sealing contract, one staff speaker confirmed the vendor’s timeline to complete work between April 15 and April 30, 2026 and said there should be no problem meeting that schedule. "They're gonna have no problem getting that done," a staff speaker said in response to timing questions.

Commissioner (speaker S7) moved to approve item e (crack sealing) and item g (rock crushing contract) as presented; the motions were seconded and carried by voice vote. For the on‑call engineering and surveying agreement with Keller Associates (item f), Commissioner (speaker S8) moved to table that item until the next meeting so staff could provide an updated engineering contract and standardized billing language; the board approved the motion to table.

The board directed staff to return the on‑call engineering contract with clarified billing language and to ensure any blank contractor certification fields in packets are completed before signature. The board also authorized execution of the approved contracts with the chair's signature once administrative details were filled in.

This action does not change the county’s procurement standards but reflects a review of contract wording to ensure consistent billing descriptions and accountability for short term construction and maintenance contracts.