Warren County opens bids for bike-trail rehab; community funds cover much of cost

Warren County officials opened bids for a full-overlay rehabilitation of the county’s bike trail and were told community funding should pay more than half the project’s cost.

Staff reported four proposals from local contractors and provided base-bid figures to the board. According to the presentation, Lakes submitted the lowest clearly transcribed base bid at $243,673 and Hiles Excavating submitted $371,438; another bidder, Eman Paving, submitted about $347,347. The engineer’s estimated construction cost is roughly $338,000 (plus engineering). Staff cautioned that several alternate bid lines were “scatter shot” and that staff would review the alternate bids before recommending an award.

The county has secured about $120,000 from community foundations and $40,000 from Act 13 funds, staff said, and additional foundations have indicated a willingness to commit once bids are opened. "We're at $120,000 secured," staff said, adding that the combination of foundation support and Act 13 means the county expects to pay less than half the total cost from its own funds.

A commissioner asked about schedule and closures; staff said the project documents currently target completion in August or September but said the county will try to accelerate work and minimize trail closures. "We're going to overlay the entire trail and then repair some of those spots that [have] gotten really bad," staff said, and noted public communication will be necessary to warn users about closures.

Staff said the trail was originally built in the late 1990s and that a notable repair of roughly $50,000 occurred in 2021. The county plans to forward the bids for review and hopes to return with a recommendation to award at the April meeting.

The meeting included no vote on the contract; staff will return with a recommendation after reviewing alternates and clarifying bid irregularities.