St. Joseph County commissioners approve road change orders, seek federal safety grant, and OK IT contracts

St. Joseph County commissioners on May 19 approved multiple infrastructure contract changes, authorized a federal safety grant application, and approved routine IT agreements.

Infrastructure and roads: Skye Meters of the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Growth presented change order No. 6 for the Cleveland Beach Road Roundabout (project 190048), reporting the project was completed about 10% under the original contract and reducing the final contract amount by $342,895.31. The board voted to approve the final change order.

IPG also presented change order No. 1 for preventive maintenance on Bridge 301 (Main Street over the toll road), which yielded a net contract decrease of $29,336.25 and included a request to defer painting until 2026 so the bridge can remain open during high‑traffic periods. Commissioners approved that change order.

The board authorized advertising bids for project 5‑29‑26, a small‑structure replacement on Cedar Road over the Pittman Longfield Ditch in the southeast part of the county; bids will be advertised this Friday and next Friday with an opening on June 9. Staff estimated the work could take up to about 60 days once materials are available.

Grant application: The commissioners approved submission of a U.S. Department of Transportation Safe Streets and Roads for All application covering multiple county intersections and curves. Staff said the application will request $500,000 from the federal program, with a local match of $100,000. Consultant Hodge Patel of Abbott Marsh Consultants described prior successful applications and the program timeline; the application deadline was stated as June 26 at 5 p.m. Eastern and awards were expected by late 2026 if successful.

Budgetary context: IPG staff warned that state action suspending parts of the fuel tax will reduce local receipts. Staff estimated a loss of about $35,000–$40,000 in April from the gasoline use tax, and said that suspending the gasoline excise tax would have a larger multimonth impact—staff summarized that operations funding could be reduced by roughly three quarters of $1,000,000 over an unspecified period if suspensions persist. Officials discussed potential strategies, including cutting paving projects or reallocating funds to preserve eligibility for federal‑aid projects.

IT approvals: The board approved a trial agreement with Nomic Networks to add intrusion‑alerting protections on the county network (Richard Warfield, IT department), authorized additional Meraki licenses through Qubit Networks for the Dukom Center network switches, and approved a Patch My PC purchase agreement for packaging and global deployment of software across county computers.

Motions and votes at a glance: • Cleveland Beach Roundabout change order No. 6 (project 190048): approved; net decrease $342,895.31. (Motion carried.) • Bridge 301 change order No. 1: approved; net decrease $29,336.25. (Motion carried.) • Advertise bids for Cedar Road small structure (project 5‑29‑26): approved; bids to open June 9. • Safe Streets and Roads for All grant application: approved; federal request $500,000; local match $100,000; application deadline June 26, 5 p.m. ET. • PSAP Vertiv service contract proposals: tabled until next week pending attendance of staff. • Nomic Networks trial agreement (IT): approved. • Meraki license additions (Qubit Networks): approved. • Patch My PC purchase agreement: approved.

The board moved through a full agenda of engineering, grant, and IT items during the May 19 session and then recessed for the evening.