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County approves KFax bridge award, highway fleet purchase and related contract changes
Summary
The commissioners approved the low bid for the KFax Avenue bridge ($5.313 million), a $513,672 change order for the Smileax Road lift station (reported to be paid by Amazon), and a $4.59 million purchase of 15 highway trucks and outfitting, among other procurement actions.
The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners on June 9 approved a series of infrastructure and procurement actions that included a bridge bid award, a contractor change order, and a large equipment purchase for the highway department.
IPG staff reported that four bids were received for the KFax Avenue bridge over the St. Joseph River and that the lowest responsible bidder was the IC Group at $5,313,300; staff said $2.5 million of that amount will be paid by the City of South Bend for added items the city requested, leaving an approximate county share of $2.8 million. The board moved, seconded and approved the bid award.
Staff described change order number two for the Smileax Road lift station and force main project, citing delays caused by railroad permitting and the need for bypass pumping; the change order amount is $513,672 and staff stated that amount will be paid by Amazon. Commissioners approved the change order.
Separately, highway staff requested approval to purchase 15 new highway trucks (10 tandem‑axle and five single‑axle) with chassis and outfitting, at a total cost of $4,591,328 (WA Jones for outfitting and Sulking International for chassis). Staff said ordering now avoids higher retrofit and emissions costs and estimated a cost savings of about $350,000; the board approved the purchase.
The board also approved a notice to bid for the 2026 annual highway materials (asphalt patching, guardrail, liquid buminous, aggregate, traffic paint and sign materials) and tabled a separate milling bid request. Several other facility and service contracts — including a Cintas rental program anticipated to save roughly $10,000 annually and a desktop fleet scheduling website with ZT Creative for $4,000 plus $300/year hosting — were approved during the meeting.
Votes on the listed items were unanimous where recorded; staff indicated next steps include contract closings, procurement postings and coordination with city partners on the KFax project.
