Porter County awards Meridian Road, Marquette Greenway contracts and backs federally funded bridge projects

The Porter County Board of Commissioners voted Dec. 9 to award two major construction contracts and to confirm county commitment to pursue federal funding for two bridge replacements.

Stormwater staff recommended awarding the Meridian Road small-structure replacement to Ellis Construction Company Inc. with a base bid of $1,362,452.55 and recommended the Marquette Greenway Trail Reroute Phase 4 to the lowest responsive bidder at $3,797,500. Staff said both bids came in below engineer estimates and recommended awards to the lowest responsive, responsible bidders. "The lowest bidder was found to be lowest, most responsive and responsible bidder," a staff member reported when recommending award to Ellis in the amount of $1,362,452.55.

The board voted to approve the awards after the auditor presented the bid openings earlier in the meeting. Commissioners praised the competitive prices: staff noted Meridian Road’s estimate was about $1.6 million while the low bid was $1.3 million; the Marquette Greenway estimate of roughly $4.4 million was met with a low bid near $3.8 million.

Separately, the board confirmed county support for two bridge replacement projects submitted to the Indiana Department of Transportation for potential federal funding. Staff explained that if successful the projects would receive roughly 80% federal participation for construction and inspection, stretching the county’s bridge dollars farther.

The county clerk recorded motions and voice votes approving the contract awards and the county’s commitment to the federal grant applications. Staff said final contract documents and award letters will follow the board’s approval.

Next steps: staff will finalize award paperwork and return with contract documents; the county will also coordinate any required local funding commitments if the NDOT grants are awarded.