The Holmes County Shopper News
Thursday, July 12, 2012 — 17
Holmes to begin Killbuck bridge-raising project soon By CHRISTINE L. PRATT Staff Writer Moving a step closer to fixing a problem that’s plagued Killbuck for ages, Holmes County commissioners on Monday, July 9 awarded the bid to elevate state Route 60 between the bridge at the Killbuck Creek and Main Street. The lowest of two submitted bids, a contract is to be signed with Menuez Excavating & Construction, which submitted a bid of $149,048.25. The offer was significantly lower than the only other bid of $176,290.70, which was submitted by Melway Paving, according to Arnold Oliver, director of the Holmes County Planning Commission, which administers the $165,150 Community Development Block Grant that is paying for the project.
Oliver said he was surprised to receive only two bids since five contractors paid $100 each to take out plans for the project. Nevertheless, he said, he looks forward to working with Menuez, which not only submitted the lower bid, but has provided quality work for the county in the past. The goal of the project, which includes a $5,000 match from Killbuck, is to raise the 235-foot section of road two feet, said Oliver, explaining the area historically floods between two and three times a year and remains impassable for several days and even up to several weeks at a time. The detour, he said, is not only inconvenient for motorists, but increases response time for emergency vehicles and prevented students from attending school.
Furthermore, he said, the high water represents a risk to motorists who, unaware of the depth, attempt to cross, and may get swept away in a moving current. The county was unsuccessful in obtaining an extra $100,000 from the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District to raise the roadway. Oliver said he expects work to begin in the coming two weeks, and he believes, optimistically, it could be finished by the end of August. In an unrelated matter, Oliver reported the county applied to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office for $100,000 through the Moving Ohio Forward program. The focus of the program is to help vacate areas of slum and blight, he said, noting, if awarded, grant money would
Wilderness Center hiking event Discover your favorite The Wilderness Center trails and earn rewards. Will you like the Pond Trail (our most popular) or Sigrist Woods? Or the rustic Pioneer Path, the streamside Fox Creek or Sugar Creek Trails, or the deep woods Wilderness Walk? Complete all six Wilderness Center Headquarters tract trails anytime throughout the year and earn your carved hiking staff and-or pin for each year. $12-mem-
ber; $14-nonmember for staff with pin. $7 for pin only. Visit www.wildernesscenter.org for more information. Here’s a challenge for the “real” walkers! Walk 100 miles with TWC. Choose a one-ofa-kind hand-bound walking journal. Walk any time and keep your own record. Complete 100
miles at TWC or in TWC programs, bring in your completed journal, and get a hand-carved hiking boot you can hang from your Extravaganza hiking staff! (You also get to keep the journal!) If you’re here walking that much, we figure you’re a TWC member, so the Wilderness 100’s for members only. $20 each.
be used in Millersburg, Killbuck and “targets of opportunity” throughout the county, to provide homeowners with the funds to voluntarily raze vacant homes and homes that are beyond repair. Once the structures are demolished, the property owners may allow the
ground to revert to green space or can opt to again develop the property, said Oliver, who said the purpose of the program is to help bring value to neighborhoods. Property in the floodplain will be subject to current floodplain regulations. “If you have an abandoned house in a neigh-
borhood, it brings everyone’s property value down,” he said, noting that simple removal of an eyesore can benefit an entire community. Reporter Christine L. Pratt can be reached at 330-674-5676 or by email at cpratt@the-dailyrecord.com.
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