Four companies are vying for the construction contract to revamp the Frances Wooden Northside Park.
Sealed bids were opened Wednesday during the regular meeting of the Board of Public Works & Safety. Bids were received from three Indianapolis companies, All American Construction and Hauling LLC in the amount of $582,000; Abel Construction Company in the amount of $460,271; and Morphy Construction Company in the amount of $445,000; and one Lafayette company, Spencer Construction, in the amount of $368,000.
The park is located by the historic Bethel AME Church and has ties to the Underground Railroad. It is expected to receive a full update next year, with construction tentatively starting in the spring. The project will be funded by an anonymous donor through the Montgomery County Community Foundation and the city.
The bids opened Wednesday were tabled for review.
The board also approved the 2023 budgets for trash service, the central garage, storm water and wastewater. The trash service budget is $343,359, which is up 9% over last year; the central garage budget is up about $25,000 over last year and is $321,765; and the storm water budget is up about $100,000 and is $707,846. Increases are due to higher fuel costs, labor and benefits and repairs and maintenance of equipment.
The board also approved the wastewater budget, which is broken down into the following categories: $57,818 for administration; $363,520 for billing; $637,630 for collections; $188,800 for surveillance; and $2,806,650 for treatment.
In other business, the board:
• Approved an agreement between the city and VisionThree. This is the company providing virtual reality career services at all high schools in Indiana. The company will set up a virtual reality lab at Fusion 54 for high school students to use for career exploration and it will program content that features Crawfordsville and its industries to be featured statewide. The amount of the agreement is for $116,560. Funds for the project will come from tax increment financing.
• Approved an agreement with HWC Engineering for land acquisition services related to Schenck Road project. The amount of the agreement is not to exceed $39,5010.
• Approved Dr. Varun Koneru as the new medical director for the Crawfordsville Fire Department. The amount of the agreement is for $28,800, which will be paid in two installments. Current medical director, Dr. John Roberts, will stay on for the next six months to help with the transition. State law recently changed and now requires an emergency medicine physician to serve as medical director.
• Learned the street department is still collecting leaves.
