FR moves on court project

FORT RECOVERY — The courts project at Community Park is moving forward.

Fort Recovery Village Council members Monday awarded the contract for the project to Bruns Construction Enterprises.

They also approved the 2018 budget.

Bruns turned in the lowest bid for the courts project at $399,272.50. Choice Once Engineering had previously estimated the cost at $409,650.

The project will add two tennis courts and a basketball court to the park as part of its overall renovation that has been taking place over the past three years. The plans had to be adjusted after they were sent out for bid previously and only one bid was received. Diller changed a few of the specifications and pushed back the timeline to allow work to continue into next year.

Council member Dave Bretz expressed concern over the cost of the project.

“It just seems like a lot for a basketball court for me,” Bretz said.

But the money won’t be spent solely on courts, said village administrator Randy Diller.

“You gotta remember that there’s at least $150,000 of that is parking lots and stuff that is going to be used for other things,” Diller said. “The biggest difference is we extended the time frame, we allowed them to go into next year to get it done, that’s when we picked up the other two bidders and the cost went down. Because most of them, if they were going to do it this year they were going to pay (overtime) to get it done, so they bid it higher accordingly.”

Additionally, the village has received outside funding in the form of a $125,000 grant from the state and a $10,000 private donation.

Council members Bretz, Dave Garman, Scott Pearson, Cliff Wendel, Erik Fiely and Al Post also approved the 2018 budget on their third and final reading.

In other news, council:

•Learned the village will be changing the way police officers are paid for special duty at school athletic events. Erin Minor, village solicitor, told council that police officers used to be paid directly by the school. If the school board approves the new contract, the village will receive payment for the officers’ hours and then will pay them. The new arrangement is designed to ensure that the officers are covered by the village’s workers compensation policy in case of injury while on the job.

“So there’s going to be no confusion that when the officers are providing security at the athletic events that they are village employees at that time and they are operating within the scope of their employment,” Minor said.

The contract will be presented to the school board in August.

•Approved a pay request of $131,180 for the Lagoon curtain project. Diller told council the project is practically complete, and only a few minor details need to be wrapped up.

•Learned a farmer’s market will be held July 29, Aug. 26 and Sept. 30 at Sunshine Boutique parking lot, 128 N. Wayne St., Fort Recovery. It will be an opportunity for Fort Recovery residents to sell their homemade and locally grown products.

•Heard from Minor that the Fort Recovery merchants will not be pursuing outdoor refreshment areas this year. These areas allow people to drink alcohol outside without violating open container laws. She said the merchants would consider applying for a zone in the future.