Main to be repaved

Main Street will be repaved this summer after a water main replacement that left the street patched for a year. 

Portland Board of Works selected a bid Thursday for work on Main Street from Charles Street to Meridian Street. 

Board members also approved updates to the Golf Brooke Estates lift station near Portland Golf Club.

Last May, work began to replace a 123-year-old water main beneath Main Street on the west side of the city. The work was completed that June and the street was patched in anticipation of being repaved this spring. 

The project was delayed because of bidding procedures and to plan for a flood mitigation project around Jay County Courthouse. The updated bid called for paving Main Street from Charles Street to Pleasant Street, and milling on Main Street from Pleasant to Meridian streets. 

Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman presented two bids for the paving work on Thursday. Milestone Contractors bid $144,275 for the project and Brooks Construction  Company bid $137,074.  

Milestone’s bid included repaving the approaches at each intersection, which Brooks omitted from the project. Milestone also included more square yards of milling and the potential to save up to $8,250 in patch work. 

The board chose Milestone’s bid. Geesaman said he was told the work could begin as soon as July 23. 

Engineering for the flood mitigation project around the courthouse has now been completed by Choice One Engineering and is ready to be sent out for bids.

Because the city is hoping to receive a Community Crossings Grant from Indiana Department of Transportation to cover 75 percent of the cost, project manager Ryan Lefeld was holding off on requesting bids until after he heard back from INDOT about the proper procedure. 

The board told Lefeld to request bids as long as INDOT gives the OK. He estimated the project to fix the stormwater lines, with paving of the road after the work is completed, would cost around $630,000. 

Also on Thursday, the board approved work to repair the lift station for Golf Brook Estates, which is located on the south side of Portland near Portland Golf Club.  

The city received two bids, one from Jutte Excavation for $61,960 and the other from Crosby Construction in Fort Wayne for $117,900. The work entails putting in a new concrete structure, slide rails and a cabinet. 

Board member Bill Gibson brought up that the city is paying for the lift station, even though the residents who use it live outside the city limits and don’t pay city taxes and fees. 

“How much money have we taken in off the Golf Brook’s Estates since that pump was replaced the last time?” Gibson asked. “Taxpayers in the City of Portland are losing money on that out there because they don’t pay enough revenue to even cover that … pump.” 

The pump is just one of many that the city covers, Geesaman said. The board agreed it had no choice but to repair the lift station and selected Jutte’s bid, but will discuss the issue further. 

“I think we need to do something, either turn that thing over to them or annex them or do something to get that revenue back to where we at least can afford to keep repairing these pumps,” Gibson said. 

In other business, board members Jerry Leonhard, Geesaman and Gibson: 

•Hired Zachary Hudson and Jason McAbee to the Portland Street Department and Eric Fields to the Portland Police Department. 

•Approved the purchase of a 2018 truck from Moser Motors for $23,614. The board received quotes for both two-wheel and four-wheel-drive trucks from Fuqua, Moser Motors and Fincannon Ford.

Wastewater treatment plant superintendent Brad Clayton said he preferred a four-wheel-drive truck so it can pull trailers and plow snow during the winter. 

Fincannon’s bid for $23,160 was the lowest of the three, but did not include a tow package valued at $595. The board selected Moser Motors’, which was the next lowest. 

•Approved the purchase of a truck for the Water Department as well. The board received three bids: $26,200 from Fincannon Ford, $31,957.36 from

Moser Motors and $32,777 from Fuqua. The board selected the low bid from Fincannon Ford. 

•Tabled discussion on the trash and recycling pickup in the city until Geesaman receives additional information.