Council chooses contractor’s bid for streetscape

Ashtabula company awarded pact to perform Phase 1 of endeavor

Fairport Harbor Village Council has selected an Ashtabula company to perform Phase 1 of a streetscape improvement project in the community’s downtown.

Council, during its Aug. 17 meeting, voted unanimously to accept the bid of Union Industrial Contractors.

The company will construct and install a variety of enhancements on High Street between Third and

Fourth streets.

The pact with Union Industrial Contractors calls for the company to receive $262,436 for completing the project.

Village Engineer Clyde Hadden said he reviewed the company’s bid and verified that it “conformed with all contract requirements.”

“It is our opinion that they are experienced and qualified to perform the work within the contract,” Hadden wrote in a letter to village Administrator Amy Cossick.

Now that council has approved the bid, village government leaders can schedule a pre-construction meeting to determine a project start date, Cossick said in an Aug. 18 email exchange with The News-Herald.

However, work won’t begin until after the 2021 Village Fest is held on Aug. 28.

The site for the festival encompasses High Street from Fourth to Second streets, and Third Street from Eagle to High streets.

It’s estimated that the project will take about two months to finish.

“We are anticipating a completion date by the end of October,” Cossick said.

Phase 1 of the project will consist of the following improvements

along High Street, from Third to Fourth Street:

• New sidewalks

• New and additional streetlights

• New entrance signs to the downtown district

• New Americans with Disabilities Act accessible curb ramps at crosswalks and improved ADA accessibility to downtown businesses.

These new and enhanced features were recommended as the initial phase of a more comprehensive plan developed in 2017 to update the streetscape of Fairport Harbor’s downtown district.

That plan was crafted through a cooperative effort involving Fairport Harbor Village Council and the consulting firm Envision Group of Cleveland.

However, efforts to accomplish goals of the plan failed to gain momentum until after Cossick became village administrator in 2018. She eventually decided to submit a CDBG application to fund the first phase of the project only.

In July 2020, Fairport Harbor received a $265,000 Community Development Block Grant to apply toward the overall cost of the project’s first phase.

At that time, the village also committed to provide a $55,000 local match, for a project that originally was estimated to cost $320,000.

For Union Industrial Contractors, the streetscape project will mark its second major construction endeavor in Fairport Harbor this year.

The company also is currently carrying out a project to make major enhancements and upgrades at the village’s water treatment plant.

Cossick