Bid rejection slows Bollman project

The project to improve safety at Bollman St. and the intersection of 13th St. has suffered a setback with the rejection of the only bid the City of Decatur received for the project.

The board of works and safety rejected at its recent meeting a bid of $176,076.99 from Brooks Construction of Fort Wayne.

The bid “is three times more than what we were expecting,” city Operations Manager Jeremy told the board. The engineer’s estimate for the project was $53,000.

Gilbert said he has been talking with another contractor

“who’s shown more interest” in the project and he will report to the board at its next meeting.

At its meeting following the board of works meeting, city council approved an additional appropriation of $225,000 for the city’s redevelopment commission. The move was made after no public comments were heard at a public hearing. Moving around “They’re just moving money around so they can do this,” Mayor Dan Rickord said, referring to the Bollman/13th project which has been labeled a signalization improvement.

The redevelopment commission has been working with Gilbert and the Indiana Department of

Transportation (INDOT) on developing the project. Some of the cost will be absorbed by INDOT.

“That intersection is just not real great,” in terms of safety, Gilbert has said.

The local project is being done now since INDOT is performing some other work in that area.

The city is also planning to construct sidewalks in the Bollman/13th St. area this summer, with an eye toward the numerous residents of nearby Village Green Apartments who travel to the nearby Village Green Shopping Center.

Whether or not that will be set back due to the contract rejection of the first phase of the project is not known.