Salem-Noble Road project gets OK; County’s cost lowered about $220,000

Clark County

Discussion

July 10, 2009

By BRADEN LAMMERS The News and Tribune Fri Jul 10, 2009, 12:12 PM EDT

The Salem-Noble Road project is moving forward and it has a new price tag.

Kelly Khuri, a Clark County resident who lives along Salem-Noble Road, collected about 150 signatures from her neighbors to push the Clark County Commissioners at a Thursday meeting to approve the project’s funding.

“I stopped when I found out [funding] had been settled,” she said. “Everyone is for it, obviously.”

The original price tag for the project — which will install a traffic light at Salem-Noble Road and Ind. 62 as well as extended turn lanes on the highway — was $812,000. That amount is the 20 percent match for local funding, because it is being paid for through the Transportation Improvement Program, or TIP.

Through TIP funding, the remaining 80 percent of the cost is federally funded via the Indiana Department of Transportation.

According to the original proposal, the county’s cost would have been $406,000. The other half of the $812,000 was going to come from the River Ridge Development Authority, which has already approved another traffic light that will be constructed at Ind. 62 and River Ridge Circle.

But the new proposal has reduced some cost and split the funding three ways between the city of Jeffersonville, Clark County and River Ridge.

“They [River Ridge Executive Director Jerry Acy and Jeffersonville Planning Director Jim Urban] have removed all of the extraneous costs that are on the ammunition plant property proper, so that those really aren’t public roadway costs anymore,” said Greg Fifer, attorney for the commissioners. “It’s made the total project cost somewhat smaller, brings down the total local match to $738,000.”

The remaining cost would be split, with River Ridge providing half of the $738,000, and Clark County and the city of Jeffersonville dividing the remainder.

“The city, through negotiations — I don’t want to speak for the city — has more or less approved spending half,” said Commissioner Ed Meyer.

The new cost for the county will be just less than $185,000, Fifer said.

The proposal must still be approved and finalized by the Clark County Council, Jeffersonville and River Ridge.

“I intend on letting the council know that I will be going back to them [at] the August meeting and asking for the up to $185,000 for Salem-Noble Road,” said Commissioner Mike Moore.

At the previous commissioners meeting, Moore had made a motion to approve county funding for up to $375,000. It failed because no one made a motion to second.

“I think that saved us a couple hundred thousand dollars,” Meyer said on not approving the motion.

In other business

• The commissioners provided five names for the Clark County Memorial Hospital Association, which was created as part of the agreement for the county to help the hospital refinance its debt. The hospital association is an administrative body, appointed by the county commissioners, to oversee the bond allocation.

The names provided were: Don Allen, Reid Bailey, Travis Haire, Corey Hoehn and Jill Oca. The association was approved 2-0, with Mike Moore abstaining because of what he called lack of information provided by the hospital in seeking the refinancing agreement. The agreement must still be approved by the Clark County Council, and will be up for vote Monday.

• An open bid for a paver of $253,798 was accepted by commissioners. Whayne Supply Co. — which was not the low bidder — received the contract because of the higher quality of machine offered and the trade-in-value given for the old paver.

• A low bid of $334,600 was accepted by the commissioners for construction of Bridge 76 in Henryville at Blue Lick Road. Gohmann Asphalt and Construction Inc. was awarded the contract.