More Bartholomew County roadwork planned for this year

More Bartholomew County road projects are back on the schedule, after receiving unexpected state funding for road work.

Bartholomew County Commissioners President Tony London said that the governor has signed into a bill that will mean more than $843,000 in funding that had previously been denied to the county. Previously, the county was frozen out of funding under the Community Crossings Grant program with commissioners saying that the rejection was presumably because county officials have refused to institute a wheel tax, charged on vehicle registrations. The county had applied for $1 million in matching funds from the grant program for this year but was approved for zero.

Commissioners did caution that with rising price of gasoline, as well as oil based products such as asphalt, the road funding will not go as far as it would have if approved earlier.

The County Council had already approved $1.5 million in funding for road projects to replace the loss of the expected state funds. And commissioners agreed earlier tin the month to use half a million dollars in income tax revenue for road projects.

Commissioners opened bids for the county road overlay program at their meeting Monday. There were three bidders with a $1.87 million bid from Milestone Contractors, $1.98 million from Dave O Mara and $2 million from All Star Paving. Commissioners took the bids under advisement.