STEUBENVILLE - Jefferson County commissioners Thursday discussed spring and summer projects, including a major bridge replacement that will only cost the county $38,000.
Jefferson County Engineer James Branagan said the county will be replacing a bridge on county Road 75 that will be funded 75 percent through the Federal Highway Administration.
The county several years ago replaced a bridge in Irondale and built it to Federal Highway Administration standards at a cost of $400,000. As a result, the county received a $400,000 credit for future projects involving the Federal Highway Administration.
The bridge replacement on county Road 75 will cost $700,000, and, with the Federal Highway Administration credit, the county will only have to pay $38,000 instead of a $157,000 price tag. The county still will have about $250,000 in future bridge credits with the Federal Highway Administration, Branagan said.
The Ohio Department of Transportation will bid the bridge replacement job and oversee construction, he said.
Commissioners also approved contracts for the county engineer's department for the purchase of asphalt materials and aggregates for summer road paving work.
Branagan anticipates an aggressive paving program this summer - both chip and seal and hot-mix asphalt paving.
Commissioners also gave Branagan permission to purchase several pieces of equipment for the engineer's department, including a $113,000 dump truck and $150,000 self-propelled chip-and-seal spreader. Branagan said his crews had problems last summer with the current chip-and-seal spreader, which reduced the amount of miles of roads paved.
Commissioners also discussed leaks in the Courthouse Annex roof. Proposals to patch the roof are about one-third the cost of installing a new roof. Commissioner David Maple said the county needs to develop a long-term strategy for the building, since the only office in the building is the board of elections. The rest of the building is used for storage of files and documents.
Commissioners also discussed installing a new floor on the hallway of the third floor of the courthouse. The flooring on the second floor was replaced earlier this year.
County Commissioner Tom Gentile suggested the county get proposals to replace the wooden benches outside the courthouse with composite materials that require less maintenance and painting.
County Commissioner Thomas Graham was absent from the meeting.
The Steubenville Revitalization Group asked the commissioners in a letter to put concrete planters that once were used on downtown streets in front of the courthouse. The group will be responsible for the plantings and watering throughout the summer.
Maple said he wants to see the condition of the planters before agreeing.
(Law can be contacted at mlaw@heraldstaronline.)
