Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Five companies bid on the reconstruction work of Clark Street from Cook to Maple streets, but the winner not only provided the lowest bid, but their quote also was almost half of what the engineer’s estimate was for the project.
Warsaw Public Works Director Dustin Dillon told the Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday an invitation for sealed bids was advertised for the reconstruction work. Sealed bids were received and opened at a Nov. 24 special meeting.
The five companies that furnished bids included C & E Excavating, $478,000; DC Construction, $342,354; Milestone Contractors, $429,690; Phend & Brown Inc., $341,324.50; and Pulver Asphalt Paving Inc., $261,463.75.
The engineer’s estimate for the project was $504,022.58.
“So after reviewing the bids by city staff and USI Consultants, our designer, our recommendation is to award the bid to Pulver Asphalt Paving in the amount of $261,463.75,” Dillon said.
Mayor Jeff Grose said there was a wide range in the bid amounts. He asked Dillon if the bids were lower than what he expected. Dillon said they figured they’d be right around the mid-$300,000 range, and the engineer’s estimate was around a half million dollars.
“We had very aggressive bids. Super thankful for all the bidders, but from what (city engineer) Aaron (Ott) and I had talked, we projected it to be in that mid-three. So very aggressive bids, and for three of them for sure. Pulver definitely wanted it. Pulver has done work with us. They recently just did Petro Drive. They did Kincaide sidewalk project. I think they’re looking to move over, do a little more work in our community. They’ve done good work so far. It’s been great having them here,” Dillon said.
He stated sometimes they’re lucky to have one bidder on a project, so to have five they’re very thankful.
Board member George Clemens noted all the bidders are reputable companies. The board unanimously accepted Dillon’s recommendation to award the project to Pulver.
Later in the meeting, Dillon presented the owner-contractor agreement with Pulver Asphalt Inc. for the reconstruction of Clark Street from Cook to Maple streets, including updating the sidewalks and curbs. Dillon said it’ll be an extension of the Lincoln sidewalk project completed last year. The board approved the agreement.
For the Anchorage Road project, Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner presented a $2,500 pay application from American Structurepoint. The project is the improvement and widening of Anchorage Road from Ind. 15 to Biomet Drive. It is an 80/20 Indiana Department of Transportation-funded project.
Skinner reminded the board, “As you are aware, this project has went to letting and we’ve accepted the low bid, which came in around $4.1 million. We paid our percentage match, which was just under $1.8 million, so hopefully in the spring Anchorage Road reconstruction will start. This is just to cover bidding costs, according to that engineer contract, in the amount of $2,500.”
The board approved the pay application.
Skinner then presented a contingency allowance proposal from Robinson Construction totaling $44,805 for five allocations for the new Warsaw Public Works facility on West Center Street.
“Most of it centers around some fire hydrant relocation in addition, so the bulk of the additional costs associated with this allowance is associated with those fire hydrants,” he explained.
As part of the contract, there was a built-in contingency allowance of $150,000, so there is about $105,000 remaining for contingencies for the project.
After the board approved the contingencies, Skinner presented pay application No. 5 from Robinson Construction for the Public Works facility in the amount of $562,260.91. Skinner said if the board approved the pay application, it would then be submitted to the bonding agency for payment.
Ott said Robinson Construction was moving along on the project and “we’re probably going to see decent-size pay applications regularly moving forward.”
The total contract sum to date is $13,298,020.33. Previous approved payments total $1,645,271.24. The balance remaining after pay application No. 5 is $11,090,488.18.
The board unanimously approved the pay application.
Ott presented pay application No. 2 from Core Mechanical Services for $35,959.88 for Warsaw City Hall HVAC improvements that have been completed so far, along with materials.
Grose said it looks like it’ll be late January, all of February and maybe early March when Core Mechanical will be working in the area of the council chambers and public meetings will have to be held in the Warsaw Police Department training facility.
Ott said contractually Core Mechanical is still within the timeframe to get the work completed.
The board approved that pay application.
In other business, the board approved:
• Pay application No. 1 as the final pay application from Brooks Construction Co. Inc. for $219,849, as requested by Dillon. He said it came in $35,060.50 under what Brooks’ awarded bid was. It was for the milling and paving of the four streets downtown Warsaw: a section of Center Street, Lake Street in front of the Justice Building, courthouse Main Street going back and then East Fort Wayne Street from Ind. 15 to Buffalo Street. Dillon said Brooks did a “very good job” and it went “very smooth.”
• The 2026 annual agreement with BIT Computers Inc. for IT management and services for the annual amount of $223,500, as presented by Staci Young, assistant to the mayor. The city is billed monthly.
• The 2026 contract between the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory and Lexipol for $11,561.43, as requested by Fire Chief Joel Shilling. The agreement is for ongoing maintenance of the department’s policies and procedures. The WWFT Board approved the contract at their meeting Tuesday. It’ll be the second year for the contract.
• The new hire and change in payroll report, as reported by Human Resource Director Denny Harlan. It included 273 changes for all of the city’s employees, council and board members and elected officials for 2026. The changes give the city civil employees each a $1,600 raise and a 2% raise for firefighters and police, which the Common Council approved of earlier this year. The raises take effect Dec. 21, as that is the first payday for 2026.
“It’s a good reminder of how many people it takes to run the city,” Clemens said.
• City Planner Justin Taylor’s request to apply for a $5,000 grant, on behalf of the Warsaw Public Arts Commission, from the Indiana Arts Commission. The grant will help the WPAC put together some funds to participate in the America 250 celebration in June 2026. “We’re looking for a project that could be displayed during that celebration,” he explained.
• A contract with Emans Engineering for 2026 for on-call professional engineering services at $165 per hour, not to exceed $16,500, as requested by Wastewater Utility Superintendent Brian Davison. He said they didn’t use it at all in 2025, but did use his services in the past.
