Single bid received for paving around bridge on Holmes County Road 23

MILLERSBURG — The Holmes County commissioners on Monday received one bid for the County Road 23 paving project in preparation for a bridge replacement and township road upgrade.

County Engineer Chris Young will review the $267,648.30 bid received from Melway Paving and present his recommendation to the commissioners at a future meeting. The engineer's project estimate was $274,000.

Hardwood business expanding: Enterprise zone allows Holmes hardwood business to grow, adds jobs

"This is a precursor to the bridge project, so we'd like to get this done as soon as possible," Young said. "We're upgrading the township road to make it safe for the high volume of traffic. When we shut the bridge down, a lot of traffic will go along Township Road 211 from County Road 22 to County Road 23.

"It is normal lately to have only one bid because everyone is so busy," he said. "We hope for the larger bridge project we have multiple bids."

Emergency repair for bridge on County Road 160

Young reported the engineer's department is working on a bridge repair on County Road 160 near the Tuscarawas County and Holmes County line, which required emergency repair after a vehicle smashed into the bridge and cracked the foundation last month.

The driver of the vehicle left the scene and the driver's vehicle was uninsured, which left the county to pick up the $150,000 tab for the emergency repair, Young said.

"We received $70,000 for this project from the Ohio Public Works emergency funds, and we're working with Jobs Ohio to try and get the other half," Young said. I'd like to have this done by the end of June. We have 2,000 cars a day on that road."

Thank you gamblers

Commissioner Joe Miller thanked all the gamblers in Ohio who have helped the counties across the state with their tax base. Holmes County received $159,004.11 in casino tax revenue.

"That is for the first quarter of casino taxes," Miller said. "So thank you gamblers. Keep pulling the levers."

The commissioners also approved resolutions to put $10,000 each month from the county sales tax into the land and building fund for capital improvements, and to put $5,000 each month from the county sales tax into the county airport fund. Should the county run into financial problems, these resolutions can be rescinded.

Strong tax base; money set aside for parks

Miller said Holmes County's sales tax is equal to larger counties such as Wayne and Tuscarawas counties.

He said that $10,000 each month is set aside for capital improvements for the Holmes County Park District and the development of the green space on the county land by the Sheriff's Office.

"We feel that green space is going to be very, very important in the future," he said. "We have 256 acres at the landfill, and we'd like to see something done with it.

Miller also mentioned the importance of the Holmes County Airport to the county.

"We've got a beautiful runway out there and it's being used more and more," he said. "Holmes County Airport is going to be more and more important in years to come."

Commissioner Ray Eyler added he must be in the flight plan for the airport.

"I can sit on my back porch and watch the amount of planes heading for the airport or taking off from it," Eyler said. "All weekend planes were coming and going from out there. It's a busy place."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Melway Paving offer only bid for Holmes County Road 23 repair