Full steam ahead for Franklin Avenue reconstruction project

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

A paving project contract for Franklin Avenue, south of Salem has been officially approved the by Henry County Board of Supervisors, and the project is slated to begin soon.

According to Jake Hotchkiss, Henry County engineer, Shipley Construction Company of Burlington was awarded the project. Shipley had the most competitive bid, coming in at $1,166,302.36, which was only 8.5 percent under Hotchkiss? original project estimate of $1,275,256.10.

In total, there were nine companies bidding on project.

?The bids we got were very competitive and I am very happy with the price we got with Shipley,? said Hotchkiss. ?They (Shipley Construction) have done work in Mt. Pleasant before and I am confident in their ability to do the work required for this project.?

Once the Iowa Department of Transportation gives their approval of the Franklin Avenue project, Hotchkiss can officially begin work on the project. However, Hotchkiss estimates that it will take at least another three to four weeks for official documentation from the Iowa Department of Transportation to be approved so that the project can begin.

Besides an approval from the county supervisors on the Franklin Avenue project, Hotchkiss also gained approval for a Henry County dust control program. According to Hotchkiss, the sign-up deadline with a dust control applicator is May 1, 2015. Applicators must be listed with the county engineer?s office by May 4, 2015, as the starting date for application will be May 11, 2015.

Those with questions or concerns regarding the dust application process are asked to direct all inquiries to an applicator company of their choosing. Once individuals have made personal arrangements with a dust control company, each company will coordinate services with the Henry County Engineer?s Office.

The last major item of business to be presented by Hotchkiss was a motion to hire Iowa State University civil engineering student, Brach Prough, as a 2015 summer intern for the Henry County Engineer?s Office at the rate of $12.00 an hour.

?We have a lot of opportunities here in Henry County to give Brach some experience as we have quite a workload this summer in terms of construction,? said Hotchkiss. ?I think Brach will be a good fit for us and we are excited to have him working with us.?

Prough will officially begin his internship with the county on May 9 and will likely finish in August.

In addition to a weekly report from Hotchkiss, the board also had a number of appointments to approve including the appointment of Katie Byczek as a Canaan Township Clerk, and Klay Edwards and David File as members of the Henry County Revolving Loan Fund Committee.

The board also heard a presentation from Denise Ballard of Two Rivers Insurance regarding insurance rates for fiscal year 2015-2016.

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be Tuesday, March 17.

There will not be a meeting held on Thursday, March 12, as the supervisors will be attending a meeting out of town.