Groundbreaking on the Daviess County Courthouse Annex Project should be in February or March. Lead architect on the project, Jonathan Lamar reviewed details of the building and office layouts at Tuesday’s Daviess County Commissioners meeting. He said construction documents will likely be submitted December 11th, and bids should be solicitated on the 18th with bids due the last week of the year. The projected cost of the project still remains in the $8 million range.
Also at yesterday’ s commissioners meeting, Michelle Carrico with the Southern Indiana Economic Development Commission held a public hearing on a the third round grant application to fund the replacement of the 90 year-old Courthouse windows. The grant would be for $500,000 with the total cost of the project estimated at $755,000. The Commissioners agreed to submit the grant request to the Office of Community and Rural Affairs but Carrico told them that getting the grant “might be a stretch”.
A request from County Highway Superintendent Phil Cornelius’s to use $9,700 of E-911 Funds to purchase road signs for Harrison, Reeve, and Veale Townships has been approved by the Daviess County Commissioners. The new signs will be larger and meet new standards for reflectivity. Cornelius said the County has replaced signs along the State Highways, and was now systematically moving through the county’s townships with the new road signs.
In other highway business, Cornelius presented the results of an engineering study of the intersection at CR 550 N and 1100 E. The intersection currently has a temporary 4-way stop, but the study recommended that there be a 2-way stop, with traffic on 1100 E stopping and 550 N having the right of way. The Commissioners approved the study and also directed the highway department place school zone signs along the roads to warn traffic of the presence of an Amish school at the intersection.
Also at the meeting, County Engineer Jason Heile reported that bids on the 15th Street Bridge project would be presented at the next Commissioners meeting. Heile said work should begin in the spring and hopes work on the bridge will be finished in the fall of next year.