GENEVA TOWNSHIP – The paving of Austin Road in Geneva Township and Geneva-on-the-Lake will be getting underway following the acceptance of a bid for the project.
According to Geneva Township Trustee Chair Tim Mills, four bids were received for the work. Koski Construction of Ashtabula was the successful bidder, at $298,352.75 for the township portion and $77,311.25 for the GOTL part of the project, for a total of $375,664.
Geneva Township trustees accepted the $298,352.75 bid at their July meeting.
“We’ve approved everything and signed the contract,” Mills said.
Minutes, meanwhile, from the July 20th GOTL Village Council meeting show that council gave the go-ahead to the village fiscal officer to authorize the execution of a then-and-now certificate to reimburse the township $77,311.25 for the work.
“They’re definitely in,” Mills said of the village’s involvement.
Other bids for the project for both the township and village were:
• Geauga Highway, total of $457,579
• Ronyak Paving, total of $398,953
• Carvo Paving, total of $396,584
Mills was happy with the amount of the low bid for the township because it came in under the budgeted amount of $330,000. He said the engineer’s estimate was $13,000 higher.
“We saved quite a bit of money,” he said.
The paving will put down a two-inch overlay on the road, which is a major thoroughfare in the township that goes past Geneva Platt R. Spencer Elementary School.
Although it’s been chipped and sealed three times, the road hasn’t been paved since 2000.
Mills said the paving is needed.
“It’s starting to rut,” he said. “It’s time to put a top coat on it and, hopefully, it will be good for another 10 to 15 years.”
There isn’t yet an exact start date for the project, but Mills would like to get it done before school starts and Thunder on the Strip takes place in GOTL.
“I’m hoping in the next two weeks we can start,” he said on July 29, when asked for comment by the Gazette. “We’re going to push to get it as early as possible.”
The township portion of the road is about three miles long, while the GOTL portion is about three-quarters of a mile.
Mills believes the paving will be a big improvement.
“It should be nice and smooth,” he said.
With the road newly paved and smooth, Mills said water should run to the edge of the road and slush won’t lay in the rutted parts and then freeze. He said this will cut down on the amount of salt that has to be used in the winter.
