County getting stimulus dollars

By Ken de la Bastide
Tribune enterprise editor

July 09, 2009 10:36 pm

— Federal stimulus money for 14 Howard County road projects could start flowing by September.
Ted Cain, superintendent of the Howard County Highway Department, said 14 of the 18 county projects approved for the federal aid are scheduled for the acceptance of bids in August by the Indiana Department of Transportation.
“This is 100 percent federally funded,” Cain said. “The county has to pay for any cost overruns, which shouldn’t be a problem.”
The cost of the 14 projects has been estimated at approximately $2 million, and if the other projects are approved, it will add $500,000.
Cain said, with the projects being federally funded, the winning bidders should get notice to proceed in September.
Included in the work will be repaving work on a section of county roads.
Two of the larger projects are 850 East from 200 North to 400 North and 1350 East from 200 North to 400 North.
Cain said the county first submitted a list of 25 projects. Seven were not approved on the grounds that they required more than repaving work.
“This is a blessing,” Cain said of the federal funding.
The federal funding will not impact the local paving projects the county highway department is doing this year.
“We have a good paving program, so most of the roads are in good shape,” Cain said. “This will provide funds in the future to do more paving work with county dollars.”
The federal funding is an unusual situation, and an opportunity that won’t be repeated in the future, he said.
• Ken de la Bastide is the Kokomo Tribune enterprise editor. He can be reached at (765) 454-8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@
kokomotribune.com