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Engineer named for Salem project

SALEM –The process of selecting an engineer for street improvements went a little bit smoother this year, Mayor John Berlin said.

City Service/Safety Director Ken Kenst announced last week that Howells & Baird had been selected as the engineering firm for the 2017 paving project, with a contract agreement for $118,275.

Four firms had submitted statements of qualifications, with all four evaluated and ranked after their material was individually reviewed by a committee consisting of Berlin, Councilman Brian Whitehill and Assistant Utilities Superintendent Matt Hoopes.

The other three firms were HRG Incorporated of Boardman, W.E. Quicksall of New Philadelphia and M.S. Consultants of Youngstown.

The city used the same process last year, with the mayor, Kenst and city Auditor Betty Brothers doing the ranking, but the method was questioned by members of council, particularly by Streets, Alleys & Sidewalks Chairman Clyde Brown. Howells & Baird had been the successful applicant on last year’s project, too.

For this year’s project, a member of council was on the committee, along with a representative of the utilities department, which had already used the same process for selecting engineers. According to the legal notice, statements of qualifications were to include information about: the firm’s history; education and experience of the owners and key technical personnel; the technical expertise of the firm’s current staff; the firm’s experience in performing engineering studies, design, construction administration and construction observation; availability of staff; the firm’s equipment and facilities; at least three references; and any previous work performed of a similar nature and the location of that work.

The legal ad also said the project was estimated at $1.7 million for the repaving of 7 miles of 17 streets. The ad was published Dec. 12 and 19 and submissions were due Dec. 30. Berlin said the committee met in January and each member scored the four firms individually after reading through the qualifications. The mayor and Hoopes contacted all the references for work done previously. The scoring of all three members of the committee was compiled by Hoopes for a final report.

All three had ranked Howells & Baird at the top, so the Salem firm was given the proposed scope of work and made an offer for the contract price which the committee found acceptable.

Council had already given Kenst permission to contract with the selected engineer after securing qualifications. Kenst signed the contract last Tuesday and the firm has 75 days to complete the engineering, but Berlin said he’s hoping it will take less time. Jon Vollnogle is the engineer working on the project.

“He knows we need to get this out early to get the best price for asphalt,” Berlin said.

Both the mayor and Kenst said they’re expecting the project to be bid out in April, with bids opened possibly in early May. Council will need to pass legislation to seek the bids.

This will be the second year for a streets project to be paid mostly by the .25 percent additional income tax approved by voters specifically for improvements to streets, alleys, sidewalks, storm sewers and curbs. Last year’s project came in way under bid, so they were able to add additional work to the project.

The Streets, Alleys & Sidewalks Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday to discuss this year’s paving project and additional streets that could be added depending on how the bids come in by the paving companies.

There’s also storm sewer projects planned on Jennings and Monroe at an estimated cost of $168,000. Howells & Baird had already been hired for those projects, with engineering costs set at $10,725 and $7,750.

mgreier@salemnews.net

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