LISBON — Lindy Paving, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pa. submitted the lowest bids for street improvement projects in Lisbon and Salem through Columbiana County’s Community Development Block Grant funding.

County commissioners opened the bids for both projects during their meeting Wednesday morning. Salem engineering firm Howells & Baird will review the bids and make recommendations for the awarding of the contracts.

Howells & Baird engineer Jon Vollnogle was in attendance at the meeting, along with Lisbon Mayor Peter Wilson, Salem Service/Safety Director Joe Cappuzzello and Columbiana County Port Authority representatives, Assistant Executive Director Brittany Smith and Project Coordinator Elise Wallace. The CCPA administers the CDBG program for the commissioners.

The projects are both slated for construction this summer.

In Salem, East Fourth Street, East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street will be resurfaced. The engineer’s estimate for the project totaled $335,094. The bids included: Lindy Paving, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., $292,913; The Shelly Company, Twinsburg, $351,327; Shelly & Sands, Inc., Zanesville, $404,458; R.T. Vernal Paving, Inc., North Lima, $299,899; and R&R Paving, Lisbon, $355,111.

In Lisbon, East Washington Street will be resurfaced from Market Street to state Route 45, with the engineer’s estimate totaling $200,767.

The bids included: Lindy Paving, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., $173,989; The Shelly Company, Twinsburg, $207,580; Shelly & Sands, Inc., Zanesville, $244,800; R.T. Vernal Paving, Inc., North Lima, $199,535; and R&R Paving, Lisbon, $219,743.

In other action, the commissioners authorized the application for a credit card though Huntington Bank with a limit of $10,000 for the county Emergency Management Agency for uses outlined in the Columbiana County Credit Card Policy. The request noted the credit card will be used for expenses related to training and drills.

The commissioners also granted permission to the Lisbon Area Chamber of Commerce to use the courthouse parking lot for the Christmas in July celebration on July 26 and the Trunk or Treat Zombie Crawl event on Oct. 25. Gwendell and Anthony Boley received permission to hunt on the county’s County Home Road, Lisbon property.

In business related to the county Department of Job and Family Services, commissioners approved changes to the Prevention, Retention, Contingency (PRC) Plan to add this year’s summer youth program from May 1 to Sept. 30. County DJFS Director Rachel Ketterman said the program for teens age 14 to 18 years old served nine kids last year and 12 kids the year before that.

“We’ll serve as many kids as we can,” she said.

Following her recommendation, commissioners approved a new contract for agency cleaning services with Patton Building Services, Inc from May 1, 2025 to April 30, 2026 with a spending ceiling of $54,342, an ongoing contract with Insight Clinical Counseling and Wellness, LLC for counseling services for employees from May 11, 2025 to May 10, 2026 with a spending ceiling of $9,950 and a contract with Speak Write, LLC for transcription software services from June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026 with a spending ceiling of $9,950.

Commissioners also approved the biennial subgrant agreement for DJFS executed by the Ohio DJFS, Ohio Department of Medicaid and Ohio Department of Children and Youth for state fiscal years 2026 and 2027. The agreement will be in effect from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027 and allows the county DJFS to draw down money from state and federal allocations for operations.

The next meeting of the commissioners will be held at 9 a.m. April 23 in the downtown courthouse.

mgreier@mojonews.com