GENEVA — After years of work, Geneva City Council approved a bid for the long-delayed West Main infrastructure project on Monday evening during a special meeting.
“Nobody pinch us and wake us up,” said Geneva City Council President Philip Cordova after a 6-0 vote to accept a $8,993,754.56 bid for the project from Fabrizi Trucking and Paving Co.
The project has been discussed as far back as 15 years ago, Cordova said recently.
The project started to come into focus in 2019 and then the coronavirus pandemic threw construction projects for a loop as inflation increased costs significantly.
The city advertised for bids multiple times during the last several years and came back with no bids, a bid too high compared to engineer’s projection and a bid that did not meet Ohio Department of Transportation specifications.
A $3 million grant to the city, received earlier this year, helped make the project a better possibility as the amount of the bid could be increased and the amount of a city loan for the project could be decreased.
Council approved the bid and also approved a revised proposal from the Mannik Smith Group for construction inspectional administrative services at a cost of $644,000.
The company had been accepted in the spring of 2022 through a competitive bid process.
City Manager Joseph Varckette said this approval opens the door for the city to move forward on multiple steps that will hopefully allow work to begin on the project in late January. He said the contractor would then work out the details as to the exact start date.
The project involves significant utility reconstruction under Route 20 on West Main Street. It will also see the removal of street car tracks buried beneath the road.
