Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

A project to install about a quarter mile of paved trail near the Wabashiki Fish & Wildlife Area, which includes an area next to the Wabash River, may have to be rebid.

The Vigo County Park Board on Monday opened the lone bid for the trail project from Milestone Contractors at $261,397.

“I had hoped for something in the $160,000 to $170,000 range. We can’t afford $261,000,” Vigo Parks Superintendent Adam Grossman said Tuesday.

The trail would run through property owned by the parks department both east and west of an elevated walkway along the wildlife area.

On the east side, it would extend to a 3.4 acre lot on West Taylor Drive next to the Wabash River. On the west side, it would extend to a trailhead and native flower meadow/butterfly garden.

That trailhead was dedicated in 2016 by the Parks Department as the eastern trailhead as an alternative access to the Wabashiki Trail at the Wabaskiki Fish & Wildlife Area. It includes a flagstone “Y-shaped” trailhead at 483 S. Sampson Place, West Terre Haute, with parking for 12 vehicles and a seeded demonstrative native flower meadow. That was done through a $10,000 Lowe’s Community Partners Grant Program through Keep America Beautiful.

In 2019, the parks department received a $210,000 Indiana Trails Program grant, with 80% paid by the state and 20% by the county, to continue to improve the trailhead. The maximum the state will pay on that grant is $168,000 Grosssman said.

Grossman said the parks department would refurbish about a fifth of a mile of concrete on the project’s west side in an effort to reduce cost. That work is in addition to the quarter-mile project that was bid out.

Grossman said the Parks Department used some of the state grant funds to pay for a required archeology study prior to starting the trail project.

“We will reach out to the lone bidder and will likely have to rebid the project with clarification in the specifications, including erosion control,” Grossman said. “We will probably take some things like signage and parking bumpers out. It will not save us much, but we can shave off a little” of the project cost by removing those items, Grossman said.

“We can do that in-house,” he said.

“I am exploring our options to rebid the project and change the scope of the project slightly. We flat can’t afford $261,000. If we can’t get close on this, we will have to talk to the state about what we can do,” he said.

Grossman said the only bid is likely higher than expected as asphalt prices have gone up 30% since last year and material prices may go up again in July.

Reporter Howard Greninger can be reached 812-231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com. Follow on Twitter@TribStarHoward.

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