CROTHERSVILLE — Two Seymour companies will be responsible for improvement projects in Crothersville this year.

During a meeting Tuesday night at the town hall, the Crothersville Town Council unanimously approved awarding a paving project to All-Star Paving Inc. and a parking lot project to BP2 Construction LLC.

All-Star had the lowest of three bids to pave four streets, coming in at $307,000. Other bids were $373,837.50 from Dave O’Mara Contractor Inc. and $428,000 from E & B Paving Inc. The winning bid was the only one lower than the engineer’s estimate of $341,442.50. The town’s match is nearly $90,000.

BP2 was the lowest of three bidders for paving the vacant lot in the 100 block of South Armstrong Street to put in a 14-spot parking lot. Its bid of $42,972.80 won over $46,024.68 from All-Star and $87,700 from O’Mara.

The streets to be paved include:

-Main Street from South County Road 1000E to 150 feet east of Dismore Street

-Howard Street from the western terminus to Park Street

-Bethany Road from Howard Street to Myers Street

-Park Street from Main Street to Howard Street

In April, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Smith announced 224 cities, towns and counties across the state would receive a combined $107.8 million in funding for local road projects through the Community Crossings Matching Grant program. The funding is a component of the governor’s Next Level Roads program.

Crothersville was awarded $256,333.50, marking its fifth time to be selected for CCMG funding.

Communities submitted applications for funding during a call for projects in January. A second round was in July. Applications are evaluated based on need and current conditions and impacts to safety and economic development, and funding for CCMG comes from the state’s local road and bridge matching grant fund.

To qualify, local governments must provide local matching funds of 50% for larger communities or 25% for smaller communities and have an asset management plan for maintaining existing roads and bridges. State law requires annually that 50% of the available matching funds be awarded to communities within counties with a population of 50,000 or fewer.

The town took ownership of the vacant lot in March 2020. That came nine months after making a $1 offer to acquire two downtown buildings and have them torn down for safety reasons.

The 0.08-acre lot will be paved and have 14 new parking spots for the downtown — 12 regular and two handicap.

Jonathan Brown, a civil engineering technician for FPBH Inc., said the project will include paving, striping, parking blocks and a landscape buffer. Access will be from the existing alley.

Clerk-Treasurer Danieta Foster said American Rescue Plan Act money the town received can be used to cover the cost of this work.

“We can use it for anything we need it for. I just have to keep track of what we pay for out of it,” she said.

Council Vice President Jamy Greathouse said the quotes are double what the town received a few years ago.

“But I think looking at all of these different bids that came up, it’s par for the course, and it’s something that I don’t think we can sit on anymore,” he said. “I think it’s something that we actually need to move forward with. We’ve talked about alternatives, discussed in the past about improving some of that somehow, some way. When it really comes down to it, it’s our property now, and we need to do something with it.”

Foster agreed.

“The guys (town employees) are having trouble over there mowing. We have bees attacking people on the sidewalk. You can’t mow because the mower sinks,” she said.

Councilman Chad Wilson also agreed with Greathouse, and Councilwoman Terry Richey said she’s in favor of proceeding since the town can use ARPA funds. She then made a motion to move forward with awarding the project to the lowest bidder. A separate motion was approved to allow Foster to use ARPA funds.

“It’s going to look so much better. It will be nice,” Richey said.

Wilson said the school has a class dedicating an hour a day to community service, and it’s possible those students could help with landscaping or maintaining the area. Greathouse said the school’s FFA chapter or agriculture classes could help, too.