BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
LAKE BUTLER—At a special meeting on Dec. 7, 2023, the Union County Board of County Commissioners approved three resolutions that would modify the required completion dates on three FDOT grants for road work in the county, two of which included additional grant funds for two of the projects due to bid shortfalls.
The grants are form the state’s Small County Outreach Program and Small County Rural Assistance Program, and the resolutions passed by the board are amendments to the original agreements.
The SCOP grant for construction widening and resurfacing of CR-18 from the Columbia County line to SR-121 will be amended to allow an extended deadline due to permit issues and the need for additional reviews, with the project now having a completion date of June 30, 2024 (rather than the original completion date which had been set for Dec. 31, 2023.
A second SCOP grant contract was also amended to extend the deadline for completion from Dec. 31, 2023 to June 30, 2025. This project is for the design and construction engineering and inspection for flexible pavement reconstruction of Northeast 149th St. from west of Northeast 222 Place to CR-229. Also, funds in the amount of $169,353.35 have been added due to a bid shortfall, bringing the total cost of the project to $519,353.35.
The third resolution approved at the meeting was a SCRAP grant for the design and construction engineering and inspection for resurfacing of CR-229N from SR-121 to the Baker County line. The amendment to the original agreement is in the amount of $1,988,393.90 due to a bid shortfall on the most southern part of the project, a bridge. The contractual completion time was also extended until June 30, 2025. With the additional funds, the cost of the project will be $6,620.393.90.
All three of these projects are state-funded and require to county funds be spent on the project. These two types of grants are designed to assist small counties in Florida to maintain their roads and bridges, as well as to improve dirt roads (paving) and address safety concerns that have arisen. It would be virtually impossible for a small, economically challenged county like Union to do this type of work within its means, but thanks to the Florida Department of Transportation’s SCOP and SCRAP grants, small county residents can enjoy the same comfort and safety of transportation enjoyed by larger, more affluent, counties.
