Board Funds Three Shared-Cost Culvert Projects in Rural Townships

Article Summary: The Montgomery County Board on Tuesday awarded a $49,535.62 contract for a precast concrete box culvert on East 17th Road in Irving Township and adopted two resolutions appropriating County Aid to Bridge funds for shared-cost culvert replacements in Nokomis and Walshville townships totaling $78,000.

50/50 Culvert Projects Key Points:

The low bid of $49,535.62 from JJ’s Concrete Construction of Montgomery, Ind., was awarded for the East 17th Road culvert in Irving Township.

Resolution 2026-08 appropriates funds for a $60,000 double-pipe culvert replacement on Capps Avenue in Nokomis Township, just outside the City of Nokomis.

A companion resolution appropriates funds for an $18,000 culvert replacement on North 1st Avenue in Walshville Township.

Under the county’s 50/50 program, the local road district pays half of the total construction cost.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — The Montgomery County Board on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, acted on three rural culvert replacements funded jointly by the county and local road districts, awarding one construction contract and appropriating money for two more projects.

Roads & Bridges Committee Chairman Ethan Murzynski said the committee reviewed two bids for a concrete box culvert to be delivered to the county and installed by the Highway Department on East 17th Road in Irving Township. On his motion, seconded by Evan Young, the board voted unanimously to award the low bid of $49,535.62 to JJ’s Concrete Construction of Montgomery, Ind.

The distinction matters for the price: the county is buying a product for its own crews to install, not contracting out a completed job.

That project, identified in county records as MCHD Project 1283, was the subject of Resolution 2026-07, which the board adopted at its June 9, 2026, meeting. That resolution appropriated money from County Aid to Bridge Fund 235 for the East 17th Road culvert, listing the Irving Road District at 50% and Montgomery County at 50% of an estimated $80,000 total cost. A location map filed with the resolution describes the structure as a proposed 11-foot-by-4-foot precast concrete box culvert.

Two More Resolutions Adopted

The board next took up Resolution 2026-08, appropriating County Aid to Bridge funds for a 50/50 double-pipe culvert replacement on Capps Avenue in Nokomis Township, just outside the City of Nokomis. The committee recommended the resolution and an accompanying map. Murzynski moved approval of the resolution “for a $60,000 50/50 pipe culvert replacement in Nokomis Township,” with a second from Keith Hancock, and the board approved it on a unanimous roll call. It was filed in Resolution Book 24, pages 14-15.

Members then adopted a companion resolution for a culvert replacement on North 1st Avenue in Walshville Township, described on the agenda as Project 1285. Murzynski moved approval “for an $18,000 50/50 pipe culvert replacement in Walshville Township,” seconded by Jeremy Jones. The motion carried unanimously and was filed in Resolution Book 24, pages 16-17.

How the Program Works

Under the mechanism the resolutions rely on, a road district petitions the county board for aid in constructing or repairing a bridge, culvert or drainage structure, with the petition kept on file at the Montgomery County Highway Department, and agrees to pay one-half of the total construction cost. The county’s share comes from the County Aid to Bridge Fund, a levy authorized for counties of fewer than 1,000,000 inhabitants.

Road districts are separate units of local government from the townships whose names they share, and it is the road district — not the township — that owes the local half.

The County Aid to Bridge Fund had $1,590,161.49 in cash as of May 31, 2026, according to treasurer’s records filed with Tuesday’s materials. Through May, the fund had spent $104,295 of an $875,200 expense budget, including $76,626 on bridge construction and $8,826 on preliminary engineering. Its $100,000 line for township 50/50 projects showed no spending at all through May — a figure Tuesday’s votes will begin to change.