MOUNT VERNON — Bids accepted for a 1.56-mile asphalt paving project on Croton Road near Centerburg, and an update on three remaining Pittie Paw Rescue dogs at the county Animal Shelter, were presented Thursday before Knox County commissioners.
With Knox County Deputy Engineer Clint Cochran on hand, commissioners opened three bids for the Croton Road project, which is located outside of Centerburg toward the Licking County line. Work on the 2 1/2-inch “mill and fill” project should begin when the weather warms up for asphalt, possibly April or May, and must be completed by Aug. 15, Cochran offered.
Cochran said the County Engineer’s Office applied for an Ohio Department of Transportation grant that will cover 80 percent of the project cost, called a County Surface Transportation Program grant. The county engineer will pay 20 percent.
Commissioners also approved nine force account projects, which were wood bridge deck projects involving new timbers being laid and then paved over, as well as culvert pipe being replaced with box culverts. Force account projects mean the Knox County Engineer’s office uses its own Highway Department to complete the projects, Cochran said. Each project’s cost covers labor, equipment and materials. The projects range in cost
from a bridge deck project on Ball Road in Hilliar Township of about $40,000 to a box culvert project of $84,287 on Milford Township’s Bishop Road.
Commissioners also heard from Dog Warden John Carhart about the status of dogs cared for at the Knox County Animal Shelter on Columbus Road. There are currently 19 dogs housed there with an average stay of 92 days. However, three of those dogs — Xavier, Odi and Levi — have been there far longer, a total of 527 days each. They are the final three dogs out of initially more than 60 that the Animal Shelter confiscated from the former Pittie Paw Rescue operation in late 2018, which involved owner surrender and criminal prosecution in two counties for neglect of animals.
Xavier, Odi and Levi are good dogs but they carry the stigma of being Pittie Paw Rescue dogs, Carhart said. Although the shelter is awaiting their possible placement through rescue organizations, he believes the dogs may be adoptable by the right family or individual owner. The average stay for the 16 other dogs is just 10 days.
