By Conrad Dudderar
Senior Staff Writer
A contractor is being sought for a road improvement project in a northeast Canadian County subdivision – made possible through a unique public-private partnership.
Canadian County Commissioners, at their Oct. 5th weekly meeting, approved advertising for bids for the Piedmont Meadows Road Improvement District.
The project is “moving forward”, said County Commission Chairman Marc Hader, the District 1 commissioner.
Commissioners, at their regular meeting last week, formally approved plans, profiles, specifications, and estimates for a new road assessment district in the Piedmont Meadows development.
The action at this Monday’s meeting allows Canadian County to solicit bids from contractors to rebuild two private roads in the rural addition.
Canadian County Commissioners this summer accepted a petition and approved a resolution to help members of the Piedmont Meadows Homeowners Association (HOA) finance reconstruction of the development’s crumbling roads.
The assessment amount will total about $273,998, which represents project engineer Ron Cardwell’s estimate less about $20,000 in homeowners’ association funds already set aside for the project.
Commissioner Hader expects the county to open contractor bids in a several weeks for the Piedmont Meadows HOA.
“Hopefully we get quite a few for them and they’ll be competitively prices – at that amount or below,” Hader said.
The Piedmont Meadows HOA needed county commissioners’ approval to create the road improvement district to help finance rebuilding their private roads.
Cardwell, a Piedmont resident and the Oklahoma County District 3 road superintendent, has worked closely with county officials and HOA members during this process.
IT’S A FIRST
Members of the Piedmont Meadows HOA will pay for the road upgrades through a county assessment process. Construction costs will be repaid over 10 years.
This road improvement district is a first for Canadian County – and rare among counties across Oklahoma, according to Hader.
Piedmont Meadows’ homeowners will pay for the road rehab through a 10-year assessment; a millage that will be collected through their property taxes. Each property owner’s share will be based on their parcel size.
This process benefits the HOA, which otherwise would have to collect from more than 40 parcel owners.
“This is the least ‘painful’ way for a group of people to pay for their project they want to do together,” Commissioner Hader said.
Piedmont Meadows’ reconstructed roads will be four inches of asphalt/concrete pavement, 22 feet wide.
“It’s going to be one of the nicest residential roads around,” Hader projected.
The Piedmont Meadows housing addition was built in 2007 and has been plagued by deteriorating roads.
In other business at the Oct. 5th meeting, Canadian County Commissioners approved:
• A resolution authorizing the Canadian County Educational Facilities Authority to refinance a 2017 revenue bond for a Piedmont school project. The action will provide a $1 million net savings.
• Two draw requests from a loan at BancFirst for the Canadian County Fairgrounds’ construction project – $1,491,578.42 to Lingo Construction for construction management services and $8,089.04 to Metco for soil testing.
• A resolution recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and a proclamation declaring Oct. 5-9 as National 4-H Week in Canadian County.
