Fawn awards contract to rebuild Metz Road for 2nd time
Fawn resident Tim Masarik Sr. is hopeful that reconstruction of Metz Road will bring an end to the flooding that has plagued his home of more than 40 years.
Masarik said he and his wife fear flooding so much, they can’t sleep through a run-of-the-mill thunderstorm.
“If they do it the right way, like they said they’re going to, it’s a godsend,” he said Wednesday. “No more flooding, let it rain.”
Fawn is going forward with reconstructing Metz Road, after rescinding a contract for the work last year.
Township supervisors Tuesday accepted a bid of nearly $245,000 from contractor Russell Standard.
Bob Grigas, of Senate Engineering, said he had spoken with a Russell Standard representative Wednesday and anticipates the project proceeding. He said work should start late this month or early September and take two weeks to finish.
Grigas said the company will be doing a full-depth reclamation, which involves rebuilding the road’s base by grinding up and recycling the existing pavement, which will then be topped with a new surface.
”The road’s in bad shape,” he said. “It will be a nice improvement.”
While flooding is a separate issue, Grigas said the road’s reconstruction should help, in large part by giving it a proper crown. Township crews have been working on drainage.
“The reconstruction of the road will help the drainage situation,” he said. “It will help carry the water away to the berm, which should, in turn, help.”
Russell Standard was the only bidder for the project. It also had been awarded a contract to work on the road in May 2019.
But the Fawn supervisors rescinded the previous contract in June 2019 because money was needed to repair landslides on Thompson and Sun Mine roads.
Russell Standard’s bid for the work on Metz last year was about $238,000, supervisors Chairman David Montanari said.
Part of the reason for the higher cost this year is the addition of some guide rail, Grigas said.
The township has $200,000 in grant funding that will pay for most of the work, Montanari said. The township will pay the balance.
The project will cover the entire length of Metz Road, from Bull Creek Road to Ridge Road.
Montanari said the company’s price wasn’t bad, but he would have wanted to have other bids. While the township could seek bids again, Montanari said that would likely mean the work would not get done this year.
Masarik said Metz Road was in better condition when he first moved there 42 years ago.
“They never did anything to it. They patched it, they maintained it,” he said. “This is the worst road in the township, and they know that.”
Masarik just has one thing to say to the township and the contractor: “They better do it right.”
Brian C. Rittmeyer, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
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