OTTAWA, OHIO -
Putnam County Commissioners had a regular agenda meeting Friday morning, but they conducted a very important piece of business.
Commissioners awarded a bid of over 4 million to local contracting company, Bluffton paving. The bid is higher than the cost calculated by the county's engineer. Commissioner John Love says the county waited a long time to get the grants in place to make this project possible. He says the main reason their widening the road is for the safety of the public.
"If we refuse this money at this point, we'll never get it back again. It's for a widening project of the road for safety," said Love.
Many residents who live on or near county road five are upset about the decision, and display their frustration in front of the courthouse every Friday. Even the vote to go ahead with the project was not unanimous, one commissioner sees the project as a safety hazard.
"By doing this widening, you're opening a green light for increased traffic. People live their and there's lots of semis. So it can also decrease the safety for other people," said Commissioner Travis Jerwers.
Putnam County received a 12 million grant for the project.
