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STEUBENVILLE -- Jefferson County commissioners awarded the contract to replace the courthouse's outdated fire alarm system to Fort Steuben Maintenance.
Fort Steuben bid $349,500 for the contract, the "lowest qualified, responsible bid received," McKinley Engineering Associate Project Manager Christian Rivera said.
Rivera previously told commissioners the project will be a "full replacement" and should be completed by February.
Rivera recommended commissioners approve and award the contract, confirm available funding and receipt of the remaining required pre-contract documentation, bonds and insurance, "which must be completed before or concurrent with the actual (signing) of a contract."
"It's been five or six years in the making," Maintenance Director Mitch Morelli said. "It's something we need to get done. We've been out of code for a period of time so yeah, we need to get it done."
The update "will get us back to code and make this building safe for public employees," Morelli said, adding that each year the project was delayed only drove the price higher.
He said having the agreement in place will appease city building code inspectors because "they want the agreement in place to at least know that the wheels are moving."
In other business, commissioners awarded the contract for the county engineer's 2026 fall pavement marking program to JD Striping & Services Inc. of Ravenna for $102,557.95, well below the engineer's estimate of $120,937.50.
County Engineer Eric Hilty also was authorized to purchase a used Gradall XL 3100 excavator from Kentucky-based Craigmyle Farm Equipment for $99,750. New Gradall excavators can cost up to $700,000.
At Hilty's request, commissioners approved a change order authorizing the engineer to purchase an additional 2,000 tons of road salt for winter.
Jefferson County, the City of Steubenville and several other local governments opted out of the state purchasing program a month ago after suppliers quoted prices more than twice what they paid last year.
Commissioners previously authorized the purchase of up to 10,000 tons of road salt from Hoop Edwards Capital LLC at $123 per ton -- significantly less than the price quoted by the only company that showed interest in working with them through the state's purchasing program.
Hoop Edwards is getting the salt from Kansas.
Had they remained with the state purchasing program, Hilty said local governments collectively would have spent several hundred thousand dollars more this year for salt.