Commissioners award bid for Filager Campus

BATAVIA, OH (May 31, 2023) — The Board of County Commissioners today awarded an $18.5-million bid for the first phase of a Filager Campus in Batavia that will replace outdated buildings and outdoor storage for County Engineer’s Office Highway Operations and Clermont County Fleet Maintenance.

Monarch Construction Co. of Cincinnati received the bid for the project, expected to start this month. Completion is anticipated in the summer of 2024.

The 7-acre campus across State Route 222 from existing facilities will have total building square footage of 74,550. It will include an enclosed garage for highway operations trucks, space for fleet maintenance and mechanics, a salt barn, a fuel station and covered storage.

The new building will house Highway Operations, with various sections (administration, work room, training, locker rooms, sign shop, conference rooms, storage).

The facility will include enclosed parking, maintenance and truck wash areas for 26 dump trucks, which are valued at about $225,000 each. On the current campus, many are exposed to the elements. This can cause wear-and-tear and situations such as salt freezing in the beds of dump trucks during winter weather.

Salt storage will be expanded to 6,000 tons, up from 4,000 at the current site. (Clermont County uses about 6,000 to 6,500 tons of road salt each winter.) Other items such as straw and guard rails will be stored in covered areas, which is not now possible. A double-sided fueling station will be added, improving efficiency.

The existing 6-acre, 40,300-quare-foot campus includes: highway ops/sign shed (opened 1958), fleet maintenance (1958), equipment and material storage (1960’s), truck barns (1968 and 1988), facilities/CTC (1974), salt barn (1986), highway mechanic (1996), fueling station (1989), CTC bus lot (2011). The salt barn is a wooden structure.

Commissioners authorized a Request for Qualifications (RFQs) for the project on June 30, 2021. Eight RFQs were received and reviewed. On Dec. 6, 2021, the board authorized a contract with Garmann Miller, a design firm. Construction drawings were submitted to Permit Central on Sept. 30, 2022.

A second phase would include demolition and cleanup of existing buildings and construction of office space for the Engineer’s Office, County Facilities and Clermont Transportation Connection.

County Engineer Jeremy Evans thanked the Board of County Commissioners for recognizing the need.