County road paving project on tap for 2026

A portion of Holmes County’s county roads will get another facelift this year, and Melway Paving will provide smooth sailing for drivers.

The local paving company out of Millersburg was the lone company to submit a bid for the 2026 quarter-percent sales tax Holmes County Road Paving Project.

This marks the continuation of a paving program that has gone for the past decade, and the project has allowed the county to maintain and repair all its county roads during that span.

This year the county is seeking to pave 19.5 miles of county road in its base proposal through the sales tax funding.

The county roads included in the base bid opening that took place Monday, March 30 at the Old Jail in Millersburg are County Road 53 in Killbuck Township, County Road 621 in Killbuck Township, County Road 292 in Hardy and portions of Monroe and Killbuck townships, County Road 200 in Paint Township, and County Road 160 in Paint Township.

There also were a pair of alternate projects that will be done should enough funding become available.

Alternate one is a 2-mile portion of County Road 77 in Berlin Township while alternate two is County Road 189 in Salt Creek Township, which covers 4.5 miles.

Melway Paving placed a bid of $2,586,342.55 on the main bid, a price of $395,308 for alternate one and a price of $641,280.15 on alternate two.

The bid amount fell well under the Holmes County Engineer’s Office projected bid of $3.2 million.

The commissioners have praised the project since its inception, saying maintaining quality county roads presents a good picture for both locals and those visiting the area.

“This is the year we were planning on getting everything done one time, and we’re actually repeating some of the roads a second time already,” said Josh Galbraith, assistant Holmes County engineer.

Andrew Schlabach of Melway Paving said in repaving the roads, his company will lay down 1 1/2 inches of new pavement.

Galbraith said he believes in past years the county has been able to complete alternate routes.

After looking at the county's sales tax numbers and on behalf of Galbraith's recommendation, the commissioners passed a resolution Monday, April 6 to accept the bids on the base package and alternate two.