ANNAPOLIS — Actions taken at Wednesday’s state Board of Public Works meeting included two Allegany County projects.
The board awarded a $540,790 bid from First Fruits Excavating Inc. of Ridgeley, West Virginia, to repair a landslide along an access road off Water Station Run Road in Lonaconing.
“This is the result of leakage from the adjacent Successive Alkalinity Producing Systems Pond and a spring that is loosening the soil on the hillside beneath the access road and causing the embankment to move,” an agenda for the meeting stated. “The SAPS Pond is a passive type of acid mine drainage treatment that has limestone and compost.”
Acid mine drainage water flows through the pond and the limestone and compost react with the low pH water to increase pH and cause metals to precipitate, it stated.
The contract term is 270 calendar days, and source of the capital is 100% federal funding.
A notice of availability of an invitation for bids was posted on eMaryland Marketplace Advantage on March 13 and resulted in two bids that were received and opened on April 29.
In addition to First Fruits, Excavating Associates Inc. of Ellerslie submitted a $584,189 bid.
The board also approved a $250,000 grant agreement between the state and the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad for fiscal 2025.
The money will be disbursed in equal quarterly installments.
Annually for the past eight years, the General Assembly has authorized the awarding of grant funds to WMSR for expenses related to the railroad’s operation and maintenance activities.
“Since 2016, the Board of Public Works has approved a total of $2,075,000 in operating grants to the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad,” John T. Gontrum, executive secretary of the board told the Cumberland Times-News on Wednesday. “This total includes the grant allocation approved at this morning’s meeting.”