Adams County seeks engineering firms for grant-funded projects

Adams County is asking professional engineering and architectural firms to submit qualifications for projects that could be financed with state and federal money long before any contractor starts work in the field. The county’s public procurement notice ties the effort to Community Development Block Grant funding through the Ohio Development Services Agency and to competitive programs through the Ohio Department of Transportation, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

That distinction matters because an RFQ is not a construction bid. It is the county’s way of identifying which firms are qualified to design, plan and guide a project so it can become grant-ready, bid-ready or, in some cases, ready for final approval. In Adams County, where transportation, environmental systems and community development can overlap, the notice shows how much of the work happens on paper before a road is graded or a facility is built.

The county’s economic development materials point in the same direction. Adams County Economic & Community Development says local financial assistance can be used to support business expansion, job creation and capital investment, and that those incentives can help leverage state and federal sources. For residents, that means the early paperwork in a procurement file can shape whether a project moves forward at all, and what it will cost once bids are opened.

A separate county request for proposal dated August 7, 2019, shows the same process in a different lane. That solicitation sought an IP Based NG9-1-1 system and selected options to replace the county’s existing E9-1-1 system. It was a technology purchase, not a road or building project, but it followed the same public path: the county identified a need, asked for proposals and put the work into its formal procurement system.

That 911 upgrade also fits the broader shift underway in Ohio and at the federal level. The Ohio 9-1-1 Program Office published an NG9-1-1 FAQ guide in April 2026, and FCC materials from 2024 describe Next Generation 911 as IP-based infrastructure that can carry text, video and data while improving interoperability, security and resilience.

Residents can track these decisions through the county’s public bid address at 75 Willow Drive in West Union, where Bid Express lists Lee Pertuset, P.E., P.S., as Adams County engineer and identifies commissioners Kelly Jones, Barbara Moore and Teresa Diane Ward, with Terri Crothers as clerk. County purchasing guidance in Ohio says commissioners are responsible for approving most contracts in board session and entering them into the minutes, which gives the public a record to follow as projects move from notice to approval. Adams County’s government portal says the county was founded in 1797, and its archived commissioners’ minutes provide another route to trace how those decisions unfold over time.