ANDERSON — Despite previous plans to use TIF money for infrastructure near the Poet ethanol plant, the county expects to pay almost $1 million in taxpayer dollars to repair county roads 100 East and 1300 North.

During its regular meeting Tuesday, the Board of Commissioners accepted bids from three companies to reconstruct and widen county roads 100 East and 1300 North.

Bids from Anderson-based E&B Paving, Indianapolis-based Grady Brothers and Goshen-based Rieth-Riley were accepted for the two projects.

For 100 East, bids ranged from $538,400 to $725,775.10, the lowest coming from E&B. For 1300 North, bids ranged from $253,200 to $269,815, with Grady Brothers being the lowest.

“The reason why it’s split is in case we don’t have the money for both of them,” said Commissioner Paul Wilson, D-South District. “They will be taken together for the low bid.”

Contractors will work on 100 East from Indiana 28 to Summitville and 1300 North between 100 East and Poet Drive.

Commissioner John Richwine, R-North District, said the county highway crews would also do some of the work on the roads. Wilson said the county would work on 1300 North from Poet Drive to Indiana 9.

Richwine said the county did not have the equipment to do the entire project.

“The road surface will be heavier and wider,” he said.

Once the work is done, the county hopes the improvements will direct truck traffic to use Indiana 28 to 100 East to 1300 North to Poet Drive instead of using other county roads.

“We’re going to try to keep them on state roads as much as possible,” Richwine said. “(The roads) weren’t constructed for heavy truck traffic.”

In April, residents in the area complained about the condition of 1300 North. The road was deteriorating so much that the Alexandria post office refused to deliver mail to the two remaining residents between Indiana 9 and 100 East. The school bus also would not use the road.

In April, Richwine told The Herald Bulletin that the county would devote some TIF, or tax increment financing, money for road reconstruction. However, during the Madison County Council meeting Tuesday afternoon, Wilson said the commissioners wanted to go another direction to pay for the reconstruction.

At the council meeting, Wilson requested $300,000 from the rainy day fund, which is money collected from the county economic development tax, be appropriated for the project.

Wilson said that he was not comfortable borrowing money based on TIF money from one payer, which is the Poet ethanol plant. If Poet did not succeed, the county would have to pay the borrowed money with taxpayer dollars, he said.