A little ‘found’ money goes a long way. Just ask the Leelanau County Road Commission, which will use a few pennies from heaven to pave a few roads.

The money actually comes from reimbursement for work the Road Commission has already done, refunds from an insurance pool and a reserve of road salt.

One pot of money, about $130,000, comes from the Michigan Department of Transportation and represents reimbursement for maintenance work the Road Commission does all year on state roads such as M-22 and M-204. The Road Commission does snow plowing, mowing and tree-cutting on the roadsides, as well as spring sweeping of the roads. A monthly bill is sent to MDOT and the Commission gets paid per month. When the end of year trunk line audit is done by MDOT it is sometimes found that the Commission underestimated its billing and it gets a reimbursement check. The $130,000 is from the 2010 audit.

Another refund of $25,000 in premiums comes from the Michigan County Road Commission Self Insurance Pool, which carries liability insurance for the Road Commission.

And because last winter was a mild one in Leelanau County — not counting the March storm that dumped two feet of snow on the area — the Road Commission has a garage full of salt, which will result in savings of $68,000 this year.

“Any money we receive we want to put into the roads,” said Joe Nedow, finance manager.

Here are the road project descriptions and their low bids:

 Leland Township: Repaving of Kirt Road, from CR 645 east about 1/2 mile to the end of the road. Elmer’s Construction of Grawn bid $48,655 for the job; Rieth-Riley Construction, of Grawn, bid $49,543. Shoulder restoration will be done by Road Commission employees; anticipated time of work is three weeks through Sept. 7.

 Centerville Township: Shoulder wedging of about one mile of Gatzke Road, from CR 651 to CR 645. Elmers bid $49,600 for the job; Rieth-Riley bid $49,840. Shoulder work will be done by the Road Commission; anticipated time of work is three weeks through Sept. 7.

 Centerville Township: Repaving of resurfacing of Hohnke Road from CR 643 to the end of the road at the shore of Lake Leelanau, about 0.2 of a mile. Elmers bid $33,340 for the job; Rieth- Riley bid $34,881. Shoulder work will be done by the Road Commission; anticipated time is three weeks through Sept. 7.

 Bingham Township: Repaving of Bingham Road (CR618) from Center Highway (CR 633) east to M-22. Elmers bid $122,775 for the job; Rieth- Riley bid $127,715.

The Road Commission will evaluate the bids and choose a contractor. Approval of matching funds for the two Centerville Township jobs must be given by the township board before work can start.