JARRETT GOODMAN
Staff Writer
South Pittsburg’s Board of Mayor & Commissioners (BoMC) unanimously agreed to a contract regarding asbestos oversight of the community’s ongoing National Guard Armory project through engineering and abatement company Pinchin.
During the city’s recent January meeting, City Administrator Michael Hudson presented the board a new contract with the company following approved redrawings for the ongoing project. According to Hudson, the contract aims to allow Pinchin full oversight of asbestos abatement work for the National Guard armory, allowing the company to conduct tests for the entire facility prior to planned renovations and additions to be made.
“They will be on-site to monitor the asbestos removal, the discarding of material, and they will do a report for the city once that’s done,” explained Hudson.
Hudson described the process as step-by-step, with Pinchin first going into the facility for inspection of all asbestos in its interior. Once all measurements and data has been collected, the city council will then bid out the removal of all asbestos within the armory to separate contractors. Once a bidder has been selected, Pinchin will step in to oversee all removal conducted by the winning bidder to ensure worked is conducted safely and by code.
“They will stay on board until the company we hired to removes the asbestos are done,” said Hudson. “They oversee that company to make sure that it’s done properly.”
With the BoMC’s approval, Pinchin will now work alongside the city into moving along towards what Hudson described as “the first step” into the ongoing revitalization of the local armory, the city aiming to convert the structure into a new public rec center and mental health facility.