JARRETT GOODMAN
Staff Writer
Members of South Pittsburg’s City Board came together in a workshop meeting to discuss key ideas for work needing to be completed for the local National Guard Armory.
Further discussion on the subject was tabled from last month’s most recent meeting, as it was shared by Mayor Shawn Henson how budgeting for the project came in at a higher rate of costs than what was initially hoped. And because of increases in cost of materials caused by recent tariffs, it was decided that a workshop would be held to discuss what the Board of Mayor and Commissioners should do moving forward.
City Administrator David Hudson explained how he met with Terry Johnson of Volunteer Behavioral Health to show her around the facility, while also at a different time, sitting with members of Southeast Tennessee Development District (SETD), to see where the city stands in granted funds. Hudson explained the board currently sits with $1.1 million dollars in granted funds, with an additional $140,000 to $180,000 in contingency funds. Funds which, according to Hudson, could be used to cover the costs of establishing new blueprints for the project.
“That contingency money can be used to go back to the drawing board to try and get some new blueprints to cut our costs on construction. And it won’t come out of our $1.1 million,” said Hudson.
He also suggested the idea of having the mentioned mental health facility encompass half of the entire complex to cut down on construction costs. Bill Neelan, a resident of South Pittsburg and retired architect, when questioned on the possibility of hiring a new architect by Commissioner Mike Allen, suggested it would not be a wise decision to do so. Doing so, he feels, could greatly increase the overall costs of work being done for the large scale structure.
The possibility of all windows being replaced was also debated during the discussion, as Neelan noted on meeting with both an engineer and contractor for asbestos. Upon meeting both individuals, the engineer suggested on removing all windows from the structure entirely, while the contractor suggested having the windows removed and replaced with new ones, albeit after clear of all signs of asbestos.
Neelan added the idea of having a base bid that is as minimal as possible in terms of both costs and on how much coverage of work is needed to be done, with any additional work to be completed be set for later down the road as added alternatives.
“We need to do a base bid that is the minimal we need to do. And then we can do four of five alternates on stuff we may want to do,” explained Neelan.
The Board of Mayor and Commissioner concluded the discussion with the options of both going back to the drawing board for new blueprints as well as the resubmission of bids, as further action made to the project is currently in the works and will be brought to the table once more during this month’s upcoming public meeting.
