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"‘orter
August l4, 20l9
County to resurface five roads with state funds
By Richard Dumas
torsyth@mymcmet
Monroe County Commissioners agreed
on Tuesday, Aug. 6 to pay Marietta—based
C.W. Matthews Contracting Co., Inc. just ‘
under $1.2 million for road resurfacing.
Commissioners approved by a 4-1 vote
to contract with the low bidder C.W.
Matthews to do full—depth reclamations
of Pine Grove Church Road and Collier
Road. The contract also calls for resurfac-
ing to Cricket Run and a two-inch asphalt
overlay to be placed on Stokes Store Road.
The overlay on Pea Ridge Road will also
be backfilled and grassed along the shoul-
der by the county road department.
The county will pay for the projects
using just over $619,000 in state 2019
Local Maintenance Improvement Grant
(LMIG) funds. A 30 percent county
match of just over $265,000 was required
ies. The county will also be responsible for
an additional $304,000 to complete the
project. County manager Jim Hedges rec—
ommended taking the $304,000 overflow
out of the 2019 general fund and then
paying it back with 2020 SPLOST pro-
ceeds dedicated to roads.
Macon-based Reeves Construction
Company also bid on the project, but
Reeves’ bid of just over $1.3 million was
more than $100,000 higher than C.W.
Matthews’ bid.
District 3 commissioner John Ambrose
initially motioned to throw out both bids,
saying new state bidding requirements
mandating the jobs be posted on the state
procurement website and stipulating a
professional engineering firm set the
scope of work reduced the number of bid-
ders and significantly increased the cost of
the project.
“It’s gonna cost the counties twice the
amount to do what they normally 'do. .
. Our counties cannot afford to do this,”
Ambrose said.
As an example of the rising costs,
District 4 commissioner George Emami
said the cost included in a bid packet pro-
w‘ded by engineering consultant, Tifton-
based Watkins & Associates, dedicated
to “traffic control” for the Stokes Store
Road improvements was $45,000. Monroe
County road superintendent Junior Watts,
who agreed with Ambrose that LMIG
project costs have skyrocketed, estimated
that traffic control methods on Stokes
Store Road would only be needed for
about a day-and—a—half.
Both Ambrose and Emami said they
were concerned that by not doing full—
depth reclamations on Pea Ridge Road
and Stokes Store Road, respectively, that
the roads would need to be resurfaced
again in several years. However, Watts
assured commissioners that an asphalt
overlay on Stokes Store Road would hold
up for at least seven or eight years.
After Ambrose’s motion to throw out
all bids was rejected by the other four
commissioners, District 1 commissioner
Larry Evans motioned to approve the
CW. Matthews contract. After about 30.
minutes of discussion, commissioners
accepted by a 4-1 vote C.W. Matthews’ bid
with Ambrose the lone dissenter.
In a separate but related matter, com-
missioners unanimously approved to con-
tract with Macon-based Houston Asphalt
in the amount of $87,150 for resurfacing
work on Martha Lane and Timberline
Road. The funds for the projects will
come from the county’s 2018 LMIG mon—
ies. The funds were initially earmarked for
Unionville Road, but alternative projects
had to be selected due to right—of-way
issues. C.W. Matthews also submitted a
bid on the project, but its bid of $136,897
was nearly $50,000 higher than Houston
Asphalt’s.
for the county to receive the LMIG mon-
Commissioners to
take bids on repairs
to recreation fields
~By Richard Dumas
torsyth©mymcrnet
Monroe County Commissioners will take bids on improving playing
fields at the Monroe County Recreation Department.
County recreation director Landon Sparks asked commissioners on
Tuesday, Aug. 6 to proceed with upgrades to seven existing baseball and
softball fields to include: eliminating the built-up areas along the in—
field/ grass lip, the addition of a new infield mix, laser grading,
fencing,
aeration and top dressing and modifications to irrigation. Sparks also
proposed building two new soccer—only fields, one big field (380 feet
by
260 feet) and one small field (150 feet by 225 feet), on already cleared
land just north of the rec gymnasium near the main pond.
The improvements would be paid for using 2014 Special Purpose Lo-
cal Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds dedicated to recreation. County
manager Jim Hedges said about $600,000 in 2014 recreation SPLOST
funds are still available to spend.
In a separate but related matter, District 3 commissioner John Am—
brose said he’s concerned that the proposed truck lane additions to
1-75 North could encroach on the recreation department entrance and
several fields.
Commissioners reiect buying
gazebo for convention center
By Richard Dumas
torsyih©mymcmei
Monroe County Commis-
sioners rejected on Tuesday,
Aug. 6 a proposal to build
a 400 square—foot gazebo
outside the Monroe County
Convention Center.
County manager Jim Hedg-
es recommended commis-
sioners spend about $31,800
in 2014 SPLOST funds
dedicated to the convention
center to build a gazebo and
improve landscaping at the
site. Hedges said the conven-
tion center has been very
successful, having increased
its revenues by 47 percent
over the first seven months
of 2019 as compared with
the same time period in
2018. Hedges said conven-
tion center manager Karine
Flemming has urged him to
improve the exterior land-
scaping at the site, saying she
wanted a gazebo that would
make the site “the most pho-
tographed spot in Monroe
County”
Hedges then proposed con-
tracting with Montezuma-
based Yoder’s Storage Build-
ings on a gazebo, contracting
with Juliette-based Cutting
Edge Landscaping on land-
scaping and irrigation and
contracting with Ricky Epps
Jr. of Forsyth on concrete
improvements.
However, District 3 com-
missioner John Ambrose said
he supports adding a ga-
zebo but said he’s concerned
that some of the space that
Hedges wanteddedicated
to landscape improvements
would be needed for addi—
tional parking in the future.
District 1 commissioner
Larry Evans said he’s worried
that a security fence would
be needed around the gazebo
to keep nearby motel guests
from loitering at the site.
After about 15 minutes of
discussion, commissioners
then voted down Hedges’
proposal to build a gazebo by
a 3-2 vote. District 2 com-
missioner Eddie Rowland
and Ambrose voted in favor
of making the landscaping
improvements and building
the gazebo while commis-
sion chairman Greg Tapley,’
District 4 commissioner
George Emami and Evans
were opposed.
Emami then urged Hedges
to determine how many ad—
ditional parking spaces are
needed on site.
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