County awards bids for C&D, emergency radios

By Lisa Majors-Duff

McCarroll Construction of Flat Rock was low bidder at $369,000 to build a construction and demolition transfer station on Mineral Springs Road, while Kimball Communications of Hendersonville won with a bid of $99,899 to supply the county's emergency services with new radios.

The county's former C&D collection site in Dillsboro has been closed to the public, board Chairman Jay Denton said. The new site between Sylva and Balsam is open for collections, though the project is "a little behind schedule," he said.

Construction and demolition materials will not be buried at the Mineral Springs site, said Heather Leclair, the county's solid waste technician. Materials instead will be collected and hauled to a landfill in Homer, Ga., she said.

Some materials that can be used as beneficial fill, such as unpainted concrete, will be stockpiled and sold to the public, Leclair said. Brush and yard waste will also be stockpiled, ground into mulch and then sold.

Following a second set of bids opened earlier this month, Kimball Communications was awarded a contract to supply and program 166 portable walkie-talkies and 94 mobile units for use by the county's volunteer fire departments.

A concern expressed by communications committee Chairman Darrell Woodard about how the radios would be reprogrammed was addressed when finance officer Darlene Fox said the company had agreed to do the work with each department during its regular Monday meeting.

A first set of radio bids was rejected by commissioners after an error was discovered in the specification, Fox said. Kimball's bid of $99,899 was nearly $10,000 below the apparent low bidder in April.

In other business to come before the board, commissioners tabled a request from Sam Lupas to adopt a resolution asking the Department of Transportation to close a 185-foot section of Lloyd Hooper Road (SR 1154) in Hamburg township. Lupas, who owns the land on three sides of the road, told board members that he intends to develop his property and install a gate.

Lupas submitted a petition with signatures of eight other property owners on Lloyd Hooper Road in favor of abandoning the road. The gate, he said, would also be used to keep vandals off the property. He offered to reimburse the state the funds used to maintain and pave the portion of road he wants closed.

A previous request from Lupas was denied by commissioners earlier this year.

Cullowhee Valley School teacher Marsha Cameron addressed the board on behalf of Jackson County educators in favor of a salary supplement. She urged the board to "do anything you can for the education budget. I think it would be a real benefit for Jackson County."

A 2 percent salary supplement for teachers has been included as part of the county school system's request for funding from the commissioners in 2001-02, Denton reported earlier this month. The school system's total request is 20 percent higher than funds given last year.

The Jackson County Board of Commissioners will meet again at 9 a.m. Friday, June 1, for a work session on the 2001-02 fiscal year budget. Their next regular meeting will be Thursday, June 7, at 7 p.m. Both meetings will be held at the Justice Center.

Back to Archive: 05/24/01.