Marion County board accepts multi-million-dollar bid for new building at college site

Pictured is the first building of the Marion County Regional Institute of Technical Excellence, which will serve as a satellite campus for Chattanooga State. The building will be named for longtime Marion County Mayor Howell Moss.
Pictured is the first building of the Marion County Regional Institute of Technical Excellence, which will serve as a satellite campus for Chattanooga State. The building will be named for longtime Marion County Mayor Howell Moss.

A contractor has been chosen and officials are ready for phase two of construction to begin at the Marion County Regional Institute of Higher Education in Kimball, which will house Chattanooga State industrial trades classes such as welding.

At the county commission's April meeting, County Mayor David Jackson said bids for the project along U.S. Highway 41 were opened last week and the low bidder was Evans Alley Construction Co. of Clinton, Tenn., at $3.485 million.

The project's architect, Hefferlin + Kronenberg Architects in Chattanooga, approved the company's bid specifications.

Jackson said he spoke with several people who served as references for the company. In Hamilton County, Evans Alley Construction built the new Sale Creek Fire Department.

"Mayor [Jim] Coppinger was well-pleased and said they were very professional and [the county] really looked forward to working with them again," Jackson said.

The board voted unanimously to accept the low bid.

Marion was awarded a $1.5 million Appalachian Regional Commission grant and has set aside more than $1 million in county funds to help pay for the project, but Jackson said the county is still short of fully funding the new construction by $452,870.

Commissioner Don Adkins, also the board's finance committee chairman, said that group met recently and decided to take the money from Marion's general fund to "move forward with the next phase of the Chattanooga State project."

Jackson said $475,000 should come from the general fund for the project "in case of overruns."

"We've got the money to do it," he said. "We could borrow the money, but I think it would be better if we just go ahead and take it out of the general fund."

In other business, county officials met recently in a workshop to discuss a policy that could freeze property taxes for some residents ages 65 and older.

Jackson said the hefty requirements of the policy, which is governed by state law, would require hiring more county employees to keep up with the necessary paperwork.

Adkins said the consensus of those attending the workshop and the recommendation of the board's finance committee was to take no further action on the matter for now.

Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.

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