DAYTON, Tenn. - Rhea County commissioners on Tuesday approved the final resolutions necessary to begin construction of a new high school, and the project manager said work should begin within a week.
After the commission's vote, Steve Hewlett of Hewlett Spencer, LLC, said, "People will start placing phone calls in the morning" to arrange contracts with suppliers and subcontractors for the project.
"We'll start mobilizing the work," Hewlett said. "There will be somebody here [in Rhea County] by Thursday lining things up. I expect we'll start full speed ahead next week."
New school board chairman B.J. McCoy called Tuesday "a very memorable day in the history of Rhea County. The teachers have been teaching under adverse conditions for years. I think this [new high school] will be an asset to us."
Commissioners also approved Hewlett Spencer's guaranteed maximum price of $30,953,824 for the new high school and $1,765,885 for furniture and fixtures.
In other matters, commissioners elected Commissioner Jim Reed to serve as chairman for the coming year and re-elected Vice Chairman Emmaly Fisher to a second term in that position.
Tom Davis is based in Dayton. Contact him at tsdavis@volstate.net.