By Ryan Lewis
Corespondent
JASPER, Tenn. – The Marion County Commission has selected Steve Hudson of SKH Construction Enterprises as construction manager for the new technical training center in Kimball, Tenn. – again.
Last month, a problem with the timing of the original public notice for the job caused commissioners to delay work and seek new proposals after they already had hired Hudson in June.
Officials said the error could have exposed the county to legal action, so Marion put out the notice again and sent requests for proposals to at least three qualified applicants, including Hudson.
After receiving four proposals, the board unanimously voted to keep its initial choice on the job.
“[Mr. Hudson has] already done extensive work for us,” Commissioner Tommy Thompson said. “We already owe him some money. When we figured that into the equation, it really wouldn’t be a savings to switch contractors in the middle.”
When the problem cropped up in August, Hudson said he expected compensation for the work he’d done on the project and also said he would seek legal counsel if necessary.
Thompson said that one of the other three bids received by the commission was slightly lower than Hudson’s, but the county’s Building Use Committee came to a consensus to stay with him.
Marion County Attorney Billy Gouger said the lower bid had a $60,000 cap on fees charged to the county throughout the project.
“Depending on construction costs, that may or may not be cheaper,” he said. “It looks cheaper on the front end, but given what Mr. Hudson has done, it may wind up costing more than that or it may not.”
Gouger said all the applicants for the position were qualified to handle the project, but when the committee looked at what Hudson already had done on it, the choice was easy.
“Given the fact that there has already been some work done by Mr. Hudson’s company, and the county is going to be obligated to him financially, it didn’t make sense to do otherwise,” he said.
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.