Funding of a $9 million shortfall on a new, 98,000-square-foot Jasper Middle School now lies with the Marion County Commission after the school board accepted a $33.9 million low bid last week while the spending deadline clock ticks on a $25 million loan for the project already in hand.
“The board approved submitting the low bid to the County Commission to make sure they are willing to fully fund it,” Marion County Director of Schools Mark Griffith said Tuesday in a phone interview.
The winning bid from Cleveland, Tennessee-based Tricon Inc. was nearly $9 million more than the county borrowed earlier this year for the new school project, according to county officials. Chattanooga’s T.U. Parks was the next lowest bidder at $35.75 million, and P&C Construction, also of Chattanooga, submitted a bid of $38.15 million.
Griffith said ground needs to be broken on the replacement school this fall to use the $25 million loan by January 2025, the deadline for the funds to be used.