County hires architect for its new fire station
Catoosa County commissioners have approved a services contract with an architecture firm for the design of a new fire station in the Woodstation area off Ga. Highway 151 (Alabama Highway).
After tabling the matter two weeks ago to gather more information, the Board of Commissioners approved the agreement for architectural services Tuesday night, Sept. 18.
During the Sept. 4 meeting, Camp presented the board with three bids for architectural services of a new Fire Station 2 to replace the existing outdated one. Camp’s proposal included quotes from three bidders, and he also detailed the need for a new facility.
Camp said the need for a new facility is mainly due to the size of the existing one and the fact that there are no shower facilities, as well as no separate quarters for female firefighters.
Where the current station is located also presents a renovation problem, which means the facility would probably have to be built on a parcel of land nearby.
“Were landlocked, so adding onto it would be an impossible feat,” he said. “This station was built a long time ago, so there’s just a tank in the ground.”
On Tuesday night (Sept. 18), County Attorney Clifton “Skip” Patty said the proposal from KCP Architects was the most favorable proposal of the three received.
“It is the recommended proposal for the architectural services,” Patty said. “The fee for those services would be $31,650, which is 100 percent of the services quoted. This includes design, development, contract documents, bidding and evaluation, and contract administration.”
Commissioners unanimously approved the agreement, pending review of the contract by the county attorney’s office.
“We’ve looked at the proposed contract and it needs to be reviewed by the county attorney’s office when it’s submitted,” Patty said.
Two weeks ago, Camp explained that the project will probably cost in the neigh- borhood of $1.2-$1.3 million.
After the county approved nearly $725,000 worth of renovations to Station 3 in the Graysville area earlier this year, there’s somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 million in allocated funds for upgrades to stations and facilities.