County approves $1.6M grading project for planned business park

Catoosa County officials have signed off on a $1.6 million bid award for a grading project brokered by the Catoosa County Economic Development Authority.

During its Dec. 1 meeting, the county’s Board of Commissioners approved the bid after EDA Director Keith Barclift presented his recommendation and explained some of the details of the project.

“Recently, the Catoosa County Development Authority put out to bid a massgrading project for the publicly-owned property off of (U.S.) Highway 41,” Barclift said. “The board received nine bids for the project. The engineers for the site reviewed the bids and have recommended the award go to B&J Reed Construction LLC, who had the lowest bid.”

On Nov. 19, the Economic Development Authority board voted to accept B&J Reed’s bid, pending funding of $1,629,725 from the 2019 SPLOST allocation.

Barclift says that bid also includes $200,000 worth of wiggle room, which should ultimately bring the overall number down.

“There’s a $200,000 owner contingency, so we expect that number to come in at about $1.4 million instead of $1.6,” Barclift said.

With commissioners Charlie Stephens and Jim Cutler absent from the meeting, chairman Steven Henry and commissioners Jeff Long and Chuck Harris asked about the status of the project before taking their vote.

“Where will this ( bid award) get us in the scheme of things?” Harris asked.

“We will have two padready sites in the county,” Barclift replied. “We will actually be ready to compete for large-scale industrial projects in the county.”

In addition to the massgrading contract, the board also unanimously approved an additional contract to S&ME Inc. in the amount of $84,797 to ensure proper construction materials testing (CMT) during the massgrading project.

According to the bid documents, the project grading will take place on a 50-acre parcel at 11681 U.S. Highway 41, which is being developed as a business park. The location is south of Ringgold, near the intersection of U.S. 41 and Bandy Road.

While a start date wasn’t immediately announced, bid documents show the massgrading will take place over a 270-day contract.

Adam Cook Economic Development Director Keith Barclift discusses the bid for a $1.6-million mass-grading project along U.S. 41 during the Dec. 1 Board of Commissioner’s meeting.

Adam Cook Catoosa County Commissioner Chuck Harris asks questions about the status of the 50-acre development before voting to approve the $1.6-million bid.