Commission approves bid for sewer project during meeting
Cedartown commissioners gathered for a special meeting to consider two items for immediate action Jan. 18 so they can move forward on two projects in the coming months.
Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a $1,249,180 bid to complete sewer work in the city in a second bidding process that came back higher than initially expected.
The city had set aside $800,000 for the project, some $500,000 coming from a Community Development Block Grant which came in late 2015 for the job.
Cedartown’s sewer project set to replace 6,000 linear feat of line in the residential area south of Goodyear Park near Cedar Creek was first bid out and came back with a $1,149,000 price tag.
When the project came back after a second bidding process, another $100,000 got added to the cost.
Commissioners also received bids back on the Lankford Events Center much higher than the initial contractor price, which with both projects coming in higher than budgeted forced a decision between which project to pursue first.
Though the events center project isn’t being forgotten, it is on the back burner for the time being.
Unanimous votes also came down with approval for an intergovernmental agreement between the City of Cedartown and the Cedartown Development Authority for the purchase of the old Southcrest Bank property.
The deal will allow the Development Authority to handle the financing and contracts on the property purchase, the building to be used as the new home of the Polk County Historical Society museum, along with other parcels including the old drive-thru teller locations.
Southcrest Bank will retain an Automated Teller Machine location on the site and pay a rental fee to keep it there.
The city is also seeking funds from the W.D. Trippe Foundation to help with the costs.
In December, Commissioners voted unanimously to go after the project after city manager Bill Fann said it would be cheaper to go after the new property than to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars updating the Hawkes Library, where the Polk County Historical Society currently meets.