Barrow WSA fronts money to county

In discussing the request, WSA Chairman Dr. Stan Coley asked Barrow County Water Department Director Myron Garrett if “the books can stand it,” to which Garrett replied, “Yes.” District 1 Representative David Hawthorne asked if there was “any chance the loan could be denied.” Whiddon replied, “Never say never,” then added “the documents to date are issued and in place” and there has been no indication that the loan won’t be approved.

The WSA voted unanimously to approve the request.

OFFICE BIDS
The authority also discussed the “first bid resumes,” as Coley termed the information packets submitted by four firms seeking to win the bid to design and construct the county water department’s new offices and maintenance shop in the old Holsenbeck Fire Station on Hwy. 211. The WSA purchased the alreadyclosed station from the county for some $300,000 in the spring.

The firms bidding are: Alan Bell Architect, Inc, Bremen, GA; Carter Watkins Associates Architects, Inc., Monroe, GA; D.L. Fields Consultants, LLC, Atlanta, GA; and, Precision Planning, Inc., Lawrenceville, GA.

Since only four firms submitted initial packets and all four “responded in a complete manner,” Coley told the board he felt all four firms should be interviewed and asked to submit financial bids.

Garrett said he thought “all four would probably do a good job,” adding that two of the firms, Carter Watkins and Precision Planning, had “done business with the county in the past” and had solid local track records.

Garrett said the one thing that was “disturbing” about the initial (non-financial) bids was the timeline — all four firms estimated 48-54 weeks from the time the contract was signed until the work was completed. He added that the county requires all jobs over $10,000 to be bid out and “in order to be fair to the bidders, a standard set of plans for all the bidders to see” has to be drawn up, so all four firms were operating off the same set of requirements.

Coley then proposed sending letters to the four firms requesting an interview and a sealed bid outlining all project costs. The authority then set a goal to complete the interview/ bid review process at their next regularly scheduled meeting, set for Sep. 21.