Jackson Progress-Argus

The new fire station in the Worthville community is expected to cost $50,000 less than the lowest bid submitted to Butts County officials for its construction.

Commissioners on Monday night approved Ga. Contracting & Restoration as the contractor to build the project. The county is using a federal grant to rebuild the fire station, which was closed in 2010 amid concerns over the condition of the building, on Keys Ferry Road near Ga. Highway 36, constructed in 1982.

Ga. Contracting & Restoration's bid for the project (the county is doing the demolition and initial site preparation) was $485,000, according to county documents. The addition of a mezzanine level in the new building brought the cost up to $488,118, but that was before several expenses were stripped from the project in what County Administrator Alan E. White called a process of "value engineering."

He told commissioners that by using hollow-core doors inside (a savings of $5,000), sealing the concrete in the bay area instead of painting it (a savings of $2,800), reworking an exhaust system in the bay (a savings of $10,600), paying for a breathing air system through another means (a savings of more than $26,000), and other changes, the price of the building could drop to $435,368.

That's still well below the $537,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant award, but some of that money has already been used to pay for an environmental study of the property, and White said the architectural fees would be 6 percent of the construction cost.

Commissioner G.S. "Gator" Hodges, who represents eastern Butts County, including areas that would be served by the station, said he hoped to take full advantage of the grant money.

"My thing is," he said, "I didn't want to send a single penny back."

Butts County commissioners were initially expected to award the contract for the fire station's construction in late February, but rebid the project under more specific criteria after finding discrepancies between proposals in the first set of bids.

Commission Chairman Roger McDaniel said in March, during a ceremony to decommission the old station, that he hoped a new one would be online in about a year's time.

White said the breathing air system removed from the contract awarded Monday is a system by which firefighters replenish oxygen tanks. He said the county does not currently have one, but utilizes a system at the state prison outside Jackson.

He told commissioners he believed that such a system could be installed at the new fire station to serve all of the county's firefighters, using Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds.

In other action on Monday, county commissioners voted to accept a $500,000 Employment Incentive Program grant, through the state Department of Community Affairs' Community Development Block Grant program.

The money is the second half of $1 million in grants sought by the county and the Butts County, et al. Water & Sewer Authority to extend sewer service to the east side of Interstate 75 at Ga. Highway 16.

According to a letter from Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Mike Beatty, the funds were awarded because the project the money is tied to will amount to $4.2 million in private investment, and 55 permanent, full-time jobs.

The county and the water authority were awarded a $500,000 OneGeorgia grant last year for the sewer project. A travel center, which White said will include two restaurants, is already under construction on the south side of Ga. 16 near the interchange, and county officials hope for more development there.

County commissioners also voted Monday to approve an overhaul of the zoning code for Butts County that has been in the works for months. The new ordinance, which includes a new zoning map, also includes an ordinance for unincorporated Butts County that regulates outdoor signage.

While commissioners approved the new zoning ordinance and map, some members of the board expressed concern over some portions of the code.

McDaniel, the commission chairman, said he would like to see a revision to a section dealing with recreational vehicles, which are limited to being parked in the same location for 30 days per year under the new code. He said he would like to see a permit required for longterm RV parking, to create an enforcement mechanism.

He acknowledged that some members of the commission, and members of the public, also have concerns about portions of the sign ordinance. McDaniel said the Board of Commissioners could take up amendments to the overhauled code offered by commissioners and members of the public in the future, though commissioners felt the majority of the new code was ready for approval.

"We'll go back and address the amendments one by one," he said.

That process, of amending the zoning ordinances, would require additional hearings by the county's planning board and the Board of Commissioners.

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