Smyrna Town Council awarded construction bids for two major town projects at the February 17 council meeting.
First, council voted to award the general trades portion of the new Public Works building to Emory Hill and Company for an amount not to exceed $601,208.
The bids considered by council at last week’s meeting were actually the second set of bids for that portion of the project.
Council had put the work out to bid late last year and authorized Town Manager Dave Hugg to award the bid to what was the second-lowest bidder at the time.
But on January 20, council voted to rescind that decision and re-bid the project after a long executive session.
On February 17, Town Manager Dave Hugg said the town received seven bids after re-bidding that portion of the project.
The town actually got a better price the second time around.
Hugg said the new low bid accepted at the meeting was $90,000 less than the original lowest bidder.
Council voted 6-0 to award the bid to Emory Hill. Councilman Bill Raynor was excused from the meeting.
Council also awarded the bid for the second phase of the downtown project – the streetscape portion – to Sam’s Construction Co. LLC of Wilmington for $871,825.
Hugg described this portion of the project as “everything above the dirt,” including paving, lighting, sidewalks and trees.
Council voted 6-0 to award the bid.
The ongoing downtown improvements include utility upgrades and streetscape improvements along South Main Street, from the intersection with South Street to the intersection with Commerce Street.
Council to apply for Boys and Girls Club grant
During the portion of the meeting for public comments, Smyrna School District Superintendent Debbie Wicks and Smyrna-Clayton Boys and Girls Club unit director Trisha Moses spoke to council about a grant application for the local club.
“We have a wonderful club that is 10 years old now, but in a building that is 60 years old,” Wicks said.
The old building is at a point where it needs to be updated, she said.
The Town of Smyrna owns the Boys and Girls Club’s building and rents it to the club for a dollar, so “we’re all in this together,” Wicks said.
“We’re looking at slowly building the building up and making it a great place for our kids to be,” she said.
Since the local club now offers pre-school, it’s even more important to “ensure the building is a safe, clean environment for our kids,” Moses added
“Anything you can do is appreciated,” she said to council.
Later in the meeting, council voted 6-0 to approve a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign an application for a USDA rural development grant on behalf of the Boys and Girls Club.
The application is for a $50,000 grant to support phase I of the renovations to the club, covering the bathrooms and plumbing.
Partial tax waivers approved
for redevelopment projects
Council also considered three requests for the waiver of taxes and building permit fees for redevelopment projects in downtown Smyrna.
Two of the requests were from developer Carl Helton for his professional building at 229 N. Main Street and Lincoln Place at the corner of Lincoln and E. Mt. Vernon streets.
The other request was from Mike Wilkinson for the renovated Luby Building at 35 N. Main Street.
During the meeting, Hugg reported that the Business Development Committee had recommended that council grant 100 percent of the requested amounts, while the Finance Committee recommended waiving 50 percent of the requested amounts.
“It’s really up to the council to decide” on whether or not to approve the waivers, and if so, what the amount should be, Hugg said.
“In the past we have approved 50 percent, particularly if the request came after the fact,” said Councilman Gene Mullen, chair of Finance Committee. “To keep consistent with past practices, the committee recommended 50 percent for all three.”
Councilman Bill Pressley, chair of Business Development Committee, originally recommended a larger waiver based on the benefits the redevelopment projects bring to the town.
“If it’s a vacant building, we’re not getting anything out of it,” he said.
Pressley made a motion that the council approve 75 percent of the requested amounts as a compromise.
“I don’t believe it’s fair to the others who came before,” Councilwoman Valerie White responded.
Pressley went on to amend his motion to 50 percent of the requested amounts “to get this done.”
Council approved the motion 6-0.
‘Knox Box’ ordinance approved
Council also passed the third and final reading of the “Knox Box” ordinance, which had remained tabled since the November 17 council meeting. A Knox Box is a small locked box on the outside of a building that contains a key to the building. Firefighters have a key to unlock the box in case of a fire, so they can use the key inside the box to quickly unlock the building without having to break the door.
This ordinance is a short amendment to town code intended to bring the town’s “Knox Box” ordinance into compliance with the state code, which allows only a pharmacist to lock and unlock the prescription department of a pharmacy.
“This is basically housekeeping,” said Mayor Stombaugh.
This ordinance brings the town in line with the state ordinance, she said.
Council tabled the ordinance back in November after the fire company expressed concerns that it hadn’t been consulted about the ordinance.
“The whole thing with the Knox Box was lack of communication,” said Councilman Memphis Evans.
The ordinance passed 5-1, with Councilman Bill Pressley voting no.
Thornton questions item in Raynor’s letter
Under other council business, Councilman Larry Thornton referred to a letter to the editor by Councilman Bill Raynor that was printed in the February 11 issue of the Sun-Times.
The letter listed ideas on how the Town of Smyrna could reduce costs.
Thornton took issue with one of the statements in Raynor’s letter – that in the past year, approximately eight new and unfilled positions occurred at a cost of over $300,000.
“My research is that this information is not accurate,” Thornton said.
Thornton said he wanted to speak to Raynor about it, but Raynor was excused from the meeting.
Councilman Gene Mullen suggested that council members bring their questions and suggestions to town committees.
Raynor's letter can be seen under the "Opinion" section of this website.
