PERRY- The Houston County Board of Commissioners approved contractors or construction managers for several building, road and water projects at Wednesday morning’s meeting, and it agreed to allow a church group to develop a dental clinic in a former parsonage.
The commissioners chose SCS Engineers of Atlanta to install a new methane gas recovery system at the county landfill. SCS was the low bidder at $1,210,907, and it was the highest scoring of the three finalists in the criteria developed by the county and reviewed by Atlantic Coast Consulting, the company hired to oversee the process. Peed Brothers of Butler bid $1,411,092 and Cooper, Page & Barnette of Sratham bid $1,690,753.
County Director of Operations Tommy Stalnaker said SCS should be able to begin work in about a month, and that it will take about eight months to complete the project. It includes establishing 49 wells, piping and flare burners in the now closed phases 1 and 2 of the 200-acre landfill on Ga. 247 in southeast Houston County.
“We’ve already had flares working in phase 1, which was closed in 1990. Now we’re adding to them and new wells on phase 2, which is a 38-acre section that was closed last year,” Stalnaker said.
The county is in final negotiations with Flint Energies on a contract for the power company to establish a generating plant at the landfill that will use the methane to run the generators to produce electricity.
“The estimate is that we’ll have enough methane for them to generate electricity for about 16,000 homes,” said Commissioner Tom McMichael.
Stalnaker said county officials had also talked with companies wanting to use the methane for power or heat at local industries such as Frito Lay, Perdue or Houston American Cement before deciding to focus on Flint Energy. Commission Chairman Ned Sanders said because electricity produced from landfill methane is considered green power, it can earn credit for the county in various programs designed to limit pollution and decrease the use of fossil fuels.
Stalnaker said it will take about a year to build the generating plant, substation and transmission lines needed to make the power plant operational. Until then, the methane will be turned off in the flares. “We have to have the methane system in place by the end of the year to meet environmental regulation requirements,” he said. “I know Flint would like to move quickly to cut down the time the gas is simply being burned off, because each phase of the landfill only produces methane in sufficient quantities for about 30 years,” he said.
The commissioners also accepted a bid of $1,355,217 from Georgia Asphalt, Inc. to widen 1.2 miles of Thomson Road between Houston Lake Road and U.S. 41. Georgia Asphalt had the second lowest of seven bids, ranging from $1.935 million to $1.348 million, but the high evaluation score.
Stalnaker said the road will be widended to three lanes with curbs, gutters and sidewalks, similar to the work completed recently on Feagin Mill Road. He said work should begin in the next 30 days and the project will take about a year to complete.
The commissioners chose Dublin Construction over two other companies to serve as construction manager for the expansion at the Houston County Jail. Two new pods, each with 80 beds, are to be added to the facility. Dublin Construction will be paid $714,410 for overseeing the project, which the county now estimates will cost about $8 million.
Original plans called for adding two large pods and two smaller pods, but the $9 million estimated cost was more than the county could afford, so the addition has been scaled back by about a third to the two large pods.
Stalnaker said new bids are expected within a month, and that construction should begin by the end of March. The work should be completed by late this year or early next year, he said.
The commissioners chose International City Builders to be the construction managers for a new environmental health building to be built adjacent to the existing health department on Cohen Walker Boulevard. It will be paid $140,801 to oversee construction of the one-story building, which is expected to cost $500,000 to $600,000.
Stalnaker again said work should begin within a month and that the building should be completed by the end of July.
“We’re finding that with the economy the way it is, we’re getting more people to bid on projects and they are ready to go right to work,” Stalnaker said. “And the subcontractors they are using are the same. Everyone is looking for work, so that means we can get things done a little quicker.”
The commissioners accepted the low bid of $114,451 from Pyles Plumbing & Utilities Contractors to perform modifications at the Ga. 96 water plant.
The commissioners agreed to deposit $9 million in investment funds at Security Bank, which offered the highest returns among four banks that bid. The money is being split into six $1.5 million blocks that will have varying maturing dates a month apart beginning in June and running through November.
The commissioners approved a request from the Rehoboth Baptist Association to establish a dental clinic in a former parsonage next door to the church building it owns at the corner of U.S. 41 and Tharpe Road. The association has sponsored an annual dental clinic day for migrant workers for several years and wants to expand the program to once a once monthly service to those without insurance or who cannot afford dental care. Local dentists volunteer their services.
The commissioners appointed Deborah Carriker to complete the term of Edward Lusk, who resigned, on the Mental Health, Development Disabilities and Addictive Diseases Region Four Planning Board. Carriker is executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Central Georgia, and Lusk said in his resignation letter he thought she would be more qualified to serve. The term expires June 30, 2011.
To contact writer Chuck Thompson, call 923-6199, extension 235.
