VERNON, Ala. — The City of Vernon’s industrial park infrastructure work will be performed by a new construction company.
The Vernon City Council unanimously approved a resolution to contract Cornerstone Civil Contractors, LLC, of Tuscaloosa to perform road and sewer construction at the city’s industrial park, where the park’s first tenant, K & S Lumber is slated to open a sawmill in late July.
Just two weeks ago, the board had contracted Burton Builders, of Belmont, Miss., under the condition that the company would secure a license to perform municipal city work in the State of Alabama, for $78,286.
Kurt Hankins, engineer for Goodwin, Mills and Caywood, of Vernon, recommended the new bid for $94,808.75 be awarded to Cornerstone, which submitted the lowest bid. Hankins said the bid and bidder met all the specifications before recommending a resolution to approve Cornerstone’s bid.
Burton had previously agreed to secure certification, but the company could not obtain a license in a timely manner and asked for its bid to be withdrawn.
Mayor Glenn Crawford said the re-bidding will have little bearing on K & S’ target date to begin business. Crawford said contractors will begin pouring cement Thursday, while the mill’s equipment will be installed over the next two weeks.
In other business:
■ The council voted to re-open a bid for city sewer and road work due to the prices in materials and services increasing $96,000. The council secured a $350,000 grant that required matching funds from the city for a total cost of $474,000. The city would have to absorb the additional $96,000; the council voted unanimously to place the project on hold until 2015.
■ The council voted unanimously to table a request for a one-time bonus for former Vernon city employees. The letter was submitted by the Alabama Retired State Employees’ Association. A sliding scale formula for the one-time payment would be $300 or $2 a month for retirees who worked longer than 10 years. Crawford said he needed to meet with authorities at the water department before the council could make a decision.
■ The council tabled a request to donate money to the Special Olympics program at the Vernon School System. Kathy Heatherly, on behalf of the program, requested the council donate to a T-shirt project that will cost $750.00 for 150 shirts. The matter was tabled, as Crawford was unsure of the legality of such a donation. He said he’ll explore the possibility of donating directly to the school and asked council members to donate $10.00 to the program to help start the program.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.