Supervisors voted to reject a single bid to replace the Tishomingo County Courthouse roof in Monday’s meeting, as it was nearly double the engineering estimate.
One bid from Worsham Brothers Construction of Corinth came in at $1,473,000 to replace the current flat roof with a pitched metal one, and to make necessary adjustments for the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) equipment currently on the roof. Kent Geno, of Cook Coggins Engineering, said their estimate had been about $700,000 but didn’t include the HVAC changes. Subcontractors Paramount Metal Systems and Klein Mechanical would have done much of the work under contractor Worsham, said Geno, reviewing the package.
The county was to pay for it in part from $400,000 in funds from the state paid to the county for keeping other counties’ inmates at the Tishomingo County Jail.
The board voted to reject the bid and re-bid the project in hopes of getting additional, more competitive bids. Another option still on the table is to do another 20-year rubber roof for about $100,000.
In other board action, they authorized the Iuka Airport board representatives Rick Owens and John Poyner to rent a large hangar for about $500 a month, after they presented to the board comparable pricing from other airports in the region. An agreement is to be drawn up for signing.
Engineers reported that nearly all the authorizations had been received to put out the bid package to replace the two Crow’s Neck bridges.
The board met again with representatives of the Tishomingo County Farmers’ Market and voiced support for the market, but will look into how and if they can use county funds to help the project get started. The City of Iuka is not offering funding, but they are making significant improvements, like adding electrical service, to JayBird Park in Downtown Iuka to help support the market, as well as other events that go on there throughout the year. Supervisors tasked Board Attorney Phillip Whitehead with ensuring the legality of putting funds toward the project, probably through a donation to the Tishomingo County Tourism Council, which is a major supporter of the project, and is funded in part by county money.
The Tishomingo County Farmers Market will return to JayBird Park in Downtown Iuka on Friday afternoons from 4 - 7 p.m., June 2 through October 6. Organizers hope to include live music and other attractions to make it a destination like farmers markets are in other cities. The market committee members invited supervisors to come to the vendor information session March 30th, 6 p.m.at the fairgrounds.