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Commission approves $12.2 million bid for new county service center

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Rendering courtesy of Shelby County Commission.

The Shelby County Commission approved a bid from Clements Dean Building Company for construction of the County Services Building on U.S. 280 at their April 13 meeting. 

Bids for the project opened the first week of March and of the five bidders, Clements Dean’s came in at the lowest at $12,229,00, which was under the architects estimates. 

The Board of Directors for Shelby 911 also approved a contribution of $2,532,760 for their portion of the building and the fees. 

County Manager Chad Scroggins said this project will be paid for out of fund balance reserves and that the bid was favorable based on the current COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The range between the bids was about $800,000, which for a project of this size, was very competitive," Scroggins said. “We were very pleased with the awarded bid."

With the approval of Monday’s bid, construction will begin in two weeks and is expected to be completed in 14 months. 

The Commission also approved the appropriation of $600,000 for vehicles for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office for FY21 to replace vehicles in the sheriff’s office. The Sheriff’s Office  provided $300,000 from their discretionary funds to assist with the ordering of these vehicles and related equipment. 

During the County Manager’s report, Scroggins said that they are watching the county’s budgets very tightly and that he and CFO Cheryl Naugher talk daily about projections of budgets. 

“Sales tax revenue and lodging tax have been like a light switch completely turned off for the most part since all events are off,” he said. “We have shut down some projects that were going to be funded by lodging tax.”

The Planning Commission is building a backlog because they cannot have public hearings in the manner needed during this time. Building inspectors are keeping that industry going. 

Shelby County Commission

Modifications have been made to install glass and speakers at the license offices in Columbiana and Pelham to separate the employees from the public. The upgrades cost $15,000 and Scroggins said the Inverness lease space is still being evaluated as of now. 

ALEA is not doing drivers license testing, and the star ID deadline has also been postponed. 

Scroggins noted that they have been seeing record online volume. ALEA is offering online renewals, but driver license holders have a 60-day grace period from date of expiration.

“We can continue to service the public in a high capacity,” he said. “We were only down for face to face for a few days, and are always online. We are not closed for business, it just looks a little different.”

For those wanting to enjoy the outdoors, all the trails and greenspaces are open. Two that have been in high demand are the Oak Mountain Trails and the Dunnavant Valley Greenway, which Scroggins hopes will be extended.

Sheriff Samaniego closed the sheriff’s office last week. People are still mailing in pistol permits and using their web page to assist with their needs. He said the jail is a big concern for the coronavirus, as the inmates are in close quarters, but they have the special cells in the medical unit where they can be monitored and tested if they have symptoms. 

The Shelby County landfill is seeing record numbers in the past few weeks. As people are staying home and cleaning up, Scroggins set they recently set records for the number of vehicles on a weekday and a Saturday. 

Other resolutions approved include:

The next Shelby County Commission meeting is scheduled for April 27 and can be streamed online at live.shelby.org. 

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