By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–At a bid opening Tuesday for the new Henry County government office building, the low bid came from Allen Searcy of Union City at $7.8M.
The bid opening was hosted by TLM Associates, with Jerry Hartsfield and Christi Boone on hand.
At a pre-bid meeting earlier in the month, 14 firms had shown interest in the project and at Tuesday’s meeting, nine presented bids.
The bids presented a wide range, with the second lowest being from R.G. Anderson of Nashville at $8.25 to the highest at $9.055 from Worsham of Corinth, Mississippi.
County Building and Grounds Committee Chairman Marty Visser said committee members were happy with how many bids were presented for them to review. The lowest bid was “significantly cheaper than the others,” Visser said. “And we had a good selection of bids” from a variety of firms.
Henry County Mayor Randy Geiger said the new county office building will be approximately 19,000 square feet and will house the mayor’s office, Register of Deeds, Assessor’s Office, Trustee Office, and budget office. It also will contain a large size meeting room for commissioners and the public which also can double as a courtroom if needed.
The one-story building will be located on Hwy. 79S.
In other county building-related news, the Commission on Monday evening tabled a vote on a resolution to approve a proposal for the reconstruction of the courthouse bell tower and clock. The resolution would have authorized the County Mayor execute a contract with Renaissance Historic Exteriors, a firm headquartered in St. Louis.
The Building and Grounds Committee had recommended utilizing the TVA funds for the project. As reported earlier, Henry County received unexpected TVA funds (around $750,000 initially) due to a nearby coal plant closure.
At Monday’s meeting, the resolution was tabled after a couple of commissioners voiced more concerns about costs.
Shannon McFarlin photo.