During the public input portion of the Appling County Commissioners meeting, held on Tuesday, Jan. 20, local citizen Bob Wiggins discussed issues with the construction of Vernon Williams Road. Wiggins stated that the county, at a prior meeting, had elected to open the construction of the roadbed portion of the road project up for bidding. He stated that at a county commission meeting held on November 25, 2008, Public Works Director Tommy Davis told the commissioners a local company, Murray Construction, had offered to build the roadbed for approximately $30,000.00, and Davis added that by using the company the county would save money rather than doing the work in house with county employees and with county equipment. At this point the commissioners agreed that the project should be opened for bidding. During the January 9 meeting, the commissioners opened submitted bids for the project and the apparent low bidder was DAH Construction of Baxley. The company bid $25,700.00.

Wiggins stated the owners of DAH Construction, Jeff Altman and Jimmy Harrell, have since learned that the county has decided to do the work using county employees and county equipment and would be rejecting all bids that were submitted. He added that the owners were upset with the way the bidding for the project was handled adding that it was very unprofessional. Wiggins also questioned how it could be cheaper for the county to now do the work when it was stated before (Nov. 25) that it would be cheaper to contract this portion of the project out. He stated that DAH had bid an even lower price than the one that was originally submitted for the project.

Acting County Manager Lee Lewis explained that the county currently pays 33 employees at the county shop and it was his recommendation to use county employees and equipment to do the work on the road instead of using a contractor. Lewis stated that this portion of this project should have never been bid out to start with saying that if the county was going to use a contractor to do this project it should have asked for a bid to do the entire project including the paving portion of the project.

Wiggins ended his presentation by stating, “everyone knows what the economic situation is”. He urged the commission to start looking at the budget for the upcoming year and also start considering ways to cut back to keep from having to raise taxes.

Other business

The commissioners opened bids for scrap metal collection for the county landfill. Johnny Drake, of Baxley, submitted that he would pay the county $8.00 per 100 pounds to remove scrap metal from the landfill. Barber Recycling, from Alma, submitted a bid $3.00 per 100 pounds and also offered to provide a container that the debris could be placed in. The commissioners approved the high bid from Johnny Drake.

Eight bids were submitted for the parking lot paving project for the Ernest J. Parker Recreation Park multipurpose building. Bids ranged in price from $62,400.00 to $13,980.00. DAH Construction submitted the low bid of $13,980.00. Board member Charlie Leggett asked if the county has an inspector and Chairman Virgil Carter stated that Buildings and Grounds Superintendent Troy Rushing would oversee the project to make sure it is done properly. The commission approved the low bid with the stipulation that it meets all bid specifications.

The commissioners approved to pay a fuel reimbursement to Sullivan Environmental in the amount of $2,053.57. Lewis told board members that the company and the county have been working hard to complete the cart audit and picking up containers.

Manager Lewis reported the current county health care insurance provider, United Health, has notified the county that they would be increasing rates for coverage in 2009 by over nine percent. Lewis added that Blue Cross/Blue Shield has offered a similar health insurance package to the county at $14.00 cheaper per employee than what the county is currently paying for health insurance. He stated that the county has tried to negotiate with United Health and the company refuses to reduce the rate of increase on the existing policy. The commissioners agreed to discuss the matter further at a called work session held on Monday, Jan. 26.

Board members discussed a recommendation to purchase a new Appling County Constable car. Magistrate Judge Don Sears told the commission that the existing car has over 200,000 miles and added the front-end on the car had fell out from under the car. Sears stated that they would need to replace the car with a full-size car since people have to be transported in the vehicle at times. Judge Sears also stated that he had contacted a local dealership, Sapp Ford, and the dealer has a 2008 program car with low mileage and existing warranty at a cost of $16,900.00. The commission asked Lewis and Sears to look into the matter further and report back to the board.