Officials eye quicker construction for phase II
It’s not over till it’s over. In what seemed to be a done deal months ago, elected officials are once again discussing which engineering firm to use for phase II of downtown renovation.
With the phase I, Main Street McMinnville went through numerous applicants and chose EG&G and city officials agreed. For phase II, officials will have to chose between three firms.
‘I’m very comfortable with one engineer here. I’m not comfortable with another and there is one I don’t know,’ said Alderman Bobby Kirby. ‘I’m 100 percent comfortable with one engineer. Nothing has changed my mind over the last three or four months.’
To that, Alderman Billy Wood added, ‘Well, the one you don’t know I do.’
Because the project is as yet undefined, the city asked for information on the firms only and not what the costs would be for the project. Information included qualifications, experience with grant-funded projects, if they are on TDOT’s pre-qualified list, and if they participated in Disadvantaged Business Enterprises.
The city received information from three interested firms. All three are on TDOT’s list and each has experience with grant-funded projects. Elected officials will have to chose between:
‘ James C. Hailey and Company ‘ Organized in July 1985 and is based out of Nashville. It is a full-service civil engineering firm providing personalized engineering services for all its clients including both government and private-sector clients.
The firm specializes in the practice of sanitary engineering, primarily water works, sewerage works and industrial waste works as well as high way and bridge design. They have also designed commercial and industrial buildings, institutional facilities, apartments and other types of specialized facilities.
‘ Hart Freeland Roberts ‘ Founded in 1910 and is based out of Brentwood and is a full-service architectural and engineering design firm. It is the oldest architectural and engineering firm in Tennessee and participates in Disadvantaged Business Enterprises.
The firm has engineering experience with transportation, including roadways, intersections and traffic control; environmental, including treatment, storage, distribution and disposal; civil, including land planning, storm water quality; development, including parking solutions and recreation; structural, including significant forensic complex systems.
‘ EG&G, Inc. ‘ Founded in 1981 and is based out of Akron, Ohio. The business specializes in services for downtown renovation and streetscape projects. Its track record encompasses over 60 successful design and implemented downtown streetscape projects. EG&G also participates in Disadvantaged Business Enterprises.
Along with downtown renovation projects, the firm also has experience in parks and recreation projects, school and campus projects and development and infrastructure projects.
When the firm is chosen, the preliminary work will begin at a cost of $50,000. Once the information from the preliminary work has been received, officials will then discuss with the firm exactly what needs to be done so they can offer a cost estimate.
Although he wasn’t around for phase I, city administrator David Rutherford doesn’t plan on having a repeat of the long, drawn-out Main Street project.
‘We need to put something together that would accommodate the businesses and traffic on that street,’ said Rutherford. ‘We can’t have the street tied up for months. There is no sense in that. If they can build interstates at night, surely to goodness we can do 2,000 feet of road in a reasonable amount of time with reasonable money.’
Unlike phase I, phase II won’t have planters, decorative lighting and stamped concrete. Because of this, earlier estimates of a $4 million project might not be accurate.
‘You won’t have the space for all that,’ said Public Works director Bill Brock. ‘It’s a shorter distance. If you will look at what all was done on Main Street with the park, roads and side streets, you don’t have that in this project. It’s a small project. I just can’t imagine this being a $4 million project.’
Phase II will include the section of Sparta Street that connects E. Main Street to Morford Street. The project will then turn down Morford, at what is now being referred to as Bobby’s Hole, and continue down to and include the intersection at N. Chancery Street. Also in this phase will be the section of Spring Street that connects Morford Street with Main Street.