City Awards $2.6 Million Bid for Major Sewer Rehab Project

August 14, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

A major sewer system rehabilitation effort is within a few months of getting started in the City of Smithville.

During last Monday night’s meeting, the Mayor and Aldermen awarded a bid, as recommended by JR Wauford & Company Consulting Engineers, to Cumberland Pipeline, LLC of Columbia Kentucky in the amount of $2,649,513. The scope of the work will be to primarily replace cross country sewer lines in four specific areas of town generally in the following locations: On West Main Street starting behind the Middle Tennessee Tae Kwon Do business (old Piggly Wiggly building) to West Broad Street near the NextGen Auto Inc. business (old Baker’s Body Shop location); From Whaley Street near Patty’s Restaurant to White Oak Drive; From Foster Road across from Doe Lane to West Broad Street; and from Congress Boulevard near Liberty State Bank and DeKalb Christian Academy to NHC Healthcare Center. Again, the work will be done primarily cross country rather than along roadways.

Daniel Tribble, Manager of Field Services for JR Wauford and Company explained that while the low bid for the project was $2.6 million, the city is getting financial assistance to help cover the costs.

“The City of Smithville was awarded a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $300,000 by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. As part of the Build Back Better Act and the American Rescue Plan Act the City of Smithville was also awarded $1,311,999 in non-competitive grant funding to be used for sewer rehab,” said Tribble.

The city’s local funding portion is $1,095,763 from available water and sewer funds.

“We have designed this project that is a continuation of one that began a few years ago to rehab cross country sewer lines, not those that run parallel with roads but that run mostly along creeks and ditches where most gravity sewers end up and terminate,” said Tribble. “We had a bid opening on June 25 where we received four bids. We then had to conduct a mini rebid to satisfy ECD requirements where you allowed us four bidders to rebid on the same project. The low bidder submitted the same price both times at $2,649,513. The low bidder is Cumberland Pipeline, LLC of Columbia, Kentucky. Our firm has worked with them before and we recommend that they be awarded the contract for sewer system rehabilitation,” said Tribble.

The project involves unit price which means the final quantities determine the final contract amount so the final contract amount may differ from the bid amount.

Tribble said the work is expected to start by the first of the year.

August 13, 2024
By:

Army Officer and Smithville native, Scott Emmons, the son of Lloyd and Donna Emmons, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on Friday, August 9th. The ceremony, held in Wiesbaden Germany, was presided over by General Darryl A. Williams, Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, and NATO Allied Land Command.

Emmons, a 2003 graduate of DeKalb County High School, joined the Army in 2007 after graduating from the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY with a degree in Defense and Security Studies.

Commissioning as an Artillery Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Emmons has served 10 of his 16 years in service overseas, in a wide variety of tactical and operational roles including combat tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and Jordan, as well as three years as an exchange officer in the UK. In 2018, he earned a Masters Degree in Military Arts and Sciences and graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

As a Major, Emmons served in Italy and Germany with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, and as the Operations Officer for the 41st Fires Brigade also in Germany. In part, because of his extensive background in working with Allies and Partners, then Major Emmons was selected last year to serve as the Aide-de-Camp to the Commanding General for all U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa as well as the NATO Allied Land Commander, where he continues to serve.

United States Army Europe and Africa, in Wiesbaden Germany, is the same headquarters that Lieutenant Colonel Emmons’ paternal grandfather Richard Clarence Emmons served under Generals Eisenhower and Bradley during World War II. Lieutenant Colonel Emmons is married to the love of his life Georgette, and they have three sons: Atlas, Maximus, and Ivor.

For more information about opportunities and Army careers visit, www.goarmy.com, or contact the Cookeville Army recruiting station at +1 615-564-4084. For more information about the United States Military Academy at West Point visit www.usma.edu

August 13, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Subdivision developers in DeKalb County for the most part will now have to ensure infrastructure installation on a site before obtaining final plat approval by the DeKalb County Regional Planning Commission, eliminating all surety instrument options except for the completion of roads within a new subdivision.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the planning commission adopted a new amendment to the subdivision regulations which is to take effect immediately for new developments. None over the last five years that has already received at least preliminary plat approval by the planning commission can be held to the new standards.

The amendment, as adopted by the planning commission, is modeled after White County’s regulations under which no surety instruments are accepted except for the top coating (surfacing) of roads developed within a subdivision. Proponents of the change said this would force a developer to ensure that all other infrastructure work is done before the planning commission can give final plat approval. Under White County’s regulations “the only type of surety (road improvements) they accept now is a letter of credit from a bank 60 miles from their courthouse with automatic renewals and new approved costs estimates,” explained Tommy Lee, Director of the Upper Cumberland Development District, who serves as UCDD staff planner and advisor to DeKalb County.

Last month, Lee explained what the county’s regulations had been up to now regarding surety instruments.

“We had allowed for final plat approval without infrastructure being fully installed if a surety were submitted to guarantee its installation. We accepted three types of surety instruments and those were as follows: We did accept the establishment of an escrow account in the full amount of the estimated cost of the required improvements plus 10%. We also accepted a certified check in the full amount of the estimated cost of the required improvements plus 10%. Finally, we accepted an irrevocable letter of credit for the full amount of the estimated cost of the required improvements plus 10% from an approved bank. We also had forms that needed to be filled out when we accepted those surety instruments,” Lee explained.

The surety instrument issue stemmed from action taken by the planning commission in April to amend the county’s subdivision regulations with new provisions for developers. The aim was to better ensure that adequate road access for emergency vehicles and sufficient water supply for fire suppression be provided in new county residential developments with five or more lots prior to final plat approval by the planning commission.

The new regulations, as amended in April, were primarily prompted as the result of a plat already approved for a subdivision called Silver Point Shores on Aunt Helen Road in DeKalb County near Silver Point which has been in development for at least two years. Concerns were that this subdivision has poor (narrow) road access into and through it especially for emergency vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances and that there is no water source (wells) or fire suppression system in place for the 31 lots in the subdivision which have already been sold by the developer collectively for more than $3.5 million. Members of the planning commission also had concerns about whether the surety instrument of the developer in this case, a cashier’s check (good for up to 180 days but reportedly now expired) in the amount of $40,000 was sufficient.

Last month County Mayor Matt Adcock initially asked that the planning commission going forward provide for no security instruments to ensure that developers have all subdivision infrastructure in place before final plat approval to guard against another Aunt Helen Road situation.

County Mayor Adcock later modified his request about sureties after Lee raised a concern.

“If you don’t accept any (road improvement) surety instruments and make them (developers) build to county specs without any homes being built there, then when the county takes over the (subdivision) roads, the concrete trucks will start coming in (during housing construction) and those roads could be mashed to pieces,” said Lee.

The new amended regulations pertaining to this issue, as adopted by the planning commission Monday night, are as follows:

“No final subdivision plat shall be approved by the Planning Commission or accepted by the County Register of Deeds until required improvements shall be installed and approved by the Planning Commission, Highway Superintendent, or applicable utility district”.

“In lieu of the completion of road improvements, the Planning Commission may accept a security instrument in an amount equal to the estimated costs of the completed improvements, plus 50%, whereby the improvements may be made without cost to the county in the event of the developer’s default. In determining the adequacy of the security instrument, the Planning Commission may seek the advice of other government officials or qualified consultants prior to acceptance. A security instrument may only be accepted for road improvements. All required utility improvements, including but not limited to, water lines and fire hydrants, shall be installed prior to Planning Commission approval. In lieu of fire hydrant installation, the Planning Commission may accept a paid receipt for the purchase and installation of any required fire hydrant from the utility district having jurisdiction”.

“As a security instrument, the Planning Commission will accept an irrevocable letter of credit from an FDIC insured local bank. A bank shall be considered a local bank under the terms of this section only if the letter of credit is redeemable at a bank branch within 60 miles of the DeKalb County Courthouse in Smithville”.

“The irrevocable letter of credit should, at a minimum, contain the following provisions:

A. Beneficiary; DeKalb County Government

B. Minimum initial term of one year from date of issuance

C. Automatic one-year extensions, with the allowance to increase the initial surety amount if said increase is approved by the Planning Commission and the Highway Department, from the initial expiration date or any future expiration date

D. Notification of beneficiary, in writing via registered mail or overnight courier, at least 90 days prior to any non-renewal.

E. in the event of a notice of non-renewal, the Planning Commission shall have the right to draw the full amount of the letter of credit even though no other default or defect may exist at that time”.

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