Commission to Consider Bids for Building New Four Seasons Fire Hall

November 21, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

The County Commission may decide Monday night whether to proceed with the latest plan to build a new fire hall in the Four Seasons Community.

The project has been in the making for four years but has been delayed twice because bids to construct the facility were deemed too high by the previous county commission.

Original plans called for the fire hall to be a steel frame structure of 40’ x 55’ in size consisting of two bays, a restroom, shower, and a small meeting room. It was to be a turnkey project with all the work including construction, concrete pad, septic tank, etc all to have been done under one contract.

The county altered the bid specifications during the latest round of bidding hoping to bring the costs down.

“There is no steel structure proposed on the inside. It would have wood posts and wood trusses. No storage upstairs. It does have a bathroom facility with a shower and a septic tank. It would have six inches of concrete to support the fire truck and two 12 foot doors,” said County Mayor Tim Stribling during Tuesday night’s All-Committees meeting of the County Commission.

Four bids were received for this design of the firehall. The lowest came from Johnson Builders of Doyle, Tennessee. Their base bid was $160,820 with alternate deducts of $8,000 for work on the parking lot and $4,000 to add insulation to the building. The other base bids were $178,787 from Bates Construction of Smithville, $188,500 from Fuel Tank Maintenance of Cookeville, and $221,409 from Garver Builders of Gallatin.

The county already has budgeted $165,000 this year for the project from the capital projects portion of the budget.

“We have bid this three times and I can’t see bidding it again. This is about as basic as you’re going to get for a two bay fire hall. There will have to be some site work. Some dirt will have to be moved but this bid includes that,” said County Mayor Stribling.

“This is a pole barn not a steel frame right,” asked County Commissioner Myron Rhody?

“This is wood poles with wood trusses two feet apart. We can go to a single bay if you think it’s too high,” answered Stribling.

“That’s awful high for a pole barn. I know a farmer who built a 60’ x 100’ (barn) with two big bay doors, concrete and all for $50,000. He added a shed on to it for $10,000 more. His is insulated with electricity and water and I think he has a bathroom in it. I know it was built five or six years ago but I don’t think things have increased that drastically. We’re talking about building one half that size for $170,000. I am not knocking the fire hall but I just don’t see it,” said Rhody.

“I think it’s pretty high. We could build two (firehalls) for that. We need one down there (Four Seasons) but I think it would be better if we could spread the money out a little bit further and get more for our money. It could be done cheaper,” said Commissioner Bobby Johnson.

“We had the same conversation with the last commission. We all felt it was too high. People were building pole barns everywhere so much cheaper. Why? Guys, I am telling you it’s not going to get any better. This has been dragging on for four years,” said Commissioner Anita Puckett.

“Well I am not going to be for any $170,000 barn,” responded Commissioner Rhody.

“Are there other alternatives? Could the county be the contractor and sub out portions of the project,” asked County Commissioner Bruce Malone?

“You could but you still must have an engineer. Any project over $25,000 requires an engineer or architect,” replied County Mayor Stribling.

“I know this looks like a lot and I thought the same thing that we could go out and buy something for $60,000 and look just as nice but this is the third time we have done it (sought bids for the project). They (bidders) know it’s a county government and that they can get more money from it. We’re going to have to spend a little more than we would like to. I really wish it wasn’t that way. They see us (county) for what we are. They (contractors) know we have money and they want their chunk of change out of it,” said Commissioner Matt Adcock.

During the previous round of bidding in May Triton Construction of Rockvale had the lowest base bid at $257,000 with two deductive alternates totaling $19,200 (deleting graveling and leveling the parking area and deleting external stairs and lowering the walls). Quality Builders of Sparta submitted a base bid of $278,060 with no deductive alternates and Preston Brothers of Woodbury offered a base bid of $285,300 with two deductive alternates totaling $27,690 (deleting graveling and leveling the parking area and deleting external stairs and lowering the walls).

During the first round in March two bids were received including one for $284,000 from Preston Brothers of Woodbury (minus $11,000 if the county put the gravel on the parking lot) and $197,000 from FTM Contracting of Cookeville (deductive alternate of $2,400).

A new fire station at Four Seasons would be the 12th station in the county operated by the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department. The other fire halls are on Short Mountain Highway, Midway Community, Belk, Keltonburg, Cookeville Highway, Austin Bottom Community, Liberty, Temperance Hall, Main Station, Johnson Chapel, and Blue Springs.

The county commission will meet in regular monthly session Monday night, November 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the downstairs courtroom of the courthouse.

November 20, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County School Board Chair, Dub Evins, spoke to the Smithville Rotary Club on Tuesday, November 13, 2018. Mr. Evins highlighted many of the great accomplishments of the School System over the past year as well as the tremendous need for a new school in Dekalb County. For more information about the Smithville Rotary Club, visit our Facebook Page at Smithville Rotary Club of Tennessee-District 6780.

November 20, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Civic, community and business leaders came together to pray and give thanks this morning (Tuesday) during the 48^th annual Chamber Prayer Breakfast held at the County Complex Auditorium.

The guest speaker, Nancy Trapp, admonished her audience to follow the example of Old Testament Prophet Nehemiah in their lives.

“Nehemiah was a common man. He wasn’t much different from anybody in this room. He was Jewish by faith and birth and he desired from the deepest part of his heart to see his hometown of Jerusalem be restored to its greatness”.

“For us to practice what Nehemiah practiced, what we need to do is pray. Pray every day without ceasing for any and every burden we have for our county, town, church, friends, and our families. We must pray daily and often. We should always remember that God’s time and our time are never the same,” said Trapp.

“We need to make a plan and execute the plan that the Lord gives us boldly and we should look for the resources that the Lord will provide. We need to look in uncommon and unlikely places for the resources that the Lord is preparing to provide us with right now. As part of this plan, we should protect ourselves against the outside evils. We need to work with the Sheriff’s Department, Police Department, EMS, and all the protective services, and with the security team at your church to protect ourselves because there is evil out there. The Lord calls on us to protect ourselves. We should also protect ourselves from the inside evils. The evils of selfishness, greed, extortion, a pecking order, any illegal banking practices, or anything that will destroy us from the inside. We need to call out this evil and get rid of it,” Trapp continued.

“Finally, we need to praise. We need to have genuine daily every moment, on-going praise in our minds and in our hearts and our praise doesn’t need to stop on Sunday morning. Nehemiah lived a very thankful, grateful, and blessed life. He was thankful for the little things. He was grateful to his employer, to his friends, and the men who rose up to come and work. He was blessed with the Lord working through his own life and through the lives of other people,” she said.

Trapp then spoke of personal tragedies she has encountered and overcome through faith, prayer and the support of this community and as she prepares to relocate to Louisiana to be closer to family, Trapp said she will draw on that strength as she strives to continue to live thankful, grateful, and blessed.

“A majority of you know the struggles that I had for almost 10 years to find and give forgiveness to the man who murdered my sister and tore my family apart with lies and malicious intent. What you may not know is that I have lived in DeKalb County and Smithville for almost 20 years and about five years ago for a 15 month period of time I watched my brother who lived in Cookeville, my mother-in-law who was from here, my father, and my husband who was born and raised in DeKalb County all die. I know each one of them received their reward in Heaven but what you may not know is there was not one single moment that I ever felt alone because I had you. The men and women of DeKalb County have been part of my greater prayer life, my prayer warriors. The people who helped me plan my next step. People that protected me from the outside and the inside evils that would come. Each and every one of you were always willing to be a praise partner. So when I leave here moving forward and moving on and unfortunately being called to go back to Louisiana to live where my family is, I will carry in my heart as I move away, the part of each and every one of you that you have given me and I will live thankful, grateful, and blessed,” said Trapp.

The program began with welcoming remarks from Chamber President Rita Bell and County Mayor Tim Stribling. Boy Scout Troop #347 presented the flags and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. Noah Gill, DCHS Student and member of Leadership DeKalb gave the Invocation. State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver sang the National Anthem and Award winning entertainer Darrin Vincent of the popular duo “Dailey & Vincent” performed. Donna Mathis-Herbert of the DeKalb Human Services offered a prayer for military and emergency response personnel. Jannie Mulaski of DTC Communications read scripture. Greg Vinson of Middle Tennessee Natural Gas, prayed for our children and families and Alex Woodward of Wilson Bank & Trust prayed for our communities and their leaders. Shan Williams of Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital introduced the guest speaker.

The meal was prepared by Jason Evans of Evins Mill.

Chamber Director Suzanne Williams and County Mayor Stribling made announcements about upcoming holidays events in December.

The guest speaker, Nancy  Trapp is a graduate of ULM University of Louisiana-Monroe, is CNOR-certified in operating room procedures, and has her master’s degree from UT, Knoxville in nursing administration and nursing education. Nancy is a member of Smithville First Baptist Church, Sigma Theta Tau Nursing, and AORN Nashville. She worked for Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital 11 1/2 years.

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