East Ridge City Manager Scott Miller reported good news about several projects on the city’s horizon.
Bids were opened this week for the 12,000-square-foot multi-purpose pavilion that the city will be building behind city hall. The pavilion has been designed to hold various types of events such as a farmer’s market, craft shows and birthday parties. The city has approved spending up to $6 million for the facility. Nine bids were received, he said and six of them came in below the anticipated price. The cost of those six ranged from $4.6 million to $4.9 million. And they included some of the alternatives and additions that were optional for keeping the price down.
Mr. Miller said that the top three bids are being reviewed now by Hefferlin + Kronenberg Architects. If all goes the way the city hopes the bid approval will be made at the Sept. 26 city council meeting with the notice to proceed on Nov. 1. Construction is expected to take one year.
Other good news, he said, is that the new East Ridge Animal Shelter is finished. Now staff is working on the furniture, fixtures and equipment. Last week around 50 volunteers showed up to assemble dog beds and furniture, and are now getting blankets and leashes. The city hopes to open the shelter in one week and the ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 26.
Mr. Miller has received approval from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for an agreement that will allow East Ridge to erect Welcome to East Ridge Gateway signs for two locations. They will be 24 feet long and 13 feet high and will be mounted on stone foundations. One will be located off the northbound I-75 ramp and the other going south in front of the Life Care Center.
Two resolutions were passed at the meeting on Thursday night. The council amended the facility fee waiver policy for the parks and recreation department. The new policy is that any organization or agency that receives a waiver of any facility fee must, in exchange, contribute not less than 50 percent of the net receipts collected by any event held at the city’s facility, to a non-profit organization that is located in or the city or solely serves the residents of East Ridge.
In May, an email from Capital Waste Services about terminating an agreement with the city was emailed to a previous city manager and never found its way to current City Manager Miller. The contract was for solid waste disposal services and it had begun in September 2021 and renewed automatically. Last Monday, Mr. Miller did receive an email and called the general manager who said there is no way that the services can continue for the price of $33.91 per ton. East Ridge averages having 800 tons of waste every month. Mr. Miller has prepared a new request for proposal for handling waste disposal at the transfer station that will go out next week. He told the council that he expects to get bids from Republic Services, City Waste Transfer Station and from Capital Waste Services. There will be no service interruptions if there is a change in the company, said Mr. Miller.