The bid to build the new multi-use pavilion in East Ridge was awarded to Pillar Construction, the low bidder, at Thursday night’s council meeting. The city had budgeted $6 million for the building at the town’s center which will be next to the city hall and the community center.
City Manager Scott Miller said that of the nine bids received, six were below $6 million ranging from $4.5 to $4.9 million. The bid from Pillar for $4,680,736 includes three things from the wish-list that were considered optional so as not to exceed the budgeted amount: a patio, sound attenuation in the meeting hall, and lighting in front of the building.
Mr. Miller asked for and received a contingency amount of seven to eight percent, or $400,000, in case there are any changes. Having that money pre-approved will allow construction to continue without stopping to get council approval if there is a change order. With the contingency, the council approved spending an amount not to exceed $5,080,36 for the building. The actual construction is expected to begin Nov. 1 and be complete in 368 days. This amount does not include the cost for furniture, fixtures and equipment that will be needed to rent the building out. Those items are expected to cost around another $400,000.
Mayor Brian Williams said that even with the additional $400,000 contingency, the cost is less than the bond being used to build it. Mr. Miller said he wants to earmark the excess amount to use in Camp Jordan Park.
Heidi Hefferlin, the lead architect for the pavilion, praised Mr. Miller and the city staff for making the process successful partially because they provided clear and complete information, made decisions quickly. The timing is good, she told the council, since it appears that there currently is a slight slow-down in the construction business.
Mayor Williams thanked the city’s employees and volunteers for all the work that has been done to be able to build a new animal shelter. On Thursday morning, the grand opening and ribbon cutting was held for the new East Ridge Animal Shelter. The mayor invited people to “go by and see the new facility—or better yet go by and adopt.”
An update of the road widening project on Mack Smith Road is not exactly what had been hoped for. The utilities have to be put in place before road construction can be done, and work by Chattanooga Gas, EPB, AT&T and Comcast has to be done separately. Each utility expects that their work will take three weeks. That means that construction cannot begin before the beginning of December, and that is not the best time to begin building a road, he told the council and it might not be started until March 2025.
At the Thursday night meeting the council unanimously voted to accept three grants. One is the Judy Housley Safety Partners matching grant from the city’s insurer, Public Entity Partners. The city must spend $1,750 and then the grant will provide $875 in reimbursement for the high-visibility jackets that will be bought for the East Ridge fire and rescue department.
The fire department will also benefit from these Tennessee American Water firefighter support grant for $1,000. It will assist with the purchase of a Roll N Rack hose loader for one of the fire engines.
And the city manager said that East Ridge received a $1,072 grant from the Department of Justice for buying bullet proof vests for the police department.