New access road planned for NAS Meridian
By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
March 12, 2004
Lauderdale County supervisors are expected to award bids Monday for work on a new access road from Stennis Drive at Naval Air Station Meridian to Highway 45 North.
The access road was bid as two projects and will be funded with state money. Supervisors initially agreed Thursday to award the jobs to the low bidder.
Neal Carson, Lauderdale County engineer, said some of the area that will be worked on is an existing road. Most of the work will require building a new road, he said.
The estimated cost of the project called Miller Road, which Carson said is for concrete, is $939,846. The estimated cost of the Lockhart Trailer Court Road project, which Carson said is for dirt and paving, is $1.792 million.
Joe McGee Construction Co., based in Lake, submitted the lowest bid for both projects and was accepted by the board Thursday, pending state approval.
Joe McGee bid $795,099 for the Miller Road project and $1.630 million for the Lockhart Trailer Court Road project.
But Terrell Temple, an engineer with Engineering Plus, discovered a major discrepancy in the Lockhart project bid. He said the construction company's bid for that project adds up to $1.784 million.
He said the company will still be recommended for both projects during the board's regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, set for 5 p.m. in the board room of the Raymond P. Davis courthouse annex.
In other action Thursday, supervisors approved a request by Clarence Butler to accept a $25,000 grant for a communications system that would allow several outside agencies to communicate with each other in the event of a large-scale emergency.
Butler is the Lauderdale County fire coordinator and director of the Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency.
The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Butler said the system will be installed in the county's Emergency 911 Center.
Supervisors also approved a recommendation from the county's E-911 Commission to buy new communication equipment for $39,413 for the E-911 tower at the Meridian training center.
Last month, supervisors discussed switching from the county's microwave communications system to an underground phone line system, because parts to repair microwave communications systems are becoming increasingly rare.
Supervisors also discussed items for Monday's meeting agenda.
Action expected to be considered includes approval of an administrative plan to offer buy-outs to homeowners, partially funded with grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for property substantially damaged by floods.
