— County Engineer's Report —

With not much work to report on, county engineer Larry Britt asked for payment #1 to Yancey Brothers Construction for $317,480 as payment for work on road 5A to the Project Poppy plant, under construction in the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park.

He said 5A is a five-lane segment. The road names 7A, 7B, and 5A are the road designations the state created for the site development, Britt said. “This is the first pay request we’ve had for 5A,” he said. “7B is done” 7B is the north access construction road that is used as a route for trucks carrying materials to the Poppy site. A bid for Barringer Road widening under an Appalachian Regional Council grant was advertised and bids will be opened Dec. 30, Britt said.

Britt met with county attorney Amanda Whaley Smith Dec. 13 to go over the plans to bid out work on “Goat” bridge, a second bridge to be replaced on Bethlehem Road.

He asked for board president Charles Terry to sign the county’s contract for the construction of an elevated one-million gallon a day capacity water tank at the Project Poppy site. Bids for the first treatment facility are to be taken the first board meeting in January 2025.

Blackwater Bridge raising

District 4 supervisor George Zinn III asked Britt what the cost estimate to raise two bridges on Blackwater Road, one by three feet and the other by 5 feet, will be.

Britt said the cost to raise both bridges could run $400,000. The approaches to the bridges will also have to be built up and Britt estimated it will take 30,000 yards of dirt.

“That puts you in the $700,000 to $800,000 range,” Britt said, to complete the work.

The county has $500,000 in hand to put toward the bridge raising. Britt said he learned the grant does not have to be obligated until August 2025, which allows more time to spend the money on the project. The expenditure of the Legislative appropriation was originally set for a deadline of March 2025.

Simpson Stroupe reported on work to renovate a building to be used as a treatment facility for Communicare clients. The building, which once was a fitness center, has fire damage on the interior. The building needs a new roof, and was going to be used short-term to store materials. A fence to be used for securing a lot for storage of Emergency Management supplies is to be built.

The front of the building will not be fenced.

“Will that fence accommodate everything you need for EMS?” asked District 1 supervisor Charles Terry.

“Right,” Stroupe said.

Terry asked about storage at the Old Jail.

“We could use part of this building for storage, but I don’t want to make it a permanent type of storage,” he said.

Roll up type doors were a part of the plan.

“We bought it to create a crisis center also for Communicare,” Terry said.

Stroupe said the Old Jail is being used as a temporary storage facility for now. To house anyone in the building, tin work and insulation will be required.

“If the county uses it just for storage, we can get away with using it, but you don’t want to put people in,” Stroupe said.

“The Old Jail,” said District 2 supervisor Johnny Walker.

“We had a appraisal on the Old Jail,” Terry said.

“Can we use it for storage until then?” Walker asked.

Switching back to the building next door to zoning, Terry said Communicare was talking about needing eight beds.

“We don’t want to get it dedicated to storage and not dedicated for what we purchased it for,” Terry said.

Zinn said the Old Jail could be designated as surplus property and get it appraised.

“If we don’t get what we want, we don’t sell it,” Zinn said.