November 25, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
The county will have to up the ante from available ARP funds for the construction of the proposed new three bay Liberty/Dowelltown fire hall.
During Tuesday night’s county commission committee meeting of the whole, County Mayor Matt Adcock said that the purchasing committee met November 17 and opened bids on building the new firehall. Tim Pedigo’s bid of $359,540 was the cheapest of the two bids submitted by $59,000 but it’s more than the $350,000 the county had allocated for the project.
County Mayor Adcock said the committee voted to award the bid to Pedigo provided he met all the specifications. Since $13,832 has already been spent for surveying and engineering services, Adcock explained that the county will have to allocate an additional $23,372 in ARP funding to cover the costs in building the new fire hall.
The county commission will consider taking that action Monday night, November 28 when it meets in regular monthly session at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Mike Foster Multi-Purpose Center.
Proponents say the proposed new fire hall would improve firefighting and EMS services in the western portion of the county. Under the plan the current Liberty Fire Hall located in downtown Liberty would be replaced by the new Liberty/Dowelltown Fire Hall to be constructed on an 8.65-acre site formerly known as the old Liberty/Dowelltown Park off Highway 70 on West Main Street, owned by both municipalities, which is no longer in use. The new Liberty/Dowelltown Fire Hall could also serve as an EMS satellite station.