Moves to close $120,000 CD for livestock market
The Jay Council voted Monday, Aug. 19, to approve to cash out a Certificate of Deposit (CD) to pay for work on the Livestock Market and to award the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) waterline construction to the lowest bidder.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant to renovate the Livestock Market facility requires that the town pay contractors for work and will reimburse the town after the work is completed and paid for.
The town opened a line of credit initially to pay for the work but approved instead to cash out one of the town's $120,000 CDs at United Bank and repurchase the CD once the (USDA) Rural Development Grant funds are received. There was no penalty for cashing out the CD.
CDBG grant
The (CDBG) waterline construction bid was awarded to Pensacola Concrete Construction Company with a bid of $469,437.91, according to Dewberry Engineering's Crystal Weatherington. Weatherington said their line items prices were the lowest out of a total of seven bids submitted.
Jay Mayor Shon Owens asked if Weatherington had a chance to look at the bid and if she had any concerns because of the difference, but she said no.
“It looks like their line-item prices are the lowest of all of them across the board,” said Weatherington. She said she thought they could give such a low bid because they are planning to help with some of the work on Highway 4 and that is why they were able to come in lower the other contracts. She reminded the council that the company had worked for the town before and Owens expressed his concerns because of the low bid.
“My only concern is making sure that they actually finish the job,” said Owens. “They are a reputable company.”
Some council members express concerns about the higher cost of some line items and Owens asked Weatherington if the town might negotiate the listed $40,000 for sod.
“Could we work with them on the sod if we chose to seed and hay?” asked Owens. “Could we have that credit back? Is that something we could negotiate on?”
Weatherington said it was up to the town but wasn't sure if it was even possible without having to rework the entire project for bids. Owens said he felt comfortable with the bid if Weatherington reviewed it and felt good about it.
Owens made a motion to award Pensacola Concrete Construction Company the bid for $469,437.91, which was seconded by Councilwoman Nina Hendricks. The motion carried unanimously.
Finance report
The proposed budget reported to the council by Jay Operations Manager Eric Seib reflects an expected tax revenue of $1,912,300, for Fiscal Year 2019-2020 from the water, sewer and gas.
Seib used the current year's numbers to predict next year's, and he included the $600,000 from the CDBG funds. Seib said he did not count the USDA Rural Development grant money into that total, which would increase it to $3,500,000.
The town's expenditures are projected to be about $448,000. Budgeted revenues are projected to be $549,000, so in the general fund, Seib said there is about $100,000 in excess.
“We have some room to place a project for next year,” said Seib. “Or if we wanted to allocate funds to something, we could. Based on the current year's numbers, we look like we are going to have a surplus. These are all estimates.”
Owens expressed concern and wanted to be clear that the council does not have $100,000 it can spend as it wants to.
“For accounting purposes, we can't just have $100,000 sitting in the air we can do what we what with,” said Owens. “Sept. 3 we need to decide as a council what really might be most important. We may want to raise that budget number a little bit to purchase tools and things the town needs.”
The council will vote on the proposed budget at its next council meeting at 6 p.m., Monday, Sept. 3 at town hall.
In other business, the council:
-Approved to donate $1,000 to the Jay Junior Football League to pay for helmets and other equipment
-Agreed to allow Escambia River Electric Co-op to cut down a nuisance tree in Jay Industrial Park, the town of Jay to haul the tree parts away, and property owners David and Kathy Smith of D & K Holdings to remove the stump.
-Agreed to table the issue of alcohol sales on Sunday in Jay until Councilman Josh Holloway can make a presentation in opposition at a future council meeting.
