Wednesday, March 26, 1997
Court awards street improvement contract
By ROY A. JONES II
Senior Staff Writer
The Taylor County Commissioners Court awarded a $473,840 contract
Tuesday to Bontke Brothers Construction Co. to improve and extend
Play Street near the Expo Center.
Play, which runs north-south between the county fairgrounds
and the public schools' Pete Shotwell Stadium, will be upgraded
to city specifications for new construction, including the addition
of curbs.
The new extension of approximately 1,400 feet will continue
south to Loop 322, joining that thoroughfare about one-third of
a mile southwest of where Lytle Way now crosses Loop 322. Then
that portion of Lytle Way, which runs east from Play to the loop,
probably will be abandoned. The county has already been granted
permission to close it.
President John Bontke said his firm is ready to begin work
immediately. The contract calls for completion by Aug. 18.
"Which means," County Judge Lee Hamilton quipped,
"that we must have a home football game on Aug. 19."
He reminded Bontke, too, that the West Texas Fair starts earlier
this year than most, on Sept. 5.
On the advice of its engineering firm, Tippett & Gee, the
court voted not to add a $40,930 alternate which provided for
drainage and landscaping work. Engineers said they feel that part
of the project can be accomplished less expensively as part of
an overall Expo Center landscaping package.
Unsuccessful bidders were J.H. Strain & Sons, Inc., $478,000
base and $45,000 alternate; Contract Paving Co., $514,400 and
$37,000; Norris & Norris, Inc., $621,166 and $55,000; and
Epic Construction Co., $498,800 and $39,800.
While on the business of streets, the court granted Precinct
3 Commissioner Stan Egger's request to reopen a 194-foot section
of Twin Peaks Road, also known as County Road 694, north of Buffalo
Gap.
Egger said the section had been closed at the request of a
man who had purchased all five of the lots served by that part
of the road. But when the man sold the Southern Hills Subdivision
property and the new owner started developing the lots, he asked
that the county replat the road and resume maintenance, Egger
explained.
"The road is just like it was when I closed it,"
Egger said.
In other action, commissioners accepted the low bid of $17,230
from Diamond Buildings for a pre-engineered metal building for
Precinct 2 Commissioner Don Dudley.
County jail inmates will erect the 50-by-100-foot building
at Merkel, saving taxpayers the cost of labor, Dudley said. The
inmates recently erected a similar, 100-by-100-foot building for
Precinct 1 Commissioner Jack Turner.
Commissioners later convened in executive session to discuss
a personnel matter. County Judge Lee Hamilton said no public action
will be taken on the matter at this time.
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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