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Chattanooga City Council approves Enterprise South road engineering work

By: Michael Davis
(Contact)

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Chattanooga City Council -- June 24, 2008

The Chattanooga City Council on Tuesday passed a resolution for engineering services for a road project at the Enterprise South Industrial Park.

City Public Works Administrator Steve Leach said the work on the roughly one-mile stretch of road is not related to any potential employers at the site. Volkswagen is thought to be considering the industrial park for a new automotive manufacturing plant.

Mr. Leach said the work had been planned for some time but just faced some “roadblocks,” including the fact that it had been omitted from a transportation plan.

“We’ve been delayed about a year and a half trying to get this thing built,” he said.

The contract, with Barge, Waggoner, Sumner & Cannon, Inc., is for a not-to-surpass amount of $150,000. The county will reimburse the city for half of that amount, City Engineer Bill Payne said.

The planned stretch of road will link the current portion of road off the Interstate 75 exit and the existing part of road off Bonny Oaks Drive, Mr. Leach said.

“This essentially will tie those two together,” he said.

Mr. Payne said the new stretch of road will be split into three separate construction projects, all with different building contractors. Construction is expected to begin in October, he said.

Meanwhile, the council is scheduled next Tuesday to consider an eminent domain resolution authorizing the city to pursue taking Hamill Road right-of-way property for a road-widening project.

File Staff Photo by Brett Clark -- This sign highlights the entrance to Enterprise South.

Deanne Flanders of 1923 Hamill Road has not agreed to the city’s offers for a seven-foot-wide swath of her property for the road-widening project, has asked for more money and has hired a lawyer on the matter, officials said.

“We’ll probably have to condemn some property in order to get that project moving,” Mr. Leach told the council Tuesday night. “They’re not yielding.”

Ms. Flanders declined comment Tuesday night.

In other business Tuesday night, the council indefinitely deferred a proposed ordinance that would raise the expenditure level required to advertise for bidding for city expenses from the current $10,000 mark to $25,000. The city now is required to advertise for any purchases at or above $10,000, said Paul Page, director of general services.

The city is able to raise that cap due to action by the Tennessee General Assembly, he said.

The change would save the city money for expenses related to advertising and postage as well as administrative costs, officials said.

“Those are costs that we could cut back on if we could raise the threshold,” said Gene Settles, city purchasing agent.

But City Council members decided to wait on the measure until the council clears up its own issues about an internal auditor.

Councilman Dan Page said approval of city spending is a responsibility of the council.

“I’m not ready to vote yes for it at all,” Mr. Page said during an afternoon committee meeting. “We need to make sure that (we have) the procedures in line that (make) this council feel comfortable now and in the future.”

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