After eight years of waiting, the Church Hill Board of Mayor and Alderman accepted a $897,019 bid for Phase 1 construction of Holliston Mills Park during a special called meeting on Feb. 13.
GRC Construction from Kingsport was the lone bidder on the project originally estimated at $1.47 million. Phase 1 includes a roadway, a small parking lot, a picnic pavilion, and site preparation for future phases of the park development.
In 2016, Church Hill was awarded $500,000 through the state’s Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF) grant to construct a park after the city bought 65 acres of land the year prior.
City Recorder Kimberly Dobbs said, “Because of the railroad taking so long to finish their part before we can start is the main reason why it’s taken so long for us to use this money.”
However, with GRC’s bid expiring on Feb. 14, and the LPRF Grant’s contract deadline quickly approaching in July, Dobbs said that the city needed to approve the bid to get started.
Delays
Dobbs said that work on the railroad has been the biggest contributing factor to the eight-year wait for park construction.
“The tracks run towards the park and in order to get to where we want to put the park … we had to make a public crossing to get to the park,” Dobbs explained.
Dobbs continued, “It just took the railroad so long to do that.”
Dobbs said she believes the railroad crossing project was started in 2017. In 2020, the town accepted a $326,392 bid for the crossing.
Construction on the crossing is nearly complete.
Dobbs said, “They still have to put the rails and the safety bars on (the crossing). Once Holston Electric and the railroad get into contact with each other to get the electricity to get those bars up and running (we can start on the park.)”
After the bid was received in December the city had to change the scope of work because the bid was much higher than anticipated. The updated bid arrived on Feb. 2.
Deductions
With the $897,019 contract approved, Church Hill will clear the land for the park, add an asphalt road, install a 30-spot parking lot, and construct a picnic pavilion.
The city cut nearly $600,000 from the original Phase 1 plan after the state refused to award Church Hill any more funds.
“We tried to get more money for the grant and (the state) wouldn’t give us more money because it had been such an old grant,” Dobbs explained.
The city scrapped $386,000 for the construction of a restroom facility and $186,981 for a sewer pump station that would have accommodated the restrooms.
‘We have to have the money’
Mayor Dennis Deal said the city had port-o-lets that could be utilized at the park rather than new restrooms.
Restrooms are planned to be erected in the next phase of construction.
Mayor Deal also said that Holston Electric would install light poles along the road and at the park after Phase 1 is completed.
The $392,019 of the project isn’t covered by grant funds will come out of the city’s General Fund, Dobbs said.
Phase 1 completion is set for Jul. 31.
“We have to have the money spent by July 31, so technically have to be done by that time,” Dobbs said. “If we don’t, we lose it and we lose all that money.”
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