Jackson approves $4 million for animal shelter project

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER

Jackson County commissioners voted 4-1 Oct. 20 to approve a $4.33 million contract to build a new animal rescue center as well as walking trails and other improvements at the Green Energy Park in Dillsboro.

The contract includes a base bid of $4.09 million, along with several add-on costs — $84,300 to install a backup generator, $49,600 to add an epoxy covering to the floor, $80,200 for a public bathroom near the walking trails and $26,400 for a storage building for use by the nonprofits that will have offices in the animal shelter building.

Additional costs — architecture and engineering fees, permitting fees, equipment, technology and the like — will bring the project’s grand total to $5.61 million, a step above the $5.39 million project ordinance commissioners passed in December. As part of the Oct. 20 consent agenda, commissioners approved a project ordinance amendment that will allocate an additional $224,000 to the project. With the bid officially accepted, said County Manager Don Adams, the next step will be to develop the actual contract for both parties to sign.

All in all, the construction contract is worth $363,000 more than the amount originally budgeted for in the project ordinance. A reduction in the contingency line item — the amount went from a fairly high 15 percent to 7 percent of the total construction cost — helps account for the difference.

The county received seven bids for the project, commissioners learned during an

Regarding the alternatives, commissioners decided to go with the epoxy floor over the less expensive polished concrete floor because the epoxy coating would seal any

The animal shelter project is one phase of a planned Green Energy Park makeover that also calls for a public park, innovation center and event space.

Holly Kays photo

Oct. 13 work session, all of which came in over the budgeted amount for construction. The base bids ranged from H&M’s low bid of $4.03 million to $5.8 million, with each bidder including pricing to add any of the six alternatives for an extra cost. cracks between wall and floor, increasing the cleanliness of the facility. They passed on the most expensive alternative, a $114,400 heated floor that would have used methane from the closed landfill as fuel.

During the Oct. 13 meeting, several commissioners expressed doubt about the radiant floor, saying that they hadn’t had good experiences with them in other situations and pointing out that it was the costliest of the alternatives. There was also some discussion about the durability of an epoxy floor, with commissioners seeking assurance that the epoxy product and the quality of its installation would be covered by warranty.

Cary Perkins of McMillan Pazden Smith, lead architect on the project, told commissioners that the specifications of the job would include a warranty on the epoxy, as well as specific conditions to ensure correct installation.

During the Oct. 20 vote Commissioner Boyce Deitz was the only member of the board to vote against awarding the bid, though he did vote with the rest of his colleagues to approve the consent agenda that included the project ordinance amendment. Deitz has repeatedly expressed reservations about the project’s price tag.

“I’m against this,” he said Oct. 13. “When I look at to put a phone system and security in it’s going to cost $146,000, to put a building up it’s going to cost $26,000 — a metal building like we see up and down the road here — it don’t cost that much.”

Deitz was the sole no vote when the project ordinance was adopted last year, though Commissioner Mickey Luker was absent for that vote.

Dillsboro launches grant program for local businesses

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER

The Town of Dillsboro is launching a grant program to help struggling businesses, using $200,000 it received as part of the value engineering proposal for the Haywood Road bridge project.

The town board approved the grant program, called the Reopen and Rebuild Dillsboro Plan, by unanimous vote during its Oct. 12 meeting. Eligible businesses can apply for up to $10,000 in funding to cover normal business operating expenses such as rent or mortgage payments, utilities, inventory purchases, payroll expenses and building improvements. Funds are intended to offset lost revenue and heightened expenses due to COVID-19 or to the bridge project.

“The town board would like to help our businesses and restaurants that were forced to close as ‘non-essential’ back in March,” said Mayor Mike Fitzgerald. “This board was proactive in working to recover from the 2009 recession by partnering with WCU and funding grants to attract several anchor businesses. We want to continue that tradition now by using this money to help out. This will help our small owner-operator shops as well as our larger businesses.”

Wright Brothers Construction gave the town $450,000 of the $1.5 million it received as a result of cost savings from the proposal, which shaved $3 million and two years off the original $14 million project by foregoing construction of a temporary bridge while the new one was being built. Sylva, which did not receive a cut of the savings, staunchly opposed the change, objecting that the full closure of Haywood Road between Sylva and Dillsboro that the plan required would adversely impact its businesses.

When the project began in July, the only official detour involved using U.S. 74/23 to bypass the area completely, but Sylva commissioners complained of dangerous increases in traffic volume and speed on Savannah Drive and Yellow Bird Branch Road, which many local drivers used as an unofficial detour around the closures.

On Friday, Oct. 9, completion of a new retaining wall along Dillsboro Road allowed a new detour to open. Local traffic may now use Dillsboro Road and Old Home Town Road — which has been paved to connect at both ends — though large vehicles and 18-wheel trucks must still use the highway detour. Haywood Road will reopen when the bridge replacement concludes next spring.

To be eligible for the grant, businesses must be owned and physically located in Dillsboro and have been in operation at least one year prior to Gov. Roy Cooper’s state of emergency declaration on March 10. The business must have reopened in some capacity once state guidelines allowed with plans to operate at full capacity once restrictions are lifted. Businesses must pledge in good faith to remain in business under current ownership for at least one year after receiving the funds. Businesses with a pending bankruptcy, or that have been disbarred or suspended from working in North Carolina, are not eligible, and businesses must be in good standing as it relates to tax collections. Financial institutions, homebased businesses and nonprofit organizations — except those that function as retail establishments and submit monthly sales tax reports — are not eligible. The application process extends through Nov. 16. Award amounts will be based on the number of full-time equivalent employees, with the business owner included in that count. Businesses with one to five FTEs are eligible for $3,000, businesses with six to 10 can request $5,000 and businesses with 11 or more can request $10,000.

For more information or to request an application, contact Town Clerk Debbie Coffey at 828.586.1439.