Archives project returns to commission

Jun. 14—The renovation project slated at the Cumberland County Archives cleared another hurdle Tuesday, with the budget committee of the Cumberland County Commission recommending additional funding after bids came in over budget.

"It took a tremendous effort to get us to this point," said Rebecca Stone, 3rd District commissioner, recalling the effort to implement records fees and establish a funding source for the facility.

"There are so many problems in the back half of that building. This has been a steady and hard slog toward getting to this moment. You're talking about a 15% difference in price.

"I think the full commission would decide to keep going forward."

The project will demolish the three-story portion of the archives facility on First St. and replace it with a new two-story addition. The basement will provide flexible storage space for other county departments. The top floor will house records the county is required to maintain, such as land deeds, business and marriage licenses. The space will include a climate-controlled records vault, a workroom and new restrooms.

The former church that serves as the reading room will remain.

In January, the commission approved using $1.6 million from its debt service fund balance, which had an estimated $14.6 million in reserves. The money would be repaid, with no interest, using revenue from records fees collected by the county for records preservation.

The budget included about $1.525 million for construction, demolition, asbestos abatement and site development, with about $74,000 in architectural and consultant fees.

The county received four bids on the projects, ranging from $1.8 million to just over $2 million in construction costs. Merit Construction Inc. of Knoxville submitted the low bid of $1,806,125, leaving a shortfall of about $280,000.

"We've seen increases industry wide," said Kim Chamberlin with architectural firm Upland Design Group. "No one knows where we're going, but the forecasts we've seen are showing increases through the end of the year. We don't think this is the end of the increases."

While the bids included alternates to reduce the cost, the building and grounds committee voted 7-2 in a May 28 meeting to move forward with the entire project.

Some committee members worried that the bids would lock the county into a higher price when the cost of building materials could come down in the coming months.

Terry Lowe, 5th District commissioner, said he had seen forecasts of construction costs coming down by the end of the year, while other forecasts eyed reductions as early as July.

"The thing that concerns me is it will take a few months to demolish the old part," Lowe said. "If the materials go down, this contractor is going to end up taking an extra $200,000 from Cumberland County to Knoxville.

Chamberlin said the contractor would sign contracts with subcontractors once the bid is awarded. The subcontractors would order their materials at that time to have them on hand when needed.

"They're buying that material at the moment," Chamberlin said. "It's not something somebody is putting in their pocket. It's what they're paying for materials."

Kyle Davis, 2nd District commissioner, said lumber futures were trending down and interest rates were likely to increase by the end of the year, which could slow building.

"I know we have income coming in to pay for this, but the responsible thing to do is wait to see what prices do," he said.

Stone said cities, counties and schools were all poised to get large federal grants from the third round of federal COVID-19 relief funds, much of which can be used for construction projects. That will increase competition for contractors and keep demand for supplies high, she said.

"Everybody is eyeing infrastructure and building," she said. "I don't see it coming down."

Joe Sherrill, 6th District commissioner, said that even if the national construction market slows down, Tennessee will continue to have high demand.

"Tennessee is the place everybody wants to be," he said. "We're going to keep building. We're going to keep having high prices."

Lowe said he supported the archives project, but added, "I don't see any problem with postponing it for a year and see what these prices do."

Sue York, 1st District commissioner, said she had gotten a letter saying her insurance was going up.

"When things level off, I don't think I'm going to get a letter from my insurance saying they're going to come down," she said. "I think things are going to stay up there."

Chad Norris, 1st District commissioner, asked if the records the county is required to maintain would be affected by a delay.

Joyce Rorabaugh, archivist, said the building had leaks, birds were coming in and the records were behind glass windows, which can lead to deterioration. There is also concern about the weight of the records on the floor of the existing structure.

"It's not up to what we need," she said.

And spending additional money on the facility to keep it functional during the wait would be "throwing it down an old hole," Rorabaugh said.

Bids were opened May 20. Chamberlin said typically contractors will hold their prices for more than 30 days to allow time for the commission to consider funding changes.

"They made it very clear on this one they can't. The prices they are seeing are going up," he said.

However, with the support of two committees, he said he would check and see if the contractor would give the county another two or three days to allow time for the commission to meet.

Stone noted there was money available in the records preservation account, earmarked for maintenance of the building and other emergency projects that come up. It has about $200,000 available. It generates about $80,000 a year.

"I do not recommend using all that," she said.

Other funding sources were the debt service fund balance or the general fund balance.

Sherrill moved to fund the additional cost of the project with $100,000 from the records preservation account and the balance from the debt service fund balance, supported by Deborah Holbrook, 8th District commissioner.

Voting in favor were Darrell Threet, 3rd District commissioner; Mark Baldwin, 7th District commissioner; Colleen Mall, 9th District commissioner; Norris; Sherrill; and Holbrook. Kyle Davis and Lowe voted against the motion.

The project will be on the agenda for the June 21 meeting of the Cumberland County Commission, set for 6 p.m. at the Cumberland County Courthouse.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.