News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Van Buren County Agricultural Learning Center will install a digital sign in front of the building.
The lone bid for the project came in at some $21,000. The remainder of the $25,000 grant allows money for installation. Van Buren County Ag Agent Chris Binkley said securing the funds has been a long, uncertain process. Binkley said the Tennessee Department of Agriculture finally awarded the grant after Van Buren County Mayor David Sullivan wrote a proposal.
“The one that we bid out, it was kind of specific, because we wanted to protect the LED, the LED lights,” Binkley said. “That way, if somebody comes through and chunks a bottle at it, it bounces off of it. It doesn’t break it.”
Binkley said this is a 100 percent grant and the sign should not cost the county a cent.
Binkley told the Van Buren County Commission Tuesday night that the sign has a lifetime warranty and the only way it could cost county money is if the installation process costs more than what is leftover from the grant. Binkley said that with the resources the center has for installing the sign and maintaining it, he does not see any reason that portion of the project would cost more than $3,700.
“It kind of works like Ag Enhancement,” Binkley said. “We buy it, we send them a bill, they send us the money.”
He said the grant money leaves some $3,700 for installation, and the Ag Center has been in contact with electricians and diggers.
“We thought we had it, then we didn’t have it, then we thought we had it again,” Binkley said.
