Putnam To Take Bids For Bus Garage In Chunks

Putnam County Officials discussing a plan to take bids for the early stages of a new bus garage facility.

County Mayor Randy Porter said the county would take bids for the earthwork, utilities, and street additions that the facility needs. Porter said multiple contractors told the county it could reduce the overall cost of the project by breaking the work up into smaller phases.

“We’re looking to see if we can make some changes and some stuff that might reduce that,” Porter said. “And like I said maybe bite it off in pieces and still be able to do it because nothing has changed when it comes to the urgency about trying to get the bus garage to a safer location out of the middle of town.”

The county put the project on hold last year after rising construction costs increased the total price dramatically. Porter said he met with the committee overseeing the project and everyone agreed the county needs to start moving forward with a plan. Porter said the county aims to start taking bids for the work in the next month.

“Going ahead and seeing how that bid comes back, and if it comes back where we think’s acceptable is going ahead and doing all that work,” Porter said. “Which will probably take a year, year and a half to get it done.”

Porter said the county would then continue working on the project in small pieces until the garage is complete. Porter said that a new county road department building would be considered after that if the prices are affordable.

“The land’s already, course, been purchased down there on Tennessee Avenue,” Porter said. “It’s just doing all that work and getting buildings built. There’s not much we can do about the time frame that all that would happen.”

Porter said the county has outgrown the current bus garage on Veterans Drive, which he said has been there since the 1950s. Porter said the building has become dilapidated and traffic around the location is dangerous for the buses that need to come and go.

“Their offices are currently out of an old school classroom, portable classroom that was put out there many years ago,” Porter said. “So it needs to be moved somewhere out of the downtown, middle of town.”