By Ben Benton
Chattanooga Times Free Press
PIKEVILLE, Tenn. — Bledsoe County’s jail project could be delayed another six months after a falling out between officials and the architect.
“We were good to go until we got the price,” said Craig Mercer, County Commission chairman and member of the jail committee.
Commissioners had their sights set on a 100-bed jail at a cost of about $5 million, but when bids came in the actual costs had doubled, Mr. Mercer said. Commissioners weren’t kept informed about how much costs were increasing, he said.
“We may have to redesign and rebid. I don’t know,” he said. “That’s something we’re going to have to put our heads together on.”
But officials with architect J. Mark Rodgers’ office said cost estimates never were guaranteed and that the working relationship between the firm and county officials grew too hostile to continue.
Mr. Rodgers was out of town Friday, but Matt Culver, who works for Mr. Rodgers, said the firm withdrew from the project last week.
A Sept. 30 letter from Mr. Rodgers to County Mayor Gregg Ridley states, “The working environment in the county has deteriorated. The (county’s) assertions for responsibilities beyond contractual limits are creating a hostile environment in which we are attempting to work. We no longer wish to work for Bledsoe County under the current conditions.”
Commissioners were reviewing Mr. Rodgers’ plans for a new jail when a visit from state fire officials led to the closure of Bledsoe’s old jail in May 2007. The state later allowed a few inmates to be housed temporarily in the old jail as long as the county kept working on a new lockup.
Meanwhile, costs and tempers kept rising, Mr. Culver said.
The commissioners relied on cost estimates based on a jail project designed three years ago, he said.
“But the only way to truly find the cost of a project is to put it out to bid and let the construction market review the project, or to bring someone on board who can guarantee a price,” he said.
A letter Mr. Rodgers sent to Mr. Mercer Sept. 24 asked for answers to “a number of rumors” regarding the project.
The letter states that a $5 million budget was never made part of instructions for the project or contract. The figure raised during a commission meeting in November 2006 was “as much as $7,109,186,” Mr. Rodgers states.
He states that in late 2007 he told commissioners “it was my hope to have an awardable base bid within the ($5 million) price range” but that other options and alternates would be determined by bidders.
County Attorney Howard Upchurch wrote the firm on Sept. 26 and commented on cost concerns.
“It appears ... that some county commissioners have lost confidence in you and believe that you no longer have the best interest of the county and its taxpayers in mind,” Mr. Upchurch’s letter states.
Mr. Ridley said Mr. Upchurch is preparing to file an action to recover $175,000 already paid for services. There has been no communication between Mr. Rodgers and the county since Sept. 30, he said.
“I assume it’s over,” he said. “It will have to be settled in the courts to try to recoup the money that has been paid to him for a service he is now refusing to provide.”
Mr. Mercer and Mr. Ridley said a benefit of the delay is that it will allow the financial markets to settle.
“Given the current bond market problems, I don’t believe we could actually complete the financing at this time regardless if everything was in place,” Mr. Ridley said.
Meanwhile, commissioners approved added site work to keep it intact through the winter while problems are worked out, he said.
Copyright 2008 Chattanooga Publishing Company