Carroll Manor renovation... full steam ahead!
By Debbie Lowe

Cornerstone Design consultant Dann Keiser reported at the Monday morning Carroll County Commissioners' meeting the lowest bid for the Carroll Manor renovation project was approximately $51,000 more than the Office of Rural Affairs grant amount. He suggested commissioners either reduce the scope of the project or find more money to proceed with the project.

Keiser presented a list of options designed to reduce the scope of the project such as covering the outside with vinyl siding instead of brick and/or shortening the area of a room and canopy to save materials and labor costs.

Grant coordinator Tina Henderson suggested commissioners accept the $500,000 grant money from the Office of Rural Affairs to get the project started, and later institute change orders to either amend the project to fit the money available or find more money.

Grant money must be claimed by the end of the year Henderson said. Because bids were let twice for the project, the time frame for the action is short.

"You're looking at change orders any way you go," she said.

Commissioner Bill Brown expressed concern about committing the county to proceeding and funding a project without knowing where the total amount of money would be found.

"I cannot commit funds without council approval," he said.

Council member-elect Ron Slavens suggested the decision should be made to substitute the siding for the bricks to save approximately $42,187.

"I want the bricks," former commissioner and Carroll Manor committee member Clara Rider said.

County auditor Beth Myers suggested commissioners take $36,000 out of the cumulative capital improvement fund and allocate $15,000 from the building and structure repair budget of the manor as a solution.

"How long do you expect the council to make the right decisions for you, with appropriations, that you should be making?" Slavens asked in rebuttal. "You are willing to take out safety measures, like the canopy for people getting in and out of their cars, but you aren't willing to use vinyl on the outside, which would fix most of the problem."

Commissioners followed Henderson's recommendation to submit a letter of acceptance to the Office of Rural Affairs in order to meet the grant-acceptance deadline. The letter was composed, with assistance from county attorney Barry Emerson, approved and signed before the end of the meeting.