Lee County Commission sets budget for $1.4 million for satellite office

William White
Staff Write
Published: May 12, 2008

The Lee County Commission set a budget of $1.4 million Monday for the construction of the Auburn Satellite Office across from the University Village Mall and in front of the Jameson Inn.

In presenting the Lee County Administrator Roger Rendleman asked members to consider three things that possibly could help reduce some costs and be considered as an alternative deductive request in the bid documents:
- By having the county highway department perform some of the site work,

- Eliminate the structure for a second floor, and

- Utilize a “keystone” dry-stack wall instead of a retaining wall.

Members approved a motion to:

- Set a project budget for the Auburn Satellite Office at $1.4 million and to amend the budget accordingly,

- reallocate $96,000 from the revenue commissioner’s 2008 capital budget from the General Fund to the Capital Improvement Fund and amend the budget accordingly, and

- exploring the assistance of the highway department in the self-performance of the site work on the project.

In setting the $1.4 million budget in place, Rendleman said the project needed an additional $608,972 allocation to cover the projected budget.

He explained that the $335,575 of unallocated funds in the Capital Improvement Fund would be needed along with the $96,000 from the revenue commissioner’s capital fund budget.

The remaining $177,397 needed to cover the $1.4 million project budget could be covered upon the completion of a couple of capital projects that are on track to be completed under budget.

Commissioners voted to support Mobile County Commission’s efforts keep the contract to build the “KC-45” jets at Brookley Field in Mobile by passing a resolution in support of the U.S. Air Force, Northrup Grumman and Alabama’s work force. Boeing is protesting the U.S. Air Force’s selection decision.

The resolution states in part: “The Lee County Commission urges members of Congress to consider the needs of the American war fighter, to affirm the selection process of the U.S. Air Force, and to support the creation of American jobs by moving with all deliberate speed to fund and implement the KC-45 tanker project.”

In other business, members didn’t accept any of the bids for for open-top, roll-off containers or two closed-top, roll-off containers for the county’s environmental services, adjusted a nurse position salary at the request of Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones and approved two educational reimbursement requests for a county employee.

The Lee County Commission regularly meets at 6 p.m. on the second and last Mondays of each month in the Lee County Courthouse in downtown Opelika.