At its July 24 meeting, the Coffee County Budget and Finance Committee reviewed a package of capital-project requests totaling roughly $2,509,032 and discussed prioritizing a large replacement of the Justice Center roof as well as several smaller facility and vehicle projects.

The Justice Center roof drew the most attention. Rick (staff member) presented a packet with a section-by-section roof assessment and said three roof sections are old gravel-built-up roofs showing ponding and concrete deck deterioration; the main three-story building has EPDM roofing that also needs replacement. He described two contracting approaches available under a state cooperative purchasing agreement: letting the manufacturer/contractor manage the job (Trimco/Tremco product and certified installers) or having the county act as general contractor and procure certified installers under the coop. Rick said the county’s chosen product specifications and engineering oversight were the key ways to secure a 15– to 20–year warranty and to avoid problems experienced on a prior roof job.

Committee members and staff discussed logistics and costs. Rick said the Justice Center estimates range from about $1.8 million to $2.1 million depending on technique (lightweight concrete decking versus tapered insulation) and regional contractor availability. He said an engineer would be required for projects over $50,000 and described an oversight model used on recent work: manufacturer technicians on site, a manufacturer inspector visiting regularly, contractor crews doing installation, and the county engineer and project managers conducting frequent walkthroughs and reviewing pay applications and change orders.

Other unbudgeted requests reviewed included replacement of VCT or vinyl floors at the UT Extension office and Coffee County daycare building, drainage and sewer-line repair at Tullahoma Library (the vendor proposed a trenchless repair to avoid ripping out recently installed carpet), ambulance station parking repairs, and a vehicle/drone purchase list. Committee members debated one high-cost line item—a $20,000 drone—and voted to remove one drone from the list and proceed with the overall capital package subject to available funding. A motion to accept the amended capital projects list (with the drone removed) was seconded and approved; the committee recorded two opposed votes.

Discussion versus decision: committee discussion centered on technical roof solutions, warranty enforcement, procurement strategy, and timing (project duration estimates of roughly 8–12 weeks were given for the Justice Center roof). The formal decision recorded at the meeting was to approve the capital-project packet with the $20,000 drone removed; specific contracts, engineer selection, and funding sources remain to be finalized.

Clarifying details from the meeting: Rick provided a broad budget range for the Justice Center roof ($1.8M–$2.1M) and said product warranties would be 15–20 years depending on roof section/product; he estimated the job could take roughly 8–12 weeks once started. The county’s Capital Outlay process and state cooperative purchasing arrangements were cited as procurement channels; staff noted that anything over $50,000 requires engineering oversight per county practice. The total unbudgeted capital requests were corrected in discussion to $2,509,032.

Ending: Committee members signaled support to move forward with design/engineering and competitive procurement under the coop; staff will return with funding options and more detailed bids for formal award consideration.