Bradley County committee approves seeking bids to clear Minnis Road site if funding is found

The Bradley County Building & Land Committee voted to authorize the mayor to obtain formal bids to clear and level a parcel on Minnis Road and to refer the project to the county finance office to identify funding, the committee decided during a meeting on the item.

Committee members said the clearing and grading work would improve truck turning radiuses and create additional usable parking behind a new county building. Mayor Davis told the committee the higher-cost option, which includes a retaining wall, is roughly $150,000; an option without a retaining wall was estimated at about $100,000. "It's just an estimate. If you go forward, we would have to go through the bid process," Mayor Davis said.

Why it matters: committee members said the work is intended to allow emergency vehicles, including a ladder truck, safe access to the rear of the new building and to create additional parking. The project is currently holding up both the building contractor's next steps and a planned parking-lot concrete pour until grading and access are resolved.

Discussion and scope: committee members debated how far to cut back the bank behind the new building. Measurements discussed during the meeting estimated about 32 feet of usable width from the top of the slope extending along roughly 200 feet of the building length, producing an approximate 32-by-200-foot cleared area; those measurements were discussed by members on site. Committee members agreed the intent is to bring the ground down to the level of the new building pad for the length of the new building and not to regrade the existing, higher parking-lot area already constructed.

Water runoff and retaining wall trade-offs were raised. Committee members said cutting back the bank without a retaining wall yields only about 10 additional feet of usable property in some places; building a retaining wall would provide more flat area but increases cost. Mayor Davis and others said they could not confirm the project’s impact on downstream neighbors' yards without further engineering analysis.

Funding and next steps: committee members acknowledged there is not currently a dedicated line item for the work in the fire budget. A substitute motion approved by voice vote directs the mayor to obtain formal bids only after a funding mechanism is identified by the finance office; if finance approves funding, the county will send the project to bid. The committee vote was taken by voice; no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript.

The committee's action is advisory and will be forwarded to the full county commission for any required appropriation. Committee members said if finance does not identify funding, the project will not proceed.