Public works seeks option authority for right-of-way, moves forward with RFP recommendations for acquisitions and station build

Dawson County Public Works presented several agenda items Sept. 4 asking the Board of Commissioners to authorize option agreements for right-of-way acquisitions, approve a budgeted acquisition for Elliott Road, and accept recommendations for two procurement selections tied to SPLOST-funded projects.

"This particular item in front of you is a resolution that gives you authorization from, public works director or my designee to execute option agreements for the purchase of right of ways," Public Works Director Robert Drury said. He told the board the county attorney drafted and reviewed the resolution and that staff would return to the board to ratify executed agreements once the work is completed.

Drury said the board's authorization would be limited by each project's budget: "this gives me the authority to execute those option agreements as long as this every particular project is within budget. If it gets outside of that budget, obviously, we'll come to you individually."

For a specific road project, Drury presented a resolution for Elliott Road to acquire temporary and permanent easements. Consulting firm BM&K estimated total acquisition costs at $40,000; Drury said the county would not be acquiring fee-simple property on that project.

Staff also presented RFP 480-25 for on-call right-of-way acquisition services. Drury said the county solicited proposals, received three responses and scored them using an evaluation committee that included the county manager, the CFO and the public works director. Staff recommended awarding contracts to Collins Colliers Engineers and Design and to THC Inc., and said funds would come from SPLOST 7.

In purchasing items, Melissa Hall, purchasing manager, presented RFP 481-25 for design‑build services for Fire Station 3 and a fueling center. Hall said the project includes a 6,048-square-foot, three-bay pre-engineered metal fire station with living spaces and a 20-foot-by-70-foot fueling canopy. The county received eight proposals and conducted interviews with finalists; Hall told the board staff recommended awarding the design‑build contract to Scroggs and Grizzle in the amount of $2,784,000 using SPLOST 7 funds.

Board members asked whether Scroggs and Grizzle had previous experience with the county; Hall said the firm has done "very, very, very much over the years" though not recently on the largest projects. Drury and staff reiterated that the recommended procurements and the Elliott Road acquisition were subject to board approval on the appropriate agenda and would return for ratification or formal contract awards as required by procurement policy.

No formal contract awards or budget approvals were recorded during the Sept. 4 work session; both RFP recommendations and the right-of-way authorization were presented as items for board action at a future meeting.

Votes at the work session were procedural; staff said they would assemble executed option agreements and return them to the board for ratification once complete.