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Officials outline grant plan to demolish old school; bricks and volunteer labor proposed to offset costs
Summary
Speakers said a pending grant covers engineering, NEPA testing and demolition; a $125,000 demolition bid was mentioned and officials proposed salvaging and selling cleaned bricks and using volunteer labor credits to reduce the city’s cash outlay.
County and city representatives updated the board on a grant-driven plan to demolish an old school building and install restroom facilities or an alternate amenity if the restroom cannot be retained. A speaker who had spoken with "Miss Taylor, district 7 commissioner" said the facility "has to come down," and described grant work already underway, including NEPA environmental testing and procurement of an engineer and grant administrator.
The presenter said Cumberland City applied for a $250,000 grant, with $50,000 earmarked for engineering, administration, testing and demolition permits. He said the demolition has a contractor bid of about $125,000 to remove the structure and backfill the hole, leaving roughly $100,000–$125,000 of the grant for restroom work or other site improvements depending on the final scope.
To help defray costs, the presenter offered community-oriented fundraising ideas: a brick-cleaning company would take usable bricks, clean and plate them for sale and charge $5 per brick to process; resale prices were estimated at $40–$50 per brick. The speaker also proposed recording volunteer labor and donated equipment to assign a monetary credit against project costs.
Officials cautioned the board that grant rules could restrict removing the restroom portion of the project unless safety concerns are documented; they urged the city to meet soon with county contacts and the district commissioner to finalize plans. The presenter said the board will likely go to county commission in February to request impact funding assistance for road and industrial-park work related to the overall project.
No final demolition contract was signed at the meeting; staff reported they have procured an engineer and are performing required environmental work and will return with more specific scheduling and cost information.
