Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
GenOps committee keeps ad hoc group, authorizes limited phase 1 work on Lemmer House
Summary
Sumner County’s General Operations Committee voted to keep its ad hoc preservation group and authorized limited interior work to assess the Lemmer House, approving up to $9,999.99 for phase 1 (architect estimate later ~ $6,400) and noting about $587,230 already available for the project.
The Sumner County General Operations Committee voted to maintain its ad hoc preservation group and approved limited phase 1 work to assess structural conditions at the historic Lemmer House.
Commissioner Mansfield, who presented the ad hoc committee’s report, said the recommended approach is to “preserve the structure and where it makes sense, bring it back closer to original late 1700 to mid 1800 condition,” and to limit interior demolition to the minimum needed to inspect logs and confirm original window locations. He told the committee the architects recommended selective interior openings while leaving the exterior brick and roof in place to protect the building from the elements.
The committee unanimously authorized Chris Coker to perform the phase 1 work with a not-to-exceed price of $9,999.99; Mansfield said the contractor’s submitted quote to finance and legal was about $6,400. Mansfield also noted the county commission previously approved approximately $587,230 for the broader restoration project and that no additional appropriation is required for this phase.
Finance staff told commissioners that contract documents and the contractor quote were received late by staff (April 28), and that staff and legal planned to complete their review by the end of the following week. Commissioners pressed staff about document flow and requested additional people be copied on finance correspondence to avoid single-person bottlenecks.
Members said the phase 1 work is intended only to expose what the architect needs to verify log condition and window locations; exterior deconstruction, stabilization and reconstruction would follow only after on-site findings are confirmed and within the limits of the previously approved budget. The committee emphasized that work will follow county procurement and purchasing policies.
The committee did not take additional budget action for the larger project at this meeting; members asked staff to return with completed reviews and any necessary contract paperwork.
The committee moved later in the meeting to discuss other historic-preservation items and to consider a separate budget request on the Old Courthouse.
