Committee approves bid letting for Second Baptist Church stabilization project

The Personnel & Finance Committees on July 17 approved advancing bid letting for a stabilization and basement reconstruction project at Second Baptist Church after staff reported engineering and related costs had risen.

City Administrator Brent Schleisman told the committee the original service agreement estimate for engineering was $26,000; that figure has since increased to $47,000 and the city has paid $18,000 so far. He said the Historical Preservation fund balance is about $94,000, and bid letting will provide firm cost estimates to determine whether the project can proceed within available funds.

Joy Lapp and Jeff Thomas gave a short history of the church building, saying the congregation was established in the structure in 1863 and that the building will be added to the Network to Freedom registry, a national list of properties with verified Underground Railroad connections. The presenters said they believe the church is the oldest standing building in Mount Pleasant City.

Committee members asked staff to place the plans and specifications on file with the city, set a public hearing, and set dates to let bids so the City Council can consider the matter at its Aug. 8 meeting. The transcript records that the committee approved moving forward; the record does not include the motion text, mover/second, or vote tally.

Next steps identified by the committee were administrative: filing the plans and scheduling a public hearing and bid dates for council consideration. No construction contract was awarded at the meeting.