Montgomery County officials still don’t know exactly how much the courthouse annex will cost even as the demolition phase of the project is nearly complete.
Project manager Envoy Inc. submitted a proposed budget late last week, but the numbers are still being finalized, the Board of Commissioners learned during their meeting Monday.
“Will we have a final budget at the meeting in May?” asked commissioner Jim Fulwider, who expressed frustration in the delay.
Building and zoning administrator Marc Bonwell said that the proposal came in so late in the week that the county needed more time to look at the numbers and receive updated figures from the company.
“If we have had another week, I think [the budget would have been finalized], so some of the hold-up is Montgomery County,” Bonwell said.
“Well, I agree, but I also agree that this should have been done before now,” Fulwider said. “If we ask for some additional time on that, OK, but we shouldn’t have received [the budget] from them this late in the period.”
Commissioners had allowed demolition work to proceed in March to move the project along, even though Envoy’s original agreement called for construction to begin after final costs were determined.
Envoy received approval from the commissioners Monday for another $100,000 worth of additional work to get underway after demolition is complete.
The final budget is expected to go before the commissioners May 10.
Crews are renovating the former Williamsburg Health Care building on Lafayette Avenue into county offices. Departments currently housed in the first floor of the courthouse and the South Boulevard County Building will move into the annex.
The project is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
In other business, the commissioners opened bids totaling more than $5 million for upcoming projects on Jim Davis Bridge on C.R. 600W and the bridge west of Darlington on C.R. 550N. The bids were taken under review.
Commissioners also approved an agreement with Metronet to become the new phone provider for county offices. The current contract with AT&T expires at the end of June.
The county first discussed switching phone providers during the planning stage of the annex project. The annex does not have a dark fiber connection needed to run the county’s network systems.
AT&T would have charged the county $50,000 for the installation. Metronet proposed installing the fiber at no cost and to switch the phone system from AT&T for cheaper rates.
The agreement approved Monday are temporary contracts needed to begin the process. The full service contract will be presented to the commissioners May 10.
