This Tuesday, May 15, the Newton County Board of Commissioners will vote on construction bids for the trail from the Newton County Public Library/Chimney Park to Eastside High School. After tabling the matter twice, the board is out of time to select a contractor before bids expire. If you care about the type of trail that's built, contact your commissioner before Tuesday night.
The trail design has always been a 10-foot-wide concrete surface. However, due to concerns over available funding, the county requested bids for both concrete and asphalt. Every bid received was above the current project budget. The lowest asphalt bid was roughly $9,000 more, while the lowest concrete bid was $120,000 more. The City of Covington prefers concrete, because of the lower maintenance costs and longer useful life. And, the City Council voted already to pay half of the additional construction cost, meaning Newton County only needs to come up with $60,000.
The board of Newton Trails believes concrete is the better choice and best investment, for multiple reasons. And, because the Commissioners already voted in December 2010 to authorize another $100,000 to complete the trail, we believe they need to carry forward now with that commitment and build the original, full design. On April 25, we wrote the commissioners a letter, which you can read here.
Please read our letter and -- if you agree -- contact your commissioner on Monday or Tuesday. Let them know the trail is important to you and urge them to build with concrete as originally planned.
The trail design has always been a 10-foot-wide concrete surface. However, due to concerns over available funding, the county requested bids for both concrete and asphalt. Every bid received was above the current project budget. The lowest asphalt bid was roughly $9,000 more, while the lowest concrete bid was $120,000 more. The City of Covington prefers concrete, because of the lower maintenance costs and longer useful life. And, the City Council voted already to pay half of the additional construction cost, meaning Newton County only needs to come up with $60,000.
The board of Newton Trails believes concrete is the better choice and best investment, for multiple reasons. And, because the Commissioners already voted in December 2010 to authorize another $100,000 to complete the trail, we believe they need to carry forward now with that commitment and build the original, full design. On April 25, we wrote the commissioners a letter, which you can read here.
Please read our letter and -- if you agree -- contact your commissioner on Monday or Tuesday. Let them know the trail is important to you and urge them to build with concrete as originally planned.
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