By Staff
Special to the standard
Plans for the Rivercane development at Interstate 65 began looking brighter during last Thursday's Atmore Industrial Development Board meeting.
After sending engineers with Alabama Power Company back to the drawing board in mid-October following a $350,000 quote for underground lighting in Phase 1 of the multi-phase project, the board was presented with a revised quote from APC engineering manager Mark Custred and engineer Tom Sheffield.
Custred presented a smaller scale lighting project that has the capacity to serve 10 pieces of prime property in Phase 1. The price tag for the new lighting project is $125,000 including a concrete pad and an addition $25,000 for trenching work, which is in line with original cost estimates provided by Goodwyn, Mills &Cawood - the city's engineering firm.
Cost was the main concern on the minds of every board member. &#8220Do we stay in budget or do we spend an extra $200,000,” Industrial Development Board chairman Richard Maxwell asked his fellow board members.
There were also concerns raised regarding how to light future expansion of
Phase 1 and the adjacent property currently being marketed by Horne
Properties. Custred said the project would not &#8220accommodate expansion into
Horne Properties development.”
Custred said. &#8220It costs us to continue doing estimates, so if we have to
continue going back and forth we are going to have to charge you for our
engineering costs.”
Sheffield explained that the reason why the underground power is so
expensive is because of the size of wire that is required, the poles,
switchgear, boxes, materials and labor.
said.
Custred also informed the board that the quote does not include service
costs and that guidelines per customer were depended on load size.
City engineer Euel Screws added that not approving a lighting proposal at
the meeting could hold up the current development of Phase 1 currently being
worked on by S.A. Graham.
weather,” Screw said. &#8220We can't wait until the end of January to make a
decision.”
Screws also stated that it would cost the city more money if S.A. Graham had
to dig up roadway and infrastructure in Phase 1 to add underground power.
The board later agreed that the smaller project would best suit their budget
until more property is sold.
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