Fiscal Court votes to bid material for dog pound

by Matt Hughes

J-E News Editor

The Webster County Fiscal Court held a lengthy session Monday morning in Dixon.

The court spent a large part of the meeting discussing the new animal shelter and how they could save money. The plan is for county employees to do as much of the work as possible

“We’d like to do this job in segments,” said Judge Executive Jim Townsend.

“The auditor says that if the project exceeds $20,000 we have to bid it all,” said county treasurer Paula Guinn. 

The discussion was centered around using county labor and county provided materials to help cut the overall cost of the project. The catch being that the law would not allow the county to go out and find the cheapest materials.

“They look at the project as a whole, not segment by segment. You can bid your materials separate, but you still have to bid them.”

“We’re trying to do this to save money, but this is the kind of loopholes you get tied up in,” said Rob Mooney with the Webster County Road Department. Mooney has been helping to oversee some of the preliminary work on the site.

“You can’t tell me that the county can’t do the work,” said Magistrate Jerry “Poogie” Brown. “They already have most of the materials.”

“The state doesn’t care if it’s cheaper,” said Guinn. “This is about being above board and honest.”

In the end the court voted to bid the septic system, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, insulation, concrete and dog pens, with the stipulation that county could provide much of the labor.

Judge Townsend mention that Harden County recently completed construction of a pound that cost almost $1,000,000.

“I don’t want to spend that much, I’d rather spend it on a human,” he said.

In other business, Judge Townsend introduced a proposal to purchase a new chair for the governor’s mansion in Frankfort.

“The governor’s mansion is in need of new chairs,” he told the court. “I think we should contribute since we are the county next to where he was born.”

The court voted unanimously to approve the $1,000 purchase. The chair will have a plaque on it inscribed in honor of the Webster County Fiscal Court.

 The court reviewed a single bid for new radio equipment for Webster County’s 911 Dispatch. Some of the county’s older equipment was damaged earlier this year during a lightening strike.

Don’s Mobile Radio of Evansville submitted the only bid, which came with two options: $83,114.42 for new equipment with network redundancy, or back up; or $75,136.99 for the same system without the redundancy. The bid also included an additional option for lightening protection for $1,925.

“I highly recommend the lightening protection,” said Don Garrett, the owner of Don’s Mobile Radio. “There is no guarantee when it comes to lightening, but in your situation, I would highly recommend it. You’ve taken some pretty substantial hits in the past. Everything you do with lightening will help.”

The magistrates voted unanimously to take the system with redundancy as well as the lightening protection. Garrett said that the equipment would be delivered in six to eight weeks, and would take another two weeks to install.

Rob Mooney reported that construction on the Black Ford Bridge was moving along. Work crews were approximately half way across the bridge with new decking as of Monday’s meeting.