Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Troup County Purchasing Director Diana Evans came before the Board of Commissioners Thursday to ask that the board award a new contract for mowing and cleaning litter from county right-of-ways — again.

Commissioners gave the green light for staff to draw up a new contract with BCLS of Dacula, Georgia, last September because staff and commissioners felt the previous contractor was doing a poor job.

BCLS was supposed to complete a full mowing of county roads over a period of three to four months. After three months, they had only mowed half of that, according to Evans. Then, the contractor left town the Wednesday before Christmas and never came back.

“They still have not shown up and their tractors are still in the same place they were two weeks ago,” Evans said.

At next Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners will vote on granting a new contract to Amazing Scapes of Columbus. The proposed contract would cost $144 per mile to mow and $29 per mile to remove trash.

In other business, county Division Director Dexter Wells came before the board to discuss plans to make repairs to the government center’s parking deck and the building’s roof. The parking deck and government center were both built in 2003.

Wells said the parking garage has signs of deterioration. Commissioners will consider a contract that includes assessment, recommendations and plans to redo the parking deck. Costs are estimated at $126,000, plus $11,000 for a testing allowance.

The government center’s roof has been damaged by several hail storms over the years, Wells said. Many patches have been made and an out-of-commission air unit handler on the roof needs removing. The unit will require a crane to move, he said.

Wells estimates it will cost $47,500 for design and bidding on the main building, plus $16,000 for design and bidding of the juvenile court building. Construction administration will cost $3,500 per month.

A contract will be considered next Tuesday.

Also up for consideration is permission for the Parks and Recreation Department to apply for a $300,000 state Department of Human Services grant to help fund Troup Transit. The grant has been received by the county since 1999.

Troup County Fire Chief John Ekaitis is asking the board to approve two grant applications. One grant would switch three-inch hoses to five-inch hoses on all frontline fire engines.

The grant, if received, would require a 10% match. Ekaitis estimates the cost of the new hoses will be about $250,000.

The second grant is a regional grant along with the West Point Fire Department to apply for portable radios for every firefighter.

All full-time TCFD firefighters have a radio, but Ekaitis said they are outdated. Some volunteer firefighters lack a portable radio.

The purchase would be for 58 new radios.