Archives project on hold

Jun. 24—A renovation project at the Cumberland County Archives is on hold after the Cumberland County Commission voted not to fund about $280,000 in additional costs.

The vote Monday was 9-8 in favor of moving forward with the project, with additional funds coming from the county's debt service fund balance and revenue from the county records fees.

However, under county commission rules, a resolution requires at least 10 votes to pass from the 18-member commission.

"Perhaps when we put this out to bid again, you all will prove right in waiting. In the meantime, the need is not going away, and the restricted, designated revenue stream is going to be waiting," said Rebecca Stone, 3rd District commissioner.

Stone had moved to approve the additional funds, supported by Colleen Mall, 9th District commissioner. The project had received support from the building and grounds committee, with a 7-2 vote, and the budget committee, with a 6-2 vote.

The county approved $1.6 million for the project in January. Bids were opened May 20, with a low bid of $1.8 million for construction from Merit Construction Inc. of Knoxville. The remaining funds would pay the architectural and engineering costs, which is a percentage of the construction costs.

Bids ranged from the low bid up to just over $2 million, with four bids received.

The county is required to preserve certain records and ensure public access to those records. Three part-time employees and volunteers locate, restore, clean and store these records.

"Our effort to care for Cumberland County's irreplaceable records is exceptional," Stone said. "However, our records storage area does not meet the standards for storage of permanent records."

Housed in what was once the Crossville First Baptist Church on First St., the archives has been in need of repairs for several years, with problems related to drainage, plumbing and windows.

Stone said records need to be stored in a facility that could withstand storms, provided fire protection and were humidity controlled. There is also a concern that the floor of the current facility is not sufficient for the weight of the records.

The planned renovation would remove the three-story portion of the building behind the original church, which serves as the reading room.

A new two-story addition would provide flexible storage for county departments on the first floor. The second floor would include a record vault, a workroom and new restrooms.

The project included possible bid alternates removing a dumbwaiter, a savings of about $42,000; replacing stone with brick, $14,000 deduction; and a shorter warranty on the roof.

The county planned to pay for the project using the debt service fund balance, which had an estimated balance of about $14.6 million. The money would be repaid over time using a portion of the fees the county collects for records preservation. Some funds would be reserved for maintenance of the facility.

The fees, approved in 2018, adds fees to certain records, like vehicle tags, marriage licenses and businesses, ranging from $1 to $5. The fees can only be used for records preservation. The fees generate about $85,000 a year, with about $200,000 in the account at this time.

The budget committee had proposed using about $100,000 from the records preservation fund with the balance from the debt service fund balance.

"This decision tonight will not affect property taxes," Stone noted. "The need for the vault and the fact this project has a fully sufficient, independent funding mechanism have not changed."

Terry Lowe, 5th District commissioner, pointed to news reports in the past week that pointed to a downturn in lumber prices on the horizon. News agencies reported last week lumber futures for July delivery fell 41% and that cash prices for lumber had also declined. However, prices are still three times what is typical for this time of year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"I feel strongly if we postpone this project for a few months, we can probably do it within budget," Lowe said. "And I can't see where a few months is going to make that much difference in the outcome on this building."

Kim Chamberlin, with Upland Design Group, told the finance committee earlier Monday that the project had little lumber — about .10% of the total project. Most of the supplies were concrete and stone. He did say he had read reports of coming increases in roofing materials and other building supplies.

Nancy Hyder, 2nd District commissioner, said her constituents — who also live in the city of Crossville — were already being hit with a 15-cent increase in their city property tax next year. Though she had supported the project in the past, she said she could not support spending an additional $280,000.

"I'm for this — but not at this time," she said. "We're just coming out — I hope — of the pandemic. We've got deputies that need money to keep them working ... Let's look at it in a few months and see if some of these costs are not going to come down."

Jim Blalock, 8th District representative, said in the past when building projects have come in higher than budgeted, projects were cut. He specifically noted building projects as he served on the Cumberland County Board of Education for multiple terms since 1978.

"We had to give up things because the commission didn't want to give us the full bid," he said. "We lost of a lot of stuff we thought they needed.

"I don't think this project here is any more important than a school building."

The most recent county school building project at Crab Orchard Elementary did have bids higher than the amount budged. The deficit was made up by money from the school system fund balance and the county's debt service fund balance.

"You either cut back or wait until the prices go down," Blalock said.

Wendell Wilson, 6th District commissioner, said there had been a number of decisions in his time on the commission he didn't necessarily like — like a $1 million write-off of bad debt in the Emergency Medical Services department.

"There are lots of things that come before us that we don't like but that we support as a group," he said. "I don't want to throw money at anything.

"This project, though, if we put it off — how many things actually go down? It doesn't happen. It goes up ... If we wait six months, a year, a year and a half, $280,000 might be a bargain. We have money coming in to pay for this now."

He pointed to increases in fuel costs, electric rates, groceries. Stone pointed to an influx of federal grant money in the next year specifically for facilities projects.

"The demand for construction is going to go up," Stone said.

John Patterson, 9th District commissioner, pointed to a 1905 fire that gutted the Cumberland County Courthouse, which is now the Military Memorial Museum. While some records were lost in the fire, records in the stone vault of the facility were saved.

"We have an obligation to preserve for the future our records," Patterson said.

Voting in favor were Deb Holbrook, 8th District commissioner; Mark Baldwin, 7th District commissioner; Mall; Patterson; Chad Norris, 1st District commissioner; Stone; Darrell Threet, 3rd District commissioner; Wilson; and Joe Sherrill, 6th District commissioner. Voting against were Kyle Davis, 2nd District commissioner; Hyder; David Gibson, 4th District commissioner; Charles Seiber, 4th District commissioner; Jack Davis, 5th District commissioner; Lowe; Jerry Cooper, 7th District commissioner; and Blalock.

Sue York, 1st District commissioner, did not attend the meeting due to a conflict with family obligations.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.