By By Adam Prestridge
When the Atmore Industrial Development Board approved the $4.5 million Phase 1 bid for Rivercane, it was known that some expenses would change.
S.A. Graham's bid was accepted in early August for construction of roads, water, sewer, a lake and two entrances into Rivercane, as well as, work on Hwy. 21 including widening the road and adding turn lanes for the two entrances.
The original projection for infrastructure costs when the project was officially announced in late May was between $3.4 million and $3.5 million. In addition, the board projected $600,000 would be needed for work on Hwy. 21. After the first and only bid of $4.12 million was received in early July on a bid package containing only infrastructure work was denied by the council, the project was re-bid and the Hwy. 21 work was added into the bid package.
Two months after work has begun on the 643-acre site, some modifications to the budget are being made. Some benefited the City of Atmore's pocketbook and others didn't, but in the end it all came out in the wash.
During the board's meeting Thursday morning at Atmore City Hall, city engineer Euel Screws with Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood made several change order suggestions to members of the board.
The following change orders were accepted:
"I highly recommend it because of Horne and the unit costs are very reasonable," Screws said. Cost: $34,311
The following change orders were not accepted:
The board also agreed to increase their 20 percent portion of an 80-20 grant applied for by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood on behalf of the city for beautification enhancements including irrigation on the I-65 exits and Hwy. 21. Originally the board agreed to pay up to $20,000, but projections of the bid, if awarded to the city would have them paying around $83,000.