.jpg)
Wlaf1450
By Charlotte Underwood
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – The LaFollette Utility Board met Monday evening with right of way clearing bids and power line upgrade projects topping the agenda.
The utility has two power line upgrades coming up; one on Peabody Mountain, between here and Jellico and another in Norris Crest in the Demory area. These powerline upgrades will be taking the lines from single phase to three phase lines and the LUB will be doing the work in-house. Before these upgrades can take place, the areas need the right of way cleared of trees beneath the lines.
“They cut it 30 foot wide, earth to sky where the line goes,” said LaFollette Utility Board General Manager Kenny Baird.
The bids were separated into two separate contracts, one for the Peabody right of way clearing and the other for the Norris Crest project.
According to Baird, he sent letters to 19 pre-qualified contractors and four contractors responded with bids.
“This is not a month to month contract, they will have 30 days to cut and get it done,” Baird said.
Townsend Tree Service Company came in with the lowest bid for the Peabody right of way clearing with a bid of $100,589.
Baird spoke to the Seveir County Electric Department who had used Townsend Tree Service Company in the past to see if they were satisfied with the business’s work.
“Based on my conversation with Townsend and with Seveir County Electric, I recommend we go with the low bid from Townsend for the Peabody Mountain cutting,” Baird said.
Townsend also had the low bid for the Norris Crest right of way clearing with a bid of $67,408, However, NGE Services had the second lowest bid at $68,750.
For the Norris Crest job, Baird said he recommended NGE at the slightly higher bid in order to get both of these companies working at the same time to get the job done faster.
“Traditionally we take the low bid, but my recommendation is to bring in both companies to get this knocked out quickly,” Baird said.
“We need these projects done before cold weather, so the quicker we can get this right of way cutting done, the quicker we can get started on the power line upgrades, which we are doing in-house,” Baird said.
The utility board accepted the recommendation and approved the bid from Townsend Tree Service for the Peabody Mountain right of way clearing and the bid from NGE Services for the Norris Crest right of way clearing.
In other business, Baird reported that LUB is sponsoring the April 20 chamber coffee, which will be in the LUB meeting room at 8:30 am. The next LaFollette Utility Board meeting will be April 24 at 7pm. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 03/28/2023-6AM)