Morgan County Commissioners reject construction bid proposals, say the cost is too high

MORGAN Co., Ala. (WAFF) - Sticker shock is hitting Morgan County Commissioners hard. The price tag of construction has put a pause on a few projects in Morgan County.

The county commission had a price in mind for each one, and the estimates they got back were much higher than they’d hoped according to the Decatur Daily.

They are used to prices like $200,000 to $300,000 for a 3,000-square-foot building. That’s what they paid to construct an environmental services building in Hartselle.

The projects they’re looking at now are no where near as big but the bids are much higher.

For example, they want to build new 1,700-square-foot concession stands at parks in Falkville and Priceville. Bids range between $438,000 and $657,000 per building.

The commission is also planning to build a 2,000-square-foot metal shop at the jail but they had to press pause when a bidder came back with a price tag of over a million dollars.

Commissioners had to reject every bid because they thought the costs were too high.

Some commissioners acknowledge that construction contractors have to raise their prices because they are facing inflated costs and supply chain issues just like most businesses but they hope to drive prices down by bringing in more competition. One commissioner says they plan to be more aggressive in advertising the request for bids.

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