County needs more soil for Klausner project

Discussion

February 22, 2013

County needs more soil for Klausner project

$5 million project could get more costly before sawmill construction begins

Bryant Thigpen Suwannee Democrat The Suwannee Democrat Fri Feb 22, 2013, 09:07 AM EST

Live Oak — Suwannee County Commissioners left their meeting Tuesday night digging for answers on how to handle the unsuitable soil at the catalyst site. County Administrator Randy Harris was the bearer of bad news, as he expressed to the commissioners that there is not enough “suitable” soil on the 155 acre site to accommodate Klausner Lumber One, LLC, and now their only option is to go off site which could cost the taxpayers more money.

In a signed contract with Klausner, which has yet to be made public, the commissioners agreed that they would prepare the site on which a state-of-the-art sawmill would be built. To date, the board has held up their end of the bargain by clearing and grubbing the massive site and recently began preparing the soil pad, which is site specific to Klausner’s site plan.

JB Coxwell Contracting is in charge of building the soil pad, which was first estimated to cost $1.6 million. Now that Harris and the contractors are aware that additional soil will be needed the cost of the project will significantly increase.

Harris has submitted several options for the commissioners to review.

Option 1 - Mine from SRWMD property

Harris said the Suwannee River Water Management District has property about two miles from the catalyst site, and with a list of stipulations, they have agreed to let the county mine soil from the property. The county would be responsible for restoring the property using clay that is removed from the catalyst site. Although Harris said this option would save the county quite a bit, transporting the soil would be the greatest expense.

Option 2 - Separate piece of property to buy or mine from

On Thursday, Feb. 14, Harris looked at a separate, 30 acre piece of property about two miles from the catalyst site. The county has several options with this property. The county can choose to buy the property outright or they can just purchase the dirt. However, both options would require the county clearing and grubbing the property.

Option 3 - Purchase 3, 5-acre parcels adjacent to catalyst site

Another option that was introduced to Harris is the possibility of purchasing three, five-acre parcels of property that are adjacent to the catalyst site. The potential property is located on the east side of the catalyst site and is immediately adjacent of where the contractor has been currently obtaining suitable soils. Harris said purchasing this would benefit the county because it wouldn’t require off site transportation. Coxwell sent a machine over to the parcels of land to dig holes, and it’s their belief that there may be about 100,000 cubic yards of suitable soil on the property.

Either way the county decides to move forward will be a costly step to take.

“There are consequences to continuing to explore on the land that we have looking for more dirt,” Harris said. “But there are also benefits, that to date, far exceed just to stop looking on our property. That’s where all of the material has come from so far. Now, we know we’re to the point that we have to go off site.”

When Harris was asked about how much more soil was needed, he said a definite answer could not be given.

“The engineers believe we need an additional 170,000 cubic yards of material, some have said only 100,000 yards,” Harris said.

If the county was to purchase the property adjacent to the catalyst site, there’s no guarantee on how much suitable soil would be collected.

“Holes have been dug on the property and it does have dirt, but I can’t begin to tell you how much,” Harris said.

Should the commissioners elect to purchase the additional property, Harris said there is not enough soil on the premises to finish the job.

“There’s not enough soil to complete the project, but it would save you an enormous amount of money in transportation expenses,” he said. “But either which way we go, we’re still going to have transportation costs. I would venture that we’re going to need 25 to 30 trucks.”

Harris said they have been calling hauling companies.

 “We actually went out to bid sometime after the storm. Our best price was $65 an hour, at that time. I raised the issue back then that some of these smaller companies that offered these numbers didn’t have enough trucks to meet our needs,” said Harris. “The suggestion was made that we negotiate with those that did have more trucks. That’s an option.”

A motion was then offered by commissioner Clyde Fleming to grant Harris permission to obtain appraisals for the properties, however, the motion died for a lack of a second.

Discussion continued with panel member Phil Oxendine expressing his concerns of spending more taxpayer money.

“My concern is that we just continue to keep throwing money into that place,” Oxendine said. “I would like personally if we could come up with some kind of cap of how much money we’re going to put out there. I realize that we’re into it. But we need to come up with some kind of idea of what this thing is going to cost us.”

Commissioner Jason Bashaw said the board needs more information.

“As of right now, I don’t think this board has enough information to make a decision at this time,” Bashaw said. “Having discussed it with Mr. Harris about the timeline, is we have got one pad prepared where Klausner has indicated they would start construction once complete. They (Klausner) have yet to submit any plans to the county in regard to buildings or structures for the county’s review. Before we spend any more money, I think we need more information.”

Wainwright had different feelings.

“Right now we’re over five million dollars (in how much the county has spent on the catalyst site). If we cap it or abandon it, then we’ve spent five million for just a big mess out there,”

As of Feb. 20, the county has processed and paid $2,636,970 toward the project. Money received in is $275,124. The figures are as of Feb. 20 and reflect since the project began in 2010. The $5 million Wainwright refers to is altogether promised monies.

Wainwright said. “If we abandon it now, I think we would be doing a disservice to everybody in this community including ourselves. That would be the worst waste we could achieve.”

Clerk of the Circuit Court Barry Baker reminded the board of their limited funds.

“There’s been several comments about the reserves, and I just want to remind you of some obligations with some of your other projects that you have right now,” he said. “You have the perimeter road project, a lawsuit with the airport, upfront costs with the water system, grants that require upfront monies, and a sinkhole on Market Road. You see your reserves. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

According to Chief Deputy Clerk of Finance Leeta Bronson, the county currently has $9,708,400 in reserve funds that are unrestricted. Included in that $9 million figure is the capital project reserve, a total of $4,230,363 (the catalyst site is considered a capital project). Bronson said in order for the commissioners to spend that money, they would need a 5-0 vote to do so. However, there is a loophole.

If the board wishes to spend any money in reserves, it must first be voted to be unreserved with a 3-0 vote. That would no longer require the capital project money to be a unanimous vote.

The commissioners recessed the meeting until today at noon to make a final decision on the available options for suitable soils.

The meeting will be at the Judicial Annex on Parshley Street.