Clarkesville Mayor Terry Greene is pleased with the two bids he’s seen for the planned renovations on part of the city’s fire-damaged square, “Both proposals look great. They’re very, very similar. Either one would be ideal so it’s going to come down to the very fine details and differences between them.”
Three contractors initially showed interest in restoring the old Ramsey’s Grocery location and the former Sharky’s Restaurant building next door but when Thursday’s deadline for proposals passed, only two bids came in.
Blake Rainwater and Associates of Clarkesville and John W. Spratlin and Son of Lincolnton are in the running for the first phase of the work. BM&K Construction and Engineering of Braselton came to Clarkesville early in the process but apparently did not present a bid before the deadline.
| Clarkesville Downtown Renovation Bids | |
| Blake Rainwater & Associates | Clarkesville, Georgia |
| John W. Spratlin & Son | Lincolnton, Georgia |
“We found those two proposals to be very close in price and similar in design but not exactly the same designs,” explains Kirby Glaze, from the Atlanta consulting firm Public-Private Partnership Project Management (4PM). Glaze is overseeing the bid process for city leaders.
He says the final bid prices from both contractors are within the range the city expected to see but thinks that he and council members need more time and more information to choose the best one for Clarkesville.
Glaze, City Manager Barbara Kesler and some members of council plan to meet with each of the bidders separately next week, “It will give us an opportunity to go through the proposals line by line,” Glaze says. “We can get a better understanding of each contractors pricing and their preliminary design concepts.”
City staff says those bid documents, which include concept drawings of the building renovations, won’t be released to the media or the public until after next week’s meeting.
The interviews with contractors will mean a slight deviation from the city’s published timeline for the downtown Clarkesville square project. They originally had “Complete Contract Negotiations/Issue Notice to Proceed” listed for July 2. That step will now come sometime after the next regular city council meeting on July 6.
Kesler says the change won’t delay the overall project and Glaze says the renovation work on the first set of fire-damaged properties could be finished, with the buildings ready for tenants, by January 2016.
About the prospective contractors:
Clarkesville-based Blake Rainwater & Associates is already familiar with the project having contracted with the city early this year to stabilize what remains of the damaged buildings.
John W. Spratlin & Son works all over the state restoring historic buildings including several courthouses (like this one in Zebulon) and train depots.
