Knott County fiscal court approves NRCS bid awards for Poplar Hollow and Jim Cretchey Cemetery Road

Knott County Fiscal Court voted to approve several NRCS-related bid awards during a special-called Zoom meeting on March 20, 2024. Court members selected low bids for work on Poplar Hollow and Jim Cretchey Cemetery Road and approved related Red Oak branch work, with all measures passing on voice votes.

Speaker 2 opened discussion of the NRCS Poplar Hollow resolution and asked county staff to display bid information. Speaker 1 read the two bids the court examined: King Creek at 45,845 and Blue Rock at 47,190. Speaker 2 noted King Creek’s bid was “a couple thousand” lower. A motion to approve the King Creek low bid was made and recorded in the meeting by name: Calvin Wallace made the motion and Rick Thomas seconded; the court approved it by voice vote (“Aye; Ayes have it”).

The court then considered bid work for the Red Oak branch. Speaker 1 read figures shown on screen as “163,194.50 on Blue Rock” and “16,978 on King Creek” (figures read aloud in the meeting). No attendees objected, and the court approved the low bid on a motion by Rick Thomas with a second by Calvin Wallace.

For the NRCS resolution labeled Jim Cretchey Cemetery Road, Speaker 2 clarified that the label is the road name and that the road is a county road with a small number of houses and two cemeteries. Speaker 1 read the bids as Blue Rock 64,568 and King Creek 57,083 and noted that King Creek was about $6,000 lower. The court approved the King Creek low bid after a motion by Calvin Wallace and a second by Rick Thomas and confirmed bidders had bid bonds and insurance in place.

All NRCS-related approvals were taken by voice vote; the meeting record shows affirmative voice votes and the chair’s announcement that “Ayes have it.” The court did not record individual roll-call vote tallies in the transcript.

Next steps: the court’s actions indicate staff will proceed with contracting with the approved low bidders and finalize bond/insurance paperwork; specific contract execution dates and start times were not specified in the meeting.