The Blue Ridge City Council has approved a bid of under approximately $15,000 to fix the foundation of the Blue Ridge City Depot to Unified Enterprises Inc.

.In a workshop meeting on Tuesday, City Administrator Bill Sowers informed the council that a bid had been proposed to build a wall that would fix the foundation problems at the Blue Ridge City Depot. The wall would be a concrete wall four feet out from the existing wall on the building that would come up six or eight inches. Inside the wall, Sowers said, would be a walkway made out of lumber that would allow for airflow under the Depot that would keep the lumber dried out. This would prevent any future rot or termite problems which is why the renovations are having to be done. Below the walkway would be a gravel floor and a drainage pipe that would both be underneath the current overhang of the depot which would also prevent any rot or infestation problems.

Sowers said they were given estimated prices of $6,134 for the concrete wall including labor, and $1,149 for the lumber for the walkway that would be built for the depot. Sowers also said that they would need $3,782 for lumber to replace the rotted ceils of the building and $1500 to add more concrete pillars that would help to level the building for a total of an estimated $12,565 for the project. However, Sower said that together him and the people doing the project recommended estimating the cost of the project to be from anywhere between $12,000 to $15,000 to budget for any unexpected costs that might come up along the way.

City of Blue Ridge Mayor Donna Whitener then informed the council that this project would not include the labor for doing decking of the project to go around the depot. Whitener said that she felt like city employees could handle this area of the work. Whitener also said that C. J Green of Terminator Pest Control Services in Blue Ridge, Ga had offerred to do the termite services for free.

After hearing this information, Whitener then asked the city council if they wanted to go ahead and vote on the approval of the bid for the project at the workshop. Whitener told FYN in an email that according to the city’s attorney that in urgent situations the council is allowed to go ahead and vote on projects in workshop meetings. The council then unanimously decided to go ahead and approve the project.

The project will be done by Unified Enterprises Inc., and is expected to begin sometime before the fourth of July and only take about three weeks.

Sowers told FYN that funding for the project is expected to come from public donations.

“We have two or three people interested in donating right now”

Sowers said. Sowers also told FYN that as long as they didnt use Department of Transportation Enhancement Money, the project would not have to be approved by the City’s Historic Preservation Committee.

Mayor Whitener commented on the project at the end of the meeting,

“This will enable the train to actually be located back into the depot because they lease it from the city. It will also free up another real estate space downtown so they can get back in their own building. The depot is both a big tourist attraction and a historical building. It has been a big part of our community for well over a 100 years.”