The Cumberland County Finance Committee approved a bid for the purchase of two new ambulances for county EMS during last Friday's monthly meeting.

Two 2008 Taylor Made Ford ambulances were approved at a total of $195,768 with a trade in allowance of $28,000 for two older ambulances for a net rate of $167,768. Specifications of the bid allow the county to purchase two more ambulances at the same rate if they wish to do so within a 90 day period. Cumberland County EMS Director Victor Randolph recommended the bids. A motion to accept the bids was made by Director of Schools Aarona VanWinkle and was supported by 1st District Commissioner Harry Sabine. It was unanimously approved.

Several bid awards for the county's highway department and school system were also approved.

Committee members approved a low bid for paving and paving material in the amount of $51.78 for material and $55.78 for hotmix from Highways Inc., Crossville Plant. Cumberland County Road Superintendent Wendell Houston made a motion to accept the low bid and it was unanimously approved.

A low bid for crushed stone of $7.50 per ton for 3/8 inch, half inch and 3/4 inch stone was approved for Monterey Limestone. Franklin Industrial Minerals in Crab Orchard and the Rogers Group in Algood and Sparta also submitted bids starting at $9 per ton. Houston recommended accepting the bid from Monterey and it was unanimously approved.

Bids for guardrail were accepted from Cumberland Guardrail of Pikeville for single guardrail long post at $19 per linear foot, single guardrail at $16 per linear foot, guardrail type 12 trim at $650 each, type 21 trim at $2,400 each, type 38 trim at $2,600 each and guardrail anchor at $550 each. Houston recommended approving the bid and it was unanimously approved.

Highway striping was approved at a bid of $350 per line mile for county roads from England Striping of Crossville. Although it was not the low bid of $345, Houston recommended England Striping because they were a local company. It was approved unanimously.

Bids for metal pipe culverts were approved at a low bid from the Feed Store of Crossville. Bids in the amount of $5.40 for 12 inch, $6.62 for 15 inch, $7.85 for 18 inch, $10.70 for 24 inch and $15.80 for 36 inch culverts were approved. Houston recommended the approval.

Bids for road oil were also approved at a rate of $1.50 per gallon for AE-P oil from Hudson Materials of Chattanooga and $1.41 per gallon from Marathon Ashland Petroleum for RS-2 oil.

Road de-icing salt was approved at a rate of $86 per ton from Morton Salt of Chicago, IL.

A low bid for firefighter protective clothing from NAFECO of Decatur, AL was approved at a low bid rate of $22,527. The bid includes 16 coats and pants with suspenders, five extra suspenders, nine units of boots, and nine helmets. Cumberland County Fire Chief Jeff Dodson recommended the bid. VanWinkle motioned to accept the bid and 8th District Commissioner Jeff Brown supported the motion. It was approved unanimously.

A bid for vinyl tile installation for South Cumberland Elementary School was approved for $39,482 from Paradise Carpets, no other bids were submitted. VanWinkle motioned to accept the bid and 7th District Commissioner Kenneth Carey supported. It was unanimously approved.

A low bid of $66,300 for painting at Cumberland County High School was approved. The bid was submitted by Davis Painting Group, LLC of Sparta, TN. VanWinkle motioned to accept, Carey supported it and it was unanimously approved.

A new walk-in cooler/freezer was approved for purchase and installation for Crab Orchard Elementary School at a low bid of $23,500 from Hotel and Restaurant Supply of Nashville. VanWinkle recommended approval, Sabine supported it and the bid was unanimously approved.

In other areas the committee authorized Cumberland County Mayor Brock Hill to apply and pursue obtaining two United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Agency grants. Hill submitted the request to the committee. The first is for a new Cumberland County Health Department Building and the second is for equipment and fixtures for the new Art Circle Public Library.

Hill recommended in a letter to the committee that Community Development Partners, LLC of Nashville be awarded the administrative services contract for both the health department building and for the Art Circle Public Library equipment grant/loan projects.

"This firm has extensive experience in Tennessee with RDA grants," Hill wrote.

Hill also recommended Upland Design Group of Crossville be awarded the architectural services contract for the Health Department building grant/loan project.

"Upland Design has been working to provide schematic drawings and other pertinent data with the State Department of Health for the preliminary consideration of this project for the funding by the state," Hill wrote.

VanWinkle motioned to accept the proposal and it was supported by Houston and unanimously approved by the committee.

Members of the committee attending the meeting were Houston, Sabine, VanWinkle, Brown, Carey and Hill. Committee member Clyde Cramer, 9th District commissioner, did not attend the meeting.