AIKEN - A pricey plan to build a new hydrogen research lab in Aiken County with taxpayer money now awaits approval or rejection by Department of Energy officials either later this month or in early February, county officials said Wednesday.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
|
Have a thought?
Go to the Forums or Chat.
|
|
|
The $9 million project first had to survive an 11th-hour case of cold feet on the part of county council members who hashed out their concerns in a two-hour, closed-door session Tuesday night.
They ultimately decided to make no alterations to a formal proposal that's already been sent to Department of Energy officials for the hydrogen lab.
Had council members decided to revise their proposal, they might have endangered the county's chances of winning DOE's approval to build the lab, seen as a crucial element in the push to develop a new mission for the Savannah River Site nuclear reservation.
"The hydrogen lab is on schedule," said Fred Humes, the director of the Economic Development Partnership, which pursues industrial projects for Aiken and Edgefield counties. "If we're selected (by DOE) we'd be happy to build it for them."
At issue was the fast-tracked request for a proposal approved in an 8-1 vote Dec. 16 after another closed-door session. In that meeting, council members learned they had just two days to meet a Department of Energy deadline that required the county to name an architectural, engineering and construction team for a project that could cost as much as $9 million.
In that meeting, council members picked Gilbert Construction of Greenville to handle architecture, engineering and construction management for the hydrogen lab, which will house about 50 Department of Energy scientists and will be built at the county's Savannah River Research Campus, near New Ellenton just outside the boundaries of the federal Savannah River Site nuclear reservation.
Kuhlke Construction and Associates Inc., of Augusta, also was under consideration for the project, said Aiken County Administrator Clay Killian. The county project would be relatively risk-free because the Department of Energy would be the chief tenant for the new building, he said.
However, District 4 member Chuck Smith had strong objections to the quick passage of the proposal, objecting to the notion of putting county bond money in the pocket of an out-of-town firm. He also expressed concerns that the price tag for the project could balloon beyond projections.
On Wednesday, Mr. Smith said his concerns had been addressed.
"I was concerned it was fast-tracked and that we might have sacrificed due diligence in moving so quickly," he said.
Reach Jim Nesbitt at (803) 648-1395 or jim.nesbitt@augustachronicle.com.
