By JESSICA BRICKER
After about a month more of crunching the numbers, the budget for the new county highway garage has dropped to about $9.4 million.
Last month, Conor Jackson of James S. Jackson Co. presented the first round of budget numbers to the Wells County Council of $10.3 million. On Wednesday, a night later than usual because of the primary election, Jackson came back with a reduced number that reflected about $850,000 in cost savings.
The areas that saw reduction from last month to this month included concrete and masonry work. Jackson said a significant amount of detail was examined for this budget number compared to last time.
The new number includes $400,000 in allowances. Jackson said that there are potential areas for further savings moving forward. He added that the budget line item to bring utilities to the site may come in at $325,000 but he left it in the budget at $400,000 to provide a buffer.
Answering a question from the council, Jackson said the life expectancy on the new highway facility is 50 to 70 years.
jessica@news-banner.com
