City to Vote on Funding for Design of New Fire Station, Expanded Trail System
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
Anderson City Council will meet tonight at 6 p.m. with an agenda that includes contracts for a key greenway extension and a new fire station.
The agenda recommends awarding a $702,000 lump-sum architectural design and construction administration contract to Craig Gaulden Davis PBK for Fire Station 4, the lowest qualified bidder among nine respondents to an October 2025 RFQ.
The project covers a one- or two-story station with three apparatus bays, offices and living quarters on three acres at East West Parkway and Beltline Connector, purchased in October 2024 to improve northern response times. Specific competing bid amounts are not detailed in the agenda, as the selection followed staff interviews of three top firms based on qualifications rather than price alone; civil engineering and landscape architecture will be handled separately by Davis & Floyd. Funding would come from the general fund, with construction to use the Construction Manager at Risk method.
Council will also vote on awarding an engineering services contract to Bolton & Menk for a not-to-exceed amount of $384,000 for the Downtown Greenway Connection project. Design of the extension of the Whitner Creek Greenway from the south side of the Recreation Center at Bleckley Street south along Whitner Creek to its intersection with Tribble Street, then continuing to Downtown Anderson will also include intersection safety improvements at Tribble Street and Murray Avenue. Redesign sidewalks and right-of-way along Orr Street from Textile Point across Main Street to McDuffie Street, tying into downtown revitalization are also part of the proposal.
The Greenway design is not to exceed $222,300 and the Orr Street streetscape $161,700 for a total of $384,000. The project advances segments of a 15-mile multi-use path loop envisioned in the city’s 2014 Bicycle and Pedestrian Connectivity Plan and 2017 Parks and Recreation Master Plan, connecting key sites including Linley Park, the Recreation Center, Bea Thompson Park, Westside Community Center, and Southwood Park. An RFQ advertised in August 2025 drew eight proposals; city staff evaluated them and selected Bolton & Menk as most qualified.
The projects would be funded using the city’s hospitality tax.
Also on Monday:
· Council will consider final reading of an ordinance to rezone 409 Highway 29 Bypass North, a 0.63-acre lot with a single-family home, from light industrial to R-20 single-family residential. The change, recommended by the Planning Commission, corrects a nonconforming use dating to 1998 and aids its probate sale amid lending issues; it aligns with nearby residential zoning despite surrounding industrial parcels.
· A new rezoning request targets 1101, 1103 and 1105 McLees Road, where The Point Church seeks to use existing buildings on 1.8 acres. Current limited office zoning permits churches but requires two acres; neighborhood commercial zoning lacks this threshold and matches adjacent properties, earning unanimous Planning Commission support on January 6.
· Council is expected to approve reappointments of David Ford and Renee Fields-York to the Municipal Election Commission will maintain oversight of ballot certification ahead of the April 7, 2026, election for mayor and council seats.
· Police seek approval for 55 encrypted Kenwood VP-5430 handheld radios at $185,871 from Kimball Communications, the low bidder, to meet FCC P25 network standards protecting operations.
· Electric City Transit’s updated 2025–2028 Title VI Plan, required for federal funding, details antidiscrimination measures including public notices, complaint procedures, language assistance and equitable route standards.
