Morgan County Commission approved a low bid of $78,429 from Hershberger Builders of Hartselle to construct a 25’ by 60‘ metal storage facility adjacent to the District 4 shop in the Cotaco community.

The move was made at the commission’s regular meeting on Jan. 24

District 4 Commissioner said the building would be insulated and have a concrete floor. It will be used to store equipment and vehicles when they are not in use.

Nine building firms submitted bids on the project. Their bids ranged from Fite Building Company’s second low bid of $88,720 to a high bid of $120,000, which was submitted by Rick Hall Construction.

Abercrombie said he expects construction to begin within three to four weeks.

“The building is needed,” said Abercrombie. “It’s big enough to allow us to get all of our equipment inside out of the weather. That will extend its life and save the county money in the long run.”

The governing body also accepted bids as first steps in implementing an offsite storage site for computer generated information.

A low bid of $325 per month with a $100 setup fee from Earthlink Business Link was accepted for a remote offsite solution for the county. Teklinks offered a bid of $800 per month with an $800 setup fee.

Data Processing Director David Hannah said offsite backup for data is needed on nights and weekends.

Also approved was a bid of $2,510 per month from Earthlink Business for to host email service for the county. A bid of $1,050 per month plus a $1,050 setup fee by Teklinks was rejected because it didn’t meet bid specifications.