Bids were awarded for the construction of the new Russell Springs municipal building at a special called meeting of the city's council last Thursday at city hall.

The bidding of the erection of the building created a stalemate among the council for a short time when council members Timmy Hudson, David Blakey and Lisa Mann voted for Eric's Ceiling and Wall System while councilmen Ray Barrett, Ricky Barnes and Eric Selby voted for Keith Owens Construction, creating a 3-3 deadlock.

Owens' bid was $42,965 while Eric's bid was $34,340. To break the tie, Mayor Hollis DeHart had to make the deciding vote and went with Eric's Ceiling and Wall System because of the lower bid.

The city will serve as the general contractor for the new building, according to DeHart.

Hubbard's Building Supply was awarded the bid for materials at $63,921.19 plus an additional $10,000 for doors once the project is underway.

In the electrical bids, Quantum Electric's low bid of $22,900 was accepted by the council and Gary Leis Plumbing got the plumbing job with a low bid of $6,850.

Antle's Heating and Cooling was awarded the HVAC bid on the project for natural gas at a price of $25,000.

Robertson Truss was the low bidder for trusses on the project with a bid of $13,776 and was accepted by the council for the project.

In other happenings at the meeting:

o The council heard the second reading of the ad valorem tax ordinance for the current fiscal year. DeHart said the formula used to calculate property tax comes from the state and that the city inserts numbers into the formula to come up with the rate.

The mayor said last year the tax rate was .174 and, according to the formula that the state requires, this coming year it will be .177.

DeHart said the city received a total of $249,613.75 in ad valorem property taxes last year and expects to receive $244,702.63.

"We would receive 4,911.12 less this year than we did last year," he said. "This comes about just as a result of depreciation of what we have, basically."

Some years the rate will be up and some years they will go down, according to the mayor.

"This formula merely establishes a kind of equilibrium," he said.

o Ray Barrett suggested that the four, and possibly five, vehicles be sold at the Highway 80 Auto Auction at the first of the month when more buyers usually attend.

o The council went into executive session to discuss the sale of property and possible litigation following the acceptance of the bids.

Councilwoman Lisa Mann made the motion to give the mayor the authority to sell city property at the appraised value and negotiate with the buyer for buildings and additional acreage discovered by a new survey.

No actual land was sold, though, according to the mayor. The vote just allowed him the authority to do so if he ever deemed it necessary.

Councilman Barrett seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.

No action was taken concerning the possible litigation and the meeting was dismissed.