MURFREESBORO – The process to repair the Holly Hill Road dam in Murfreesboro is gaining momentum.

Town Administrator Molly Eubank received three bids from construction companies to repair the dam and presented those bids to the Town Council on Tuesday. The three companies bidding on the project included McQueen Construction Inc., Central Builders Inc. and Paul Howard Construction. McQueen was the low bidder coming at $128,045, almost $30,000 less than the next bid.

Jewel Engineering has worked with McQueen and spoke highly of them,” Eubank said.

Eubank informed the Council of conversations she had with North Carolina’s emergency management agency concerning the dam. The town must award the contract to the lowest bidder and submit the invoice for the work before the state and FEMA will reimburse the town for 75% of the cost of the project Eubank said.

“Does the money the town has spent so far count with the 75%,” town attorney Bob Lee asked.

“I can’t answer that,” Eubank responded.

The original estimates to fix the dam came in at $250,000 and council members questioned how McQueen Inc. could do the work for so much less.

“Does the bid include other repairs on the dam,” council member Bill Theodorakis asked. “I would like the engineer to be here to answer our questions.”

According to Eubank, other repairs to the dam are not included in the bids.

“Can we get something more solid from the state concerning the 75%,” Wayne Brown asked. “We need something like a written letter from the state agreeing to reimburse the town.”

The town agreed to hold a special meeting, if necessary, to meet with McQueen Inc. to learn more details about the repairs they would perform.