The Decatur County Board of Commissioners recently approved the purchase of several items to help upgrade Airport Industrial Park’s water and waste water system.

Commissioners approved the low bid of Po Boys Plumbing, of Winder, Ga., to install plant decanters and associated equipment at the facility. The bid was for $25,506.55.

The board also ratified an earlier purchase of $17,408 for actuators and influent valves, from Tesco of Suwanee, Ga. Interim County Administrator Gary Breedlove explained to the board that he had already approved the purchase, because the items were needed quickly. Since the board canceled its March 27 meeting, it would have taken until Tuesday’s meeting to approve the low bid, so Breedlove had the authority to make the purchase ahead of time and allow the board to ratify that purchase Tuesday.

The board unanimously approved the Po Boys Plumbing bid, and unanimously ratified the previous purchase from Tesco.

At their regular meeting Tues., Aug. 23, 2011, the board approved spending approximately $2.87 million on the plant upgrade project, with $1.67 million coming from a federal grant. The improvements are necessary because the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) issued a consent order in April 2011 that orders the county to fix the problems with river pollution and old equipment.

In other financial business, the board:

• Approved the low bid of $187,627, from Flint Equipment Co., to purchase a 670-G Caterpillar motor grader for the public works department. However, the bid also includes a $146,000 trade-in on old equipment, and will only cost the county $45,213, after interest.

• Approved several bids associated with purchases for the new county agriculture building. They included $14,742 from Tri-State Doors for cabinets and $13,192 from Home Depot for lighting and electrical fixtures.

Breedlove said that the Tri-State Doors bid was the second-lowest bid, but the lowest bid — $14,125 from TC Cabinets — was disqualified because it did not meet all the necessary requirements.