The Lamar County Board of Supervisors is expected to soon choose a firm to oversee engineering and design for the county’s proposed sports complex, as three Requests for Qualifications were received at last week’s board meeting.
Two of the submittals came from Hattiesburg firms Neel-Schaffer and Walker Associates, while the third came from Charles N. Clark Associates in Laurel. The submittals do not include monetary details such as construction costs, as they are intended only to inform county officials of the firms’ credentials.
“It’s their qualifications as engineering firms, and work that they’ve done on sportsplexes,” Lamar County Administrator Jody Waits said. “The (Lamar County Sports Complex) Vision Board had put together a list of checkpoints that we were looking for, which were listed in the RFQ.
“So they’ll take that and go down the list and see who comes out on top – who’s the best qualified to move forward to help select a site and design a plan. Once they select (the firm), we’ll ask them for a scope of work, and we’ll negotiate with them on a fee.”
The vision board – which is made up of a resident from each of the county’s five districts, in addition to county supervisors Phillip Carlisle and Steve Lampton - will soon submit their findings to supervisors, who are expected to pick an engineering firm for the project at the board’s April 1 meeting.
Although three submittals were received, the one from Charles N. Clark Associates – which was submitted online – is lacking all the necessary documentation for the procedure. Because of that, officials will need to check whether that submittal can be considered as an option.
“We asked for five hard copies, and we don’t have those five hard copies,” Waits said. “We just want to make sure there wasn’t some kind of misunderstanding, so the committee will go back and make sure that’s what they put in their request.”
The Lamar County Sports Complex Vision Board was approved in October by the board of supervisors. In addition to Carlise and Lampton, the board is made up of Sid Gonsoulin, Heath Sellers, Michael Hershman, Mark Norton, Darryl Smith, Chuck Bennett, Grant Hartfield and Perry Phillips.
The proposed sports complex has been discussed for the last several months, with the idea introduced in the September 2018 Lamar County Comprehensive Plan. The main possible site being discussed for the complex is a 108-acre parcel of 16th-section land, owned by the Lamar County School District, off U.S. 98 just west of Oloh.
Officials are currently working to determine which sports to focus on at the complex. At this stage in the process, supervisors are leaning toward soccer, tennis and football, given the county already has several baseball fields and many families currently travel to places like Tatum Park in Forrest County to participate in the other sports.
