By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Alabaster City Council likely will decide during its July 2 meeting if it will award an about $3.5 million bid for construction of a new City Hall building next to the Alabaster Senior Center.

During a June 28 work session, council members discussed bids recently submitted by seven companies for the project. Of those seven bids, the Trussville-based Blalock Building Company’s $3.5 million bid was the lowest, said Alabaster City Administrator George Henry.

The price includes site preparation and construction of the building and its 82-spot parking lot. Other items, such as building furnishings, irrigation and landscaping and possibly improving the site’s accessibility from Alabama 119, will be discussed at a later date, council members said.

If constructed, the new two-story, 19,853-square-foot building will house the city’s administrative offices, city court and other municipal departments.

The new City Hall would consolidate offices currently spread out over three buildings. The new City Hall would include a 170-seat courtroom, a city office suite and a conference room for city boards. The building’s second floor would be used for storage, and could accommodate future growth, Henry said.

If the council awards the bid during its July 2 meeting, the city will “start seeing some movement in August” on the construction site, Henry said previously. The project will take about 10 months to complete.

The project likely will be funded by refinancing and extending a series of city bonds issued in 2005, council members said.