Simco Construction Inc. of Athens will build the new Owens Senior Center off Alabama 99 for $228,691.

It will replace the old Pleasant Point Senior Center that was condemned more than a year ago. Approximately 50 members are expected to use the center once it opens later this year.

The Limestone Commission voted to accept the bid Wednesday.

Site work was recently completed. Construction of the 3,000-square-foot building is expected to take 160 days.

A state grant of $233,000 was approved for the construction of the new senior center after commissioners approved the purchase of five acres from Geneva Jackson for $50,000. The property is located on the west side of Alabama 99 near Myers Road.

Limestone County District 4 Commissioner Bill Daws said the project would cost $283,000. The county bought the land with the rest of a grant from the state’s Community Development Block Grant Program.

Also Wednesday, commissioners announced that a $56,900 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency would help construct a community storm shelter in the Goodsprings community in northwest Limestone County.

Plans are to build a 540-square-foot facility. Bids will soon be accepted on the project, Daws said.

In other business, commissioners will vote next Tuesday to accept the resignation of C.H. Moore from the Limestone County Department of Human Resources Board after 55 years of service. William Ellis will be appointed to replace him. Moore’s term on the board expires in October 2009. Commissioners will also reappoint James Pack and Harvey Craig to the E-911 Board. Their terms end Aug. 19, 2010.

In other action, commissioners voted Wednesday to hire Charles Russell Simmons as a corrections officer, Jonathan Hinton as a deputy and William Townsend as a part-time laborer for District 4, all pending drug and alcohol screenings.

Commissioners also heard a report from County Engineer Richard Sanders, who said bids came in over budget for the next segment of the Limestone County Rails to Trails project from Piney Chapel Road to Huber Road near Hays Mill.

The low bid was $449,000, well over the $270,000 available for the project.

Sanders said Rails to Trails Chairman Richard Martin are seeking additional money from the state.