County commissioners spent Monday afternoon listening to presentations from five architectural firms, pleading their case on why they are perfect for the job.

"All of them are allied with, partnered with firms that specialize to some extent in building these facilities," said Bibb County Commissioner Lonzy Edwards.

Out of the five finalists, three are based in central Georgia. Two in Macon and one in Perry. But Commissioner Edwards says they are looking for a firm that will design a facility that will serve this communities purpose.

"Regardless of where they're from, their needs are not like our needs are here in Bibb County," he said. "So we are going to need someone who is going to listen to the elected officials as well as all the interested parties."

The county is working with a $3 million budget for the new facility. It's not much for this type of project, especially after you factor in site furnishing and other expenses such as architectural fees. Therefore, the county is using what they already have.

"We want to maximize the amount of money that would be available for the facility," said Edwards. "In order to do that we've selected a site that the county owns."

The new site is located on Fulton Mills Road, just off of Eisenhower Parkway. The county bought the property years ago which, it was supposed to be used to build a medical facility which never happened. Edwards said it's a well suited location for this new facility.

"We wanted something with high visibility, that's accessible, and of course affordable," he said.

The site, which sits on 5 to 10 acres of land gives the county options such as expansion which Edwards says they don't have with the current site and never will.

"Now, where the shelter is located, we wouldn't want to expand because it's near a landfill," said Edwards. "Even if we did, there is not enough space there for that to happen."

After hearing all five presentations, the commissioners will decide on a firm and confirm it on Tuesday morning.