St. Francis bridge to be bid

The Mayor and Board of Alderman acted during last Tuesday’s meeting to get the bridge replacement project on St. Francis Drive started by early next year.

Aldermen voted to give Crowder Engineering permission to advertise for bids.

Bid day will be Jan. 19 at 2 p.m. A pre-bid meeting will be Jan. 7 at the site. The project is expected to take 75 working days and will start in February or March.

The project could not begin until Central Electric was able to move some lines to prevent a possible accident when the cranes were putting in the pilings.

“We should be through by the end of May,” Mayor James Young said.  

Aldermen were informed the camera system to be installed in the Municipal Clerk’s office will not be equipped with audio. 

Mayor Young reported that the city’s insurance carrier advised against it because of potential liability issues. There was a discussion about possibly adding other cameras around City Hall. No action was taken.

In other matters, aldermen voted to:

• Approve the city’s health insurance plan with Gulf Guarantee for the next year;

• Approve two promotions in the police department. Aldermen accepted the resignation of Dylan Bell;

• Approve a lease agreement with Vulcan Metal to use the old Wells Lamont building, which is owned by the city. The lease is for two years, beginning Jan. 1. The company has an option to purchase the building during the two-year period;

• Acknowledge that Central Water is digging a trench for the city at the refurbished outdoor basketball courts at Westside Park, and that it would have no responsibility for the upkeep;

• Aldermen declined to take action on a rezoning request which would have changed a lot on 224 Lewis Ave. from R1 to R3. No one attended the public hearing on the matter. It died for the lack of a motion.