By Ray King
The City of Pine Bluff is getting ready to begin major repairs on bridges in the city and a committee of the City Council recommended Friday approval of an ordinance to hire an engineering firm to work on the projects.
At a special called meeting of the Public Works Committee, Council Member Joni Alexander and Committee Chairman Council Member Ivan Whitfield agreed to send proposed legislation to the full council with a do pass recommendation. The third member of the committee, Council Member Steven Mays was not present.
The special meeting was necessary because the full council on Monday will hear the first reading of the proposed ordinance which would waive competitive bidding and contract with McClelland Consulting Engineers, Inc., a firm that is currently working on several city projects.
At the meeting, Economic and Community Development Director Larry Matthews said the Arkansas Department of Transportation is responsible for bridge safety in the state and has mandated that the state repair six bridges in the city. That mandate includes the 28th Street Overpass bridge, which McClelland is already under contract to do the engineering work for.
Matthews said the proposal the council will consider Monday includes engineering work on three other bridges, one on 34th Avenue, one on Hazel Street which crosses Bayou Bartholomew and the third on Kentucky Street. He described the repairs to those three bridges as being far less expensive that the costs that will be associated with the other two bridges and said city officials will wait and look at work on those two later.
The engineering costs for those three bridges would be $66,700, Matthews said, adding that the funds will come from money in the Street Department budget.
He said the state has not set a “drop dead” deadline for the repairs “but we need to get them done.”
