Fairhope, Alabama thefairhopetimes.blogspot.com
Update: Dredging stopped not long after this photo was taken. Do not know yet if it was completed.
CITY NOT PARTICIPATING
Dredging operations in the boat channel at the mouth of Fly Creek have begun to clear sand bars that have built up there. The sand is being deposited on the adjacent south side beach.
The city was planning to share the cost with the Fairhope Yacht Club and bids from contractors were received, but a problem arose later concerning additional work/compliance with state bid law for public works projects ($100K maximum) -- so the city was unable to participate.
A special council meeting was called last week about it, but nothing was resolved then.
When asked about it today by the Times, council president Burrell explained: " ... we erred on the side of caution. We couldn’t enter into an agreement that may have ultimately exceeded an aggregate of $100k. The fact they wanted additional work done which may or may not have pushed the total over $100k precluded us from getting involved without having bids. We had quotes, but having knowledge there was a chance of exceeding $100k, and I’m not saying they definitively would have exceeded that threshold, prompted us to back away as a measure of caution. Had there been no discussion and no chance of performing additional work that would have exceeded the $100k threshold, we likely would have moved forward. I thought we could have entered an agreement to ensure we wouldn’t exceed the threshold, but was advised to err on the side of caution and back away until bids could be received. We could bid the job and perform any amount we desired, but they wanted to move this ahead quickly. We remain open to performing our share of the work but will want to bid the job if there is a chance the total amount will exceed $100k."
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| Fly Creek boat channel. |
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| Bids solicited. |