Pike County supervisors received updates on a number of construction and renovation projects, and aired their grievances about the pace of another.
Garrett Smith of Neel-Schaffer Engineering presented an invoice for $40,018 for services performed in October on three projects, including two for road work and another for water and sewer improvements at the Bogue Chitto Water Park.
A $24,999 invoice is for a State Aid reseal project, the final inspection for which is expected to take place this week, Smith said.
Another for $13,392 is for the American Rescue Plan Act-funded reseal project, the contract for which has been awarded to Dickerson & Bowen.
“We’re trying to get them in there as quickly as we can,” Smith said. “They’ve just got some other work to wrap up before they start this project.”
Smith said crews will work on repairing the roadbeds over the winter. They’ll lay down mat rock and seal it in the spring, he said.
More bridge delays
In what has become routine at board meetings, Supervisor Sam Hall again complained about the delays in reopening the nearly completed Fernwood Road bridge.
“People are getting restless, man. They’re getting angry.” he said.
Smith said problems with the gravel sample are the cause of the most recent delay, and the contractor is trying to find another source for gravel.
“We’ve had some issues with the gravel sample. We’ve had a gravel sample that has failed twice,” Smith said.
Hall had little empathy.
“They should have been worrying about that months ago,” he said. “It’s to the point now to here people are really getting upset, and I don’t blame them.”
“They are trying to get to work now and they ran into this issue,” Smith said. “I’ve let them know your frustrations.”
The contractor, Gulf Breeze Construction of Saucier, recently won the contract to replace the bridge on Hamilton Street in McComb after submitting a low bid for the grant-funded project.
Gateway infrastructure
County Administrator Tami Dangerfield said Magnolia Electric Power has submitted a $49,000 quote to connect the sewer infrastructure at Gateway Industrial Park to the electrical grid.
“We need to get the power to the sewer to wrap up all of those projects,” Smith said, noting that the park’s water infrastructure already has electricity.
Dangerfield said the work would be paid with state bond funds.
In a related matter, supervisors approved the payment of $11,115 to Greenbriar Digging for work on the park’s water system project.
“We’re essentially done with the water project. This is the last thing we need because they all kind of tie into each other,” Smith said.
Airport grants
Supervisor Tazwell Bowsky said the Delta Foundation has grants available that may help solve drainage issues at the McComb-Pike County Airport and other projects.
