Alexander council approves additional funding for street paving

The Alexander City Council approved adding $56,000.00 to a state grant of $250,000.00 in order to pave seven city streets. Cranford Construction Co. of North Little Rock submitted the low bid of $306,416.70. The only other bid was submitted by Redstone Construction Group, Inc. of Little Rock at $337,056.31.

While the cost overrun is actually $56,416.70 Mayor Paul Mitchell and Street Department Superintendent David Durham believe some of Cranford Construction’s cost can be reduced by the city doing some of the work and providing some of the needed materials. Mitchell said the high bids are mostly due to the section of A.C. Wallace, between the railroad tracks and the park, not having any existing asphalt.

Mitchell said when engineers arrived in the city to look at the streets to be paved, before submitting the bids, he and Durham weren’t available to explain how much preparation work the city would be doing.

“They (contractors) assumed they had to do it all,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell explained this is the only section of A.C. Wallace that does not have an asphalt surface, which is why it made the list. He explained because it’s only rock it will require a base layer to be laid before paving.

“We can reduce some of the cost by doing that work ourselves,” Mitchell said.

Alexander was approved in January, 2019 for the $250,000.00 grant as part of the State Aid City Streets program. Cities are allowed access to this program as part of a temporary gasoline tax extension passed by voters in November, 2011. Revenue from the tax is being used to upgrade interstate and state highways along with city and county streets and roads.

Streets on the list for re-paving besides the short section of A.C. Wallace are E. 4^th Street, Jason Drive, Kent Drive, Alton Drive, Regency Drive, and Lindsey Drive. Mitchell expects paving to begin in two to three months.

Approval of the project was announced in January, 2019. At the time Arkansas Department of Transportation engineers estimated the cost of the 1.79-mile project at $257,550.00. The bids weren’t published until the end of 2019.

This is the second time the city received funding from this grant program. The first set of streets were paved in November, 2015.

In other action at the January 27 meeting;

The city council approved the final budget for 2019. Total revenue to the General Fund is reported at $1,691,750.00. Total expenses were $1,652,745.00 leaving a surplus of $39,005.00. These are rounded off totals. Expenses in the General Fund include transferring revenue generated by two-cents of the city’s three-cent sales tax to other departments. The total generated by the three-cent sales tax was $1,355,100.00.

Breaking down the individual departments; revenue to the police department in 2019 totaled $504,812.00. Expenses were $496,118.57 leaving a surplus of $8,693.43. Revenue to the fire department totaled $723,453.02. Expenses totaled $714,285.50 leaving a surplus of $9,167.52. Revenue to the parks department totaled $295,944.00. Expenses were $126,243.00 leaving a surplus of $169,701.00. All three departments share two of the three-cents in city sales tax revenue as required when the first two cents were approved by voters.

Revenue to the street department in 2019 totaled $314,032.00, most of which comes from the city’s share of the state’s fuel tax. In 2019 that was $208,001.00. Expenses totaled $274,261.00 leaving a surplus of $39,771.00.

Council members then approved the proposed budget for 2020. Estimated revenue to the general fund is $1,840,131.77 with expenses estimated to be $1,515,203.45. Revenue to the police department is estimated at $604,048.55 with estimated expenses totaling $594,040.23. Estimated revenue for the fire department is $758,136.21 with estimated expenses at $626,702.00. Revenue for the parks department is estimated at $302,397.91 and expenses are estimated at $126,111.23. Street department revenue is estimated at $339,471.08 and expenses are estimated at $330,189.00.

Council members also approved spending a $25,000 gift donated to the city’s police department by an area resident who wished to remain anonymous. Police Chief Robert Burnett told council members how the anonymous individual stopped by city hall and asked for a list of items the department needs.

Burnett said the list includes replacing the department’s outdated close-range tasers, updating the department’s computer software, officer training, and a full-bodied canine practice suit. After showing him the list Burnett said the anonymous donor told him he would pay for all of it and later returned with a $25,000 check.

“The tasers are so outdated they aren’t made any more and we had to buy replacement batteries from a pawn shop in New York,” Burnett said.

Council member Juanita Wilson suggested the city send the donor a card with everyone’s signature thanking him for the donation.

Due to the President’s Day Holiday the next meeting of the Alexander City Council will be February 24 at 6:00 PM in the courtroom at city hall. The public is invited to attend.