City Engineer Ron Cassada came before the Indianola Board of Aldermen on Monday night to get approval to apply on behalf of the city for a portion of the $250 million that the Mississippi Legislature allocated to fund bridge projects across the state.
The aldermen voted unanimously to approve. Aldermen Gary Fratesi was absent.
Cassada said although the multi-million dollar allotment seems like a lot, it will be spread across all 82 counties all in need of bridge repairs. The grant would be at 100 percent so the city would not be required to put up a match.
He said currently Sunflower County has 17 closed bridges and 9 posted bridges including the College Avenue bridge.
No specific allotments were made to the cities and counties, however an application system was put in place to allow municipalities and counties to request the money and it will be awarded based on how the bridge jobs are ranked.
Cassada is hopeful that the city will get the project funded, he surmises that it has a 99 percent chance.
Although the approval is based on certain criterion, his optimism is further fueled by the fact that the bridge sees high traffic, there is a school nearby and he believes that projects under $1 million have a better chance of getting the support.
Cassada said the estimated $500,000 project has already been completely designed. “It’s been reviewed, it’s on the shelf, and the right of ways acquired,” he said. In addition, the city has spent money to relocate the utilities. “When you say shovel ready, this is a true shovel ready project,” Cassada said.
Mayor Steve Rosenthal added that if the prior funding had come through, the replacement project would have already begun.
Cassada confirmed that there has been no federal money in the last three years because much of it went to bridge inspections.
The bridge on College Avenue is beginning to show signs of further deterioration.
The railings have fallen off of the sides in the past few weeks and according to Cassada it probably needs to be closed. It is already posted and no heavy trucks or school busses should be crossing it. He said the bridge is scheduled for inspection next month.
In the discussion, Cassada pointed out that the board of aldermen should understand a clause in the application that states they will receive the lesser amount of the money between the amount requested on the application and the actual bid amount of the project.
He explained that it basically means that the engineer needs to make sure he has a high estimate to cover all of the expenses.
If the request is less than the bid amount, they will only receive the estimated amount and if the bid comes in under the estimate they will be awarded that amount only.
Rosenthal asked if the county is benefiting in any way by having this project assigned to the city. Cassada said it may help them get some of their other 16 projects outside of the municipalities done.
