The Mendenhall Mayor and Board of Aldermen met on June 17 for a special called meeting to open bids for this summer’s asphalt project.
Board Attorney Wesley Broadhead revealed that the city only received one bid from J & L Enterprises. The bid conformed to specifications and broke down the price per ton according to material.
For asphalt J & L Enterprises quoted the city $119.17 per ton and for ultra thin mix $124.85 per ton. The price for SSI tac was listed at $5.18 per gallon. J & L Enterprises is the same company that was used by the city last year. The Board members agreed that the company did an exceptional job of repairing multiple streets with the amount of asphalt available to them.
The proposed budget for paving this year is $90,000, which is down from the $120,000 spent last year. Booth previously said he hoped to allocate at least $100,000 a year to streets, but the revenue was not available this year. The city needed the money in other areas. He explained to the board that next year the amount of money available is anticipated to increase with additional funds gained from the use tax.
Aldermen expressed concern over the quoted price and why it was substantially higher than that of Magee, which opened bids for a similar paving project and was quoted $105 per ton for asphalt and $107 per ton on ultra thin mix. The price increase could be attributed to fluctuating cost of materials.
Following more discussion the board unanimously voted to accept the J & L Enterprises bid. The alternative would have been to start the process over, and none of the board members viewed that as an option. Booth said he was shocked that the city only received one bid for the project.
Given the budget and price per ton the city will have over 700 tons available to fix various streets. Booth said there are a lot of variables at play when determining how far the material will stretch, and estimating the amount of tac needed. The board previously discussed their approach to what streets will be fixed. The places around town that were dug up to repair water lines and substructure will be the first priority when paving begins. The remaining material will be evenly divided between each ward. The streets to be fixed will be determined by each ward’s Aldermen. In May, each alderman created a list of the worst streets in their ward. They later revisited and prioritized the list. Booth explained that the company will use the divided material to fix as many streets possible in each ward according to the list.
Booth said the city will be able to get more accomplished next year with nearly double the budget. He said the city will have approximately $200,000 to apply towards streets thanks to the use tax. The board also discussed purchasing a new Brushwolf 4200X, but Booth said it was not compatible with the city’s machines. The brush would have been used to trim limbs hanging over roadways. The city will look for a similar piece of equipment in the future. The board discussed personnel issues and hired part time grass crew members before adjourning until Tuesday July 2. Mendenhall City Hall will be closed July 4-5 in observance of the holiday.
