Paving is expected to begin around the City of Mendenhall within the next three weeks. Patching and paving will be done on an as-needed basis this year.
Bids were accepted for the upcoming paving projects last December. The city received a single bid from J & L Enterprises, which met all specifications for labor, material, and equipment. One of the stipulations of the bid was a locked in price good through September 2021. J & L bid $119.17 per ton for asphalt, $124.85 for ultra-thin mix, and $6 per gallon on TAC.
Mayor Todd Booth explained that the idea was to lock in a set price regardless of the market and have J & L do paving work as needed throughout the year. This would make patch work to fix substructure available to the city whenever streets were damaged. Board members discussed setting a cap on money spent on asphalt. The board accepted and approved the bid for asphalt, and developed an initial list of streets for J&L Enterprises to work on.
Alderman Robert Mangum suggested the most traveled roads to include South Main Street be fixed first. Alderwoman Janna Miller agreed and said Railroad Avenue should also take priority once paving begins. Alderwoman Sandra Weeks added Maude Avenue to the list. After discussions the initial list consists of South Main, Maude Avenue, East Street, Mangum Avenue, Pittman Drive, Railroad Avenue, and the intersection of Court Street and Oak Street. East Pine Avenue was recently added to the list to receive patching.
