A $450,000 project to repair and repave 22 blocks of Cherry Street has been put on hold for 30 days until more input can be gathered from other council members. The hold could delay the timetable for when the project will be done and could also increase the cost, officials said.
The project was the subject of a Public Works Committee meeting on Tuesday, which was held via Zoom. The topic had been sidelined at a recent City Council meeting, and Council Member Ivan Whitfield, chairman of the Public Works Committee, wanted to discuss some of the questions he has about the work. Chiefly, he wondered if the Street Department could do the work, thereby saving money that could then be used to buy equipment for the department. Whitfield also questioned whether getting only one bid for the project was sufficient or should the city reach out to other contractors to see if they wanted to submit bids -- contractors who would employ minority workers, he said.
"I'm not in favor of this project going anywhere," Whitfield said, adding that there were other streets in town in worse shape than Cherry.
Council Member Joni Alexander, another committee member, said the main problem with the Street Department doing the work is lack of equipment.
"Would we be open to spending money on equipment?" Alexander asked.
"Yes, I believe so," Whitfield answered. "It may cost them $200,000 for material, and the other $300,000 they could use on equipment. They did a good job on 28th Street six or eight months ago."
Mayor Shirley Washington addressed Whitfield's questions, saying that Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel Co., which was the single bidder on the project, uses minority workers and that the city, because the company is in Pine Bluff, would receive tax dollars from the money spent on the work.
She said the work on Cherry Street will require grinding the pavement down first before repaving it and that small companies don't have grinding machines.
Washington also said that if the project is delayed, the cost could rise, especially if the price of oil continues to climb.
"I can't say what the dollar increase will be," Washington said. "We just know there will be an increase."
The mayor also noted that the city's Street Department doesn't have enough employees to handle a job the size of the Cherry Street project.
Rick Rhoden, Street Department director, joined the call later in the meeting and was asked to explain why the project was necessary at this time. He said he has a list of streets that need work and that the Cherry Street project, which would extend from Sixth to 28th avenues, was one of three projects at the top of his list. The reason he chose that work over the others, he said, is because it has the highest traffic count.
"It's full of alligator cracks," he said.
As for asking for additional bids, Rhoden said that the job was legally advertised and now that Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel has submitted its bid and the bid had been opened, asking for additional bids would not be fair to the company.
As for the money to pay for the work, Rhoden said the $450,000 will be paid out of funds that were carried over from last year and that he still has the full $800,000 remaining that was budgeted for street repairs this year.
Whitfield said that, because the Cherry Street work is so much money, he wants to have all of the other council members weigh in on the subject. He said he didn't want to prolong the decision but that he would invite all council members to the next committee meeting, which would be held within the next 30 days.
In response, Washington said she would prefer to do the work now.
"I feel like we, in the past, have not done as much as we should have, whether that was because of weather or other circumstances," she said. "We have the opportunity to go ahead and get this done, and I think it would be good if we can move forward with this now."
Rhoden said he worried that if the city waits 30 days, Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel will get busy on other projects and not be able to do the Cherry Street work in a timely fashion.
"We're not the only pebble on this beach," Rhoden said in a follow-up interview on Wednesday.
The question as to whether a 30-day delay will put the work at risk was posed to Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel on Wednesday, but the person who was said to be the one who could answer the question was not there.
The price that Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel bid for the project is good until the end of August, officials said.
