Paving project expected to begin in September

S.T. Bunn, Inc. is expected to begin repaving 39 Demopolis streets early next month after the Demopolis City Council voted Thursday to accept the company’s low bid.

In an abbreviated meeting held over the telephone, the Council approved the bid of $1,317,272.47. Even when the fee of the engineering firm Goodwin, Mills and Cawood is added, the total cost of the project is well under the $3 million budgeted for the project, which is expected to take 65 working days.

Mayor John Laney said if the city is successful in getting a grant from the ADECA, another 11 streets in the city will be added to the project.

The Council passed two resolutions approving the reelection of Charles Jones Jr. and Nathan Hardy to Districts 1 and 5 respectively. Neither councilman had opponents for the Aug. 25 election.

The Council also approved a resolution to appoint election officials for the city contest. City clerk Sam Gross said she still needs workers for District 5, but Gov. Kay Ivey has granted permission to use people who live in the county as well as the city.

In a census update, Mayor Laney said Alabama has 60.7 percent response to the population county taken every 10 years. Marengo County ranks 60 out of 67 counties in the state with only 47.8 percent of residents responding to the census. However, 61.9 percent of Demopolis residents have answering the questionnaire. It ranks 146 out of 460 cities in the state.