After several months of waiting, several long-awaited road projects may soon be finished along the Eastern Shore after a standoff has ended between the city of Fairhope and the Baldwin County Highway department.

Several conflicts involving Fairhope Utilities lines have caused snares on the completion of several road projects on the city’s outskirts that have kept local residents angry.

Larry Torbert, a county resident who lives off County Road 24, said it's been a nuisance he and his neighbors have had to deal with for some time.

“Basically, we’ve put up with some pretty rough repairs that have been made that aren’t really repairs,” Torbert said. “They’re just patchwork, and it’s frustrating there hasn’t been more action taken to get these projects done quickly.”

Several of the changes involved adding better drainage improvements following the April 2014 rain event in Baldwin County. Those projects being held up by utility conflicts include the following:

- County Road 48, west of Bohemian Hall Road

- County Road 46, East of 181

- Section Street, south of Old Battles

- County Road 34, west of Section Street

- County Road 32, east of County Road 13

- County Road 24, east of County Road 13

- County Road 24, west of US Highway 98

- County Road 32, east of US Highway 181

County Commissioner Tucker Dorsey said he finds it maddening the projects have continued to be held up.

“it is beyond ridiculous that we are now three years beyond the incident and we are getting little assistance and cooperation from the city of Fairhope and their utilities department to do these projects to completion,” Dorsey said. “It not only affects the residents around Baldwin County, it affects the ability to get around for the city of Fairhope.”

Dorsey said a lack of communication from the Fairhope side of the equation seems to have been the major holdup.

“Communication usually requires two-way communication, and we were not getting a lot of communication until Commissioner Elliott started getting involved with this with the city of Fairhope,” Dorsey said.

From the city’s perspective, Fairhope officials said the holdup has been a question as to whether or not the city would be reimbursed for the costs of moving the lines.

In an email dated March 24, Fairhope Operations Director Richard Peterson raised the issue with county staff.

“I am not wanting to spend a lot of time rehashing conversations regarding reimbursable costs,” Peterson wrote. “I think we do need to know if the project costs for relocating these facilities will be reimbursed or not. If so, I think we can proceed immediately. If not, I want to run the numbers through council to make sure they are aware of the potential change in the budget.”

In an email dated March 27, Peterson wrote the city was ready to move forward after hearing from Acting County Engineer Joey Nunnally that the expenses would be reimbursed.

“I wanted to let you know that Mr. Nunnally called last Friday to let me know these are reimbursable expenses,” Peterson wrote. “Dan McCrory and I visited the sites today to work on a strategy to get theses lines adjusted as soon as possible. Please know it may take some time to accomplish all the work, but we will accomplish the higher priority sites first, if that will help.”

Since that time, however, at least one firm slated to finish the jobs has pulled themselves out of the contract. Ammons and Blackmon Construction withdrew from one of the projects because they were unable to get a timetable nailed down as to when their workers would be able to complete the projects.

Dorsey said he is upset the county has had to waste time and money due to the lack of communication and said he hopes all of the municipalities across the county will work together with the county to prevent delays like this in the future.

“This is just an indication of how the municipalities and the county have to work together in all manners, including our utility departments, because this is having a broad impact across the entire Eastern Shore region,” Dorsey said. “We’re not able to complete these projects we need finished. It reflects poorly on the hard-working folks in our Baldwin County highway department and our subcontractors who are trying to get these projects completed.”