Sewer project to start on Church Street

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FAIRHOPE – Sewer line replacements and other work will disrupt traffic on Church Street for about 18 months during a $5.2 million plan to improve services.

The Fairhope City Council voted May 28 to award the bid for the project to Asphalt Services Inc.

Richard Peterson, director of Fairhope sewer systems operations said bids were competitive, but the final price was more than city officials had first projected. He said that as plans moved forward for the work, the scope of the project was expanded.

“We added a lot to the project as it went forward trying to accommodate all the utility needs in that right of way of Church Street and the bids were competitive,” Peterson told the council. “The bid price was higher than any of us expected.”

The original plan had been for about $2.5 million in sewer system improvements, but soon expanded.

“When we start looking at the Restore funding and upgrading the lift station on South Section Street, we’re going to need that extra capacity to push that wastewater through town without trying to use the existing gravity system that’s there,” Peterson said. “I just think it’s the way to move forward and it gives us an opportunity to add a little bit of water capacity in that location. It gives us the opportunity to start the basis for some cast iron replacement and obviously, improve some of the stormwater issues that are there now too.”

The city added improvements and expansions to storm-water drainage, gas lines and water capacity.

“We’re trying to bring it all into one project, so we don’t go back next year and do something else and the year after that and do something after that,” Peterson said.

City Council President Jack Burrell said the additional work added to the costs.

“The gas portion wasn’t part of the original estimate, I don’t think, and that’s almost $934,000 right there,” Burrell said. “When you see that additional work being done. That helps you justify it.”

Mayor Karin Wilson said the city received the bid in March. While officials are trying to hold spending down to during the COVID-19 outbreak, the work has to be done.

“We did postpone it two months, but we know we have to do it and we can do it,” Wilson said.

The city is being sued by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management over sewage issues. Wilson said the project, planned before the lawsuit was filed, shows that the city is working to make major improvements in sewage treatment and other issues.

“This would be good timing with the ADEM