People living along West Bluff Road should be getting their road fixed soon. The Orange City Council this week approved a contract for the work to Simco Enterprises of Groves.
Simco had the best bid with $243,632 and the contract says the work is to be finished within 45 calendar days. However, Simco asked for an acception to the time by adding “without special requirements” because “there appears to be a major pipeline corridor near.”
Single-Member District 2 Councilor Brad Childs said he hopes “this will get us closer to turning (the road) over to the county.”
West Bluff Road belongs to the city for maintenance, though the property along the sides of the road are outside the city limits. No one in local governments today can trace how the city ended up with maintenance.
Before Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, Orange County Commissioners Court had agreed to take over maintenance of West Bluff Road after the city had repaired it. However, the county has three new members of the five-member court.
West Bluff Road had been damaged by a pipeline company, which paid the city the costs of repairs. Then a record-breaking Sabine River flood covered the road in March 2016, causing more damage. The city received FEMA money for the flood damage.
As the city was preparing to fix the road, Harvey came and flooded it again.
City Public Works Director Jim Wolf said “we have to spend the FEMA money.”
“It would be fantastic if we could give that road back to the county,” Childs said.
Other business during the council meeting included awarding a contract for engineering and surveying for a boulevard at the Eagle Point commercial development site. The council agreed to spend $123,300 for the work.
The boulevard is planned to be 2,630 feet and provide an entrance off Highway 62 into the property. The site south of Interstate 10 has about 250 acres, owned by the Houseman Companies, for commercial development.
The city has agreed to spend up to $425,000 in EDC money for the boulevard. EDC money comes from a special sales tax voters approved in 2002.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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