LELAND—Residents to Waterford and Magnolia Greens in Leland are about to get a road upgrade courtesy of Town of Leland, but the cost the project is set to cost almost two-and-a-half times more than the town has to spend.
The Town of Leland decided in 2017 it would resurface parts of six roads within the two neighborhoods for a total of 3,600-linear-feet.
“This project is not a complete resurfacing of the roads, but rather a combination of approaches to address the specific needs of problem areas. Work shall consist of asphalt removal, subbase removal, base replacement, asphalt replacement, striping, curb and gutter replacement, manhole adjustment, and water meter adjustment,” according to Town Council’s agenda for its Thursday meeting.
When it comes to road maintenance figuring out who is responsible for which roads can get confusing, public, private, and municipal roads are all found in Leland .
“In the Town of Leland, the NCDOT owns and manages Village Road and Hwy. 17. All other public roads inside the Town of Leland corporate boundary for the most part are public roads that are owned and maintained by the Town. There are also private roads in the Town that may be owned and maintained by an HOA or a private property owner. For example, the roads outside the gates in Waterford are Town roads and the roads beyond the gates are private roads,” Economic Development Director Gary Vidmar said.
But when it comes to the cost of the project, the town only has $197,443 available in its Water Resurfacing Capital Project Fund. In order to provide funding for the project, the town is now considering transferring money out of another neighborhood capital project fund.
Town staff is suggesting transferring $280,853 from the Brunswick Forest and Low Country Boulevard Intersection Capital Project Fund to allow the project to commence this fiscal year.
The town did put the contract out for bid, however, only one company offered the town a bid for service so choices are limited.
“There are times, such as now, when most contractors are overloaded with work and are unable to bid on additional projects. As a result, towns receive a limited number of bids from which to choose,” Vidmar said. “Such is the case with the Waterford project. If the Town were to rebid the project, there is no reason to believe we would receive additional bids because the scope nor any other circumstances have changed. In the meantime, the roads will continue to deteriorate even more and the cost of the project will continue to escalate.”
Town Council will meet Thursday to vote on awarding the contract, denying the contract, or sending the project out for a rebid.
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