FAIRHOPE, Ala.—A list of proposed street repaving projects was presented to the City Council last week for its consideration before final approval at an upcoming meeting.

A list of road repaving projects was posted to the city’s website last week then removed, and a new list posted later in the week, following inquiries by The Fairhope Courier.

At the Aug. 22 meeting, Mayor Tim Kant told the council that the repaving projects were selected in an effort to address road needs in every part of the city.

He held up a copy of the list, asking for council input about the roads selected, so the repaving projects could be confirmed and work started soon.

The final list will be submitted to the council for its approval at an upcoming council meeting, he said.

“It’s pretty close to $2 million,” Kant said about the cost of the repaving projects.

One council member responded that the total cost was closer to $2.3 million.

A list of the “Fairhope Repaving Projects” that was posted Friday on the city’s website shows about 80 street projects divided into three groups for a total cost of approximately $1.8 million.

That is a different list than was initially posted, which also differs from the hard copy provided to The Fairhope Courier.

The first list was removed less than a day after it was posted, following inquiries by The Courier, to make sure it was the same one presented by Kant to the council last Monday, according to city staff.

The second list was posted Friday, which includes one of two pages provided to The Courier in response to its public records request last week.

The page missing from the one posted online shows 18 “priority” streets to be repaved for a total cost of $1.3 million. The other page provided to The Courier, which was posted on the website at press time, stated those are “roads not awarded in phase one.”

The total cost of all proposed repaving projects in the list provided to The Courier is approximately $3.1 million.

When The Courier again raised questions about the new list posted on the website, the newspaper was referred to the mayor’s office.

The Courier could not confirm by press time the actual list now under review.

Once the final list is approved, the repaving project is expected to be performed by a company that was awarded the contract earlier this summer.

On July 25, the council passed a resolution to reject all bids for the paving project and authorized the mayor to negotiate a contract for road paving with Mobile Asphalt Co. LLC of Theodore.

The recommendation to handle the project in this way was made by the engineer of record, Micah Jones, with Thompson Engineering, according to records. A July 19 city staff report indicated that of 13 bidders at the pre-bid meeting, only one bidder responded.

“The contractor is reputable and qualified to perform the work, however, the bid prices received were higher than would be expected,” Jones wrote to the city on July 18. “The calculated price for Mobile Asphalt’s bid was approximately $10.13 (per square yard) or $125 (per ton). For this quantity, an expected price would be approximately $6 to $8 per square yard or $75 to $80 per ton, excluding mobilization and striping costs.”

At the Aug. 22 meeting, Kant indicated that a better price had been negotiated with the paving company.

Once The Courier can confirm the actual list of proposed repaving projects, it will be posted at www.baldwincountynow.com.