ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Residents of Mariner Lake Subdivision still want the city to take over Loop Road, but they also want the city to oversee the work to bring it up to code as well.

The City Council agreed in November 2011 if would take over maintenance and ownership of the road if the Mariner Lakes property owner’s association would bring it up to an “acceptable” standard.

Residents say, and the city agrees, that the city has more experience at seeing such projects through.

“If we’re going to take the roadway over anyway we do this every day,” Mayor Tony Kennon said. “It makes it easier on the homeowner’s association that has no experience doing this. So we get to the same point and make their life easier. The money’s in escrow, we know what we’ve got and I think everybody wins.”

Kennon says having experienced city personnel on hand for the job would make the job run smoother.

“The last thing we need is for them to oversee it, the thing get botched and then we’re back where we were anyway,” he said. “We’re still stuck with the problem of that road being a mess. I trust Tim to make sure it’s done right. It’s perceived as a city road, it’s used as a city road.

Loop Road runs between the Winn Dixie shopping center on the east and the center anchored by Walmart Neighborhood Market on the west and is now a heavily traveled commercial street.

The road and Mariner Lakes subdivision behind the centers were both in place before the shopping centers were built. The residents have since been responsible for maintaining the road. The city will take over just more than 800 feet of it.

In April the POA came back with an engineer’s estimate of what it would cost to bring the road to an acceptable standard. The city and the POA then began working with businesses owners along the road to pitch in money for the work.

Orange Beach’s council agreed in April to spend $10,000 on the project and the property owners each contributed a percentage of the estimated $54,000 needed for the job.

“The city would contribute $10,000 based on the road basically functioning as a commercial street and equally the amount that both the Neighborhood Market site and the Winn-Dixie site owners were going to contribute toward bringing that road up to an acceptable standard for the city to take over,” Director of Community Development Kit Alexander said. “The other parties along that roadway – Fairfield Inn, Hazel’s and the little strip center with the dry cleaner and Grape Escape – they were also contributing proportional amounts relative to the percentage of frontage they have on that road.”

Most recently, the city has been making sure there is clear title to the property the road is on.

“Council stated that they would consider constructing the road and recommended that once the information showing that they had no encumbrances on the property and the title work had been completed to the satisfaction of our attorney,” Alexander said.

The next step is to get the money moved from an escrow account to the city so the job can be bid out and funded.

“They have collected, according to the property owners’ association representative Edna Pierce, they have collected and it is in escrow,” Alexander said.

But the transfer has yet to take place.

“They are working that out now,” Alexander said.

When everything is in place the council will be presented with a resolution to have the property deeded to the city with the money, Alexander. That resolution, she said, will also reiterate that the city’s contribution is not to exceed $10,000 in money and services.