Covington County Commission Covington County Commission approved the fiscal year 2024 Rebuild Alabama Transportation Plan for Covington County with a price of $2,399,515 at an extraordinary meeting on Thursday, August 31.
County Engineer Lynn Ralls discussed eight projects in the county’s fiscal year 2024 transportation plan which cover roughly 9.982 miles. Seven of them involve road improvement and one involves a bridge repair.
The projects include:
- County Road 21 – Ard Creek Road with 3.977 miles for an estimated cost of $666.450
- County Road 107, with 0.962 miles with the cost of $300,000.
- County Road 25 – Padgett Road with 1.804 miles for the cost of $330,000.
- County Road 20 – Glen Chambers Road with 2.420 miles for an estimated cost of $412,600
- County Road 47 – Indian Creek Road with 0.019 miles of bridge replacement for the total cost of $463,465
- TT Clark Road with 0.800 miles with an estimated cost of $150,000.
- Caton Road with 0.005 miles of bridge replacement with a total price of $42,000.
- Signification to substitute 0.005 miles of pole mounted warning light signals by post-mounted lighting at intersections of County Roads 77 and 43; County Roads 77 and 70; County Road 70 and Harmony Church Road at a total cost of $35,000
“By the law we must to get this passed this week and placed on the books. I sat down with all commissioners and they gave me their list of items they would like to see. I added two things to make sure we had all our funds. There was a little over $70,000 left. I used it to replace the bridge with a 3 ton capacity, and certain civilisation initiatives,” Ralls said.
Ralls presented the commission, presenting each project identified in the 2024 fiscal year transportation plan.
“Our premier plan Ard Creek Road is located with County Road 7 and runs U.S. 84. This is a terrible roadway in District 4, and will require some leveling and widening. This will be funded by Federal exchange funding. The second project we are working on will be County Road 107, which is located in District 4. The third one we are working on will be Padgett Road, which runs from Seven Church Road southward and is part of District 2. Fourth project currently wrapping with Glen Chambers Road and is an two-tier project. It was the result of Mrs. Lynne’s (Holmes) ARPA funds to improve the road’s width and level. The entire road is in need of being leveled, but we did it. We also expanded it and repaired two very bad roadsides. I then took the rest of the money and placed it on 11-12 inches of Old Farm Road and 1,000 feet of County Road 89. The next project will be the replacement of a bridge structure on the County Road 47 Indian Creek Road. The bridge that is located situated in District 3 is in dire need of being replaced. The number six in the listing is TT Clark Road in District 1 which we made paved between 2004 and 2006. Seventh on the list will be a replacement bridge Caton Road in District 4. We strive to replace bridges every year and there are people who are always unhappy about the decking on this particular bridge. The drain covers exactly 700 acres. This is roughly the amount of a culvert rail tank will be able to handle. The bridge will be replaced as well as assist school bus service. The remaining funds will be used for signalization. There was a lot vandalism and damage to our beacons as well as crossings in our county.” the official said.
CRAF amount for each project is the CRAF sum for the project is what the county’s Rebuild Alabama funds, which total the total amount of $317,933.53. The FAEF amount is Federal aid funds for the county, with a an amount totaling $317,092.69.
“We must achieve a profit with everything we own. There’s plenty of work we’d like to finish during the next fiscal year. The paving will be negotiated through our annual bids, which we already have in the works, and the bridge will be constructed in-house,” Ralls said.
Ralls also spoke about the county’s paving summary as well as ARPA paving summary for the fiscal year 2023. Four projects were listed on the county’s paving summary, which covers 16.285 miles with $2,084,503.58 in Rebuild Alabama funds. Four projects that cover 9.248 miles with $517,978.53 are included on the ARPA paver summary. District 4 is home to around $250,000 of ARPA funds that have not been used as of yet.
“Those projects include Straughn School Road on County Road 43, Hattaway Road on County Road 91, Glen Chambers Road on County Road 20 as well as Substation Road. The county’s ARPA Paving Summary comprises Glen Chambers Road, Spanish Trail, Whatley Road, and the LBW Walking Path,” the official said.
The commission also approved a resolution on an ARPA project that includes the provision of architectural services for three projects that total $156,379. One of the projects is the construction of a new entrance for the administration of the county.
“We are currently looking at three different projects which had already been classified by the ARPA as ARPA Projects for us. The architect has conducted some work on it and has met with us. They’ve begun sending invoices. In order to start the payment of these charges, I’d like to see resolutions in place that document the information. This resolution is basically authorizing the payment to the construction of the architectural firm. There will be a variety of other resolutions related to projects to be considered when we get further along in this procedure,” administrator Karen Sowell declared.
Chairperson Greg White would like to proceed with the renovations of County Administration Building.
“It is a minor improvement to the front entrance as well as inside the foyer. It is possible to discuss this in the meeting and move quickly on this. We could give Karen the permission to start the process and begin the work. The decision is to approve the payment of ARPA funds for architect’s services. The estimated price for each of the projects goes far higher than what we had expected, but we have to pay for the services provided. The total of $156,379 will be made by the architect” He said.
Next meeting of Covington County Commission Covington County Commission is scheduled to take place on September. 12 at 9 a.m. in Covington County Administration Building. Covington County Administration Building. Everyone is welcome to attend.
The article county commission approves a new transportation plan was first published in The Andalusia Star-News.
