Following recent flooding, Pineville Mayor Gregg Sweeten told the board of aldermen at its meeting Tuesday that he hopes for a FEMA disaster declaration.
He said the city's river access has "a tremendous amount of damage," with a hole about the size of the room the board meets in. He said the city would easily meet the FEMA requirement of $3,000, but he did not know whether the state would meet its requirement of $10 million for a statewide disaster declaration. He added the city, fortunately, did not have any major damage to homes from the flooding.
The board opened bids for excavation and boring for a water line project on W Highway but then tabled the bids due to a discrepancy in pricing.
The two bids were from C4 Equipment and Curtis Excavating. C4 Equipment's bid was $799,875, and Curtis Excavating's bid was $297,650.
Alderman Becky Davis asked if there was a reason for the large difference between the two bids, but no reason was forthcoming.
Sweeten said the city had not budgeted this much and asked Public Works Superintendent Chris Tinsley if the bids would be good for at least 30 to 60 days, to which Tinsley answered they would. Sweeten said he was looking into other options that could buy the city some time.
The board tabled the matter for further review.
The board discussed the need for easements in the Piney Point area, where there is a private drive and 10 homes and the water line needs to be repaired.
Tinsley said if the city does not fix the water line, the fire hydrant in the area will have to be removed. Davis observed that would not be good for the homeowners' insurance.
City Attorney Kirk Wattman recommended holding a public hearing on the issue.
The board tabled this discussion as well.
Tinsley asked the board to approve purchasing extra pumps to cover the majority of lift stations. The board approved purchasing two backup pumps for four lift stations at a cost of $6,829.
Tinsley also told the board the flow meter was out at the sewer plant, and he had no way of knowing how much water was coming into or leaving the plant.
The board approved purchasing a new flow meter at a cost of $3,090.
In other business, the board approved two requests to use Pineville Square -- one for a craft fair in May and one for the Relay for Life in June of 2024. It also approved the payment of bills in the amount of $58,207.