Two city streets that were heavily damaged from recent flash flooding will be repaired after the city council decided they were in an emergency situation.
Three areas on Sunset Drive and a portion of Crestview Drive will be repaired after a 3-2 vote by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen Wednesday. The repairs on Crestview may not exceed $50,000. Two areas on Sunset cannot exceed $15,000 for each project, and the third area cannot exceed $50,000.
The city council plans to use the funds from the recent bond issued to the city for infrastructure repair.
“These roads are actually caving in,” Mayor Diane Delaware said. “We need to begin work to repair these roads, as well as submit our information to FEMA as soon as possible to receive any possible reimbursement in terms of these repairs.”
Delaware also said the Public Service Commission will also assist in the projects to repair damaged sewer lines at no charge to the city.
“The bond handles infrastructure, and the work has to be done,” Delaware said. “The streets are falling in. Spots of this magnitude need to be fixed immediately.”
But Alderman Sir Johnathan Rucker and Alderwoman Elizabeth Thomas abstained from voting on the emergency repairs. Both had reservations about spending a lot of the city’s bond money in one particular ward. Rucker also had concerns over whether the city would be reimbursed from MEMA and FEMA after the projects.
“All this money is going to Ward 2,” Thomas said. “What are Wards 1, 3 and 4 going to get something done? The bond that was put in place was for all wards. We don’t wish to put all our money in one ward or one street.”
Delaware said other streets will be addressed, probably as soon as the next city council meeting on April 27. But she said these roads were in an emergency situation that had to be addressed.
“We haven’t taken any money from the bond so far,” Delaware added. “But these streets are continuing to erode and become impassable. These are streets that are in an emergency situation.”
Ward 2 Alderman Andre Lloyd, whose ward the repairs are being done in, said he would be supportive of repairing any road in any ward within the city.
“If roads in any ward were decaying like they were in mine, I would prefer those to be fixed,” Lloyd said. “I’m not saying all wards are to be left out, but we can’t let these roads fall in. If these roads were in Ward 1, 3 or 4, I would be doing the same thing.”
All projects were approved with Rucker and Thomas abstaining.
“I hope when we go to fix streets in other wards, I hope we don’t have people abstaining then,” Delaware said.
“It’s not about wards,” Rucker replied. “We are not provided with accurate information, and we don’t have all the information for fair treatment.”
Rucker also requested MEMA and FEMA paperwork by the end of the day, adding that he didn’t want “any hogwash.”
Delaware said she would provide that information to Rucker, but that it may not be at the end of the day.
