By Carolyn Roy
carolyn@natchitochestimes.com
The riverfront is nearly complete and City employees will get a salary supplement in time for Christmas. Those were the main agenda items at the City Council meeting Monday. The Council approved a one-time salary supplement of $500 to full-time employees and $250 to regular part-time (not seasonal) employees. The money for the supplements comes from an accumulated surplus in the Worker’s Compensation Fund, according to the resolution. The salary supplements will cost $127,644. The Mayor and City Councilmen also receive the supplement. Regional Construction LLC of Natchitoches submitted the low bid of $311,555 to renovate Rue Beauport Drive along the riverfront. The project will start Jan. 2 and should be finished before the Jazz Festival in April.
The ordinance accepting the bid was introduced Monday and should be voted on at the next council meeting Nov. 27. Also submitting bids were: •Pat Williams Construction LLC of Leesville: $337,589 •Progressive Construction LLC of Alexandria: $422,910 •CW&W Contractors Inc. Of Sibley: $457,233 The council also approved what should be the final change order on the Rue Beauport project. Pat Williams Construction submitted Change Order No. 6 for $13,470 taking the cost of the project to $4,347,856.
The original bid was for $3,885,000. The change order lists raising catch basin elevation near the stage and raising the wall height at north stairs to allow for additional guard rails at the restroom. Councilperson Sylvia Morrow cast the only dissenting vote. Mayor Lee Posey said the Council had turned down more change orders than it approved. The Council approved a resolution accepting a Certificate of Substantial Completion between contractor Pat Williams Construction and the City.
The dedication of Rue Beauport will be Thursday. The City will buy 11 acres in the industrial park for $$128,000. The City owned the property and sold it to Coordinating and Development Council for a proposed business incubator site. That has not materialized and the City is buying back the property for the same amount it sold it for. The City general fund budget is running under projections according to the report by Finance Director Pat Jones. With 42 percent of the budget year elapsed, only 39 percent has been expended. The annual budget was projected to be $15.7 million. Similarly, the utility fund has expended 40 percent of its budget.
The projected annual revenue in the utility fund was $36 million. The council authorized the following: •Lease of property for a Verizon Wireless cell phone tower •An easement from Bank of Montgomery for drainage improvements on its property. •Awarding worker’s compensation coverage to Employers Risk Management for an annual premium of $13,838 •Advertising for bids for storm drain replacement on Henry Avenue
