Newton County supervisors are weighing their options for bridge repairs after learning applications for state aid would be available Nov. 15.
In passing the Mississippi Infrastructure Modernization Act (MEMA) during a special session of the legislature in August, state leaders approved taking out $250 million, which will be available to counties and cities to use for road and bridge repair, explained County Engineer Duane Stanford.
While other road and bridge funding, such as the State Aid and Local System Bridge Project funds, are distributed to counties automatically, Stanford said counties will need to apply for a portion of the $250 million.
“All applications stand alone and are based on merit. The first party is closed bridges.” he said, adding that means applications that would reopen closed bridges will take priority.
However, Stanford said, there are about 14 closed bridges in Newton County and 1,000 throughout the state. He said competition for the funding will be fierce. With no guarantee for funding and all counties needing to make repairs, he said the board should consider its application carefully as they may end up with nothing.
“It’ll shorten the line up if nothing else,” he said.
What supervisors need to decide, Stanford said, is how many bridges to fix and how to fix them. Then, they will be able to fill out the application to see if they get funding.
“There’s 14 bridges here,” said Supervisor Joe Alexander. “At $250,000 a piece, that’s $3.1 million. Let’s put in to get as much as we can.”
Of course, Alexander added, $250,000 would be a full rebuild for each bridge. Some bridges may not take that much to repair.
Board President Charles Moulds disagreed. He said an application for $3.1 million would surely be rejected by the state. Instead, he suggested prioritizing the bridges that have the greatest impact on residents.
“I’d say, if we all have a bridge on a State Aid road, we need to go ahead and get that fixed,” he said. “Every road is important…but these State Aid roads need to be a priority.”
Another potential issue with planning to fix all 14 bridges is the timing, Stanford said. According to the documentation he received, he said the state wants all projects completed in 36 months.
“There’s not enough bridge contractors to do all the work,” he said.
If every county plans a bridge repair project with the money, some counties won’t make the deadline due to contractors being too busy, he said. Additionally, he said, if 1,000 bridges need fixed, the companies who supply bridge contractors may not be able to meet the sudden demand for materials.
One option the county might consider is putting in temporary culverts, Stanford said. The work is relatively simple, so if the county can get the money from the state, a culvert could be installed without hiring a contractor.
Moulds said that would be a good solution, at least for the short term. With the supervisors coming up for reelection in 2019, he said it would at least give the next board some breathing room.
“None of us are guaranteed to keep our job,” he said. “See what bridges might be available for a culvert, get traffic back open and put it on a wait list in case money comes available.”
Stanford said he would go inspect the 14 bridges on the county’s list to see which ones could be replaced with a culvert and what the repair needs are on the others. He said he would report back to the board at the Nov. 15 meeting.
In the meantime, he said, the board should look at the list of bridges and decide which bridges should be their top priority.
In other business, the Board of Supervisors:
- Moved the start of the Nov. 15 meeting from 9 a.m. to 8 a.m.;
- Canceled the Jan. 17, 2019 meeting due to a scheduling conflict;
- Declared a 2000 Ford Ranger as surplus due to a failed engine; and,
- Approved applying for a Solid Waste Grant from the Department of Environmental Quality.
