A landslide on the south bank of Hatcher Bayou, near the city’s wastewater treatment plant, has forced the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to declare an emergency and repair a 16-inch sewer line damaged in the slide.

The board Monday approved hiring Hemphill Construction Co. of Florence to make the repairs, which were expected to be completed Wednesday.

Public Works Director Garnet Van Norman said the 20-year-old line is a force main crossing Hatcher Bayou south of the wastewater treatment plant.

“The line comes in from the south and goes under it (the bayou),” he said. “The south side of the bank slid and took it out.”

In other action, the board:

• Authorized Mayor George Flaggs Jr. to sign a letter terminating health care services with Merit Health River Region Medical Center.

Under the agreement, River Region provided a nurse and a site for drug tests and employment physicals for present and prospective employees. Those services will be provided by the new clinic for city employees, which opens Nov. 1.

The clinic is located in a building rented from River Region on the medical center’s west campus off North Frontage Road. River Region will also provide a doctor to work periodically at the clinic.

• Rejected a bid protest by Gulf Coast Underground of Mobile, Ala., contesting the city’s awarding a bid to Sun Coast Infrastructure of Florence to assess a portion of the city’s sewer lines.

Both companies bid to provide services for the second year of an Environmental Protection Agency-mandated assessment of the city’s 109-year-old sewer system. Sun Coast was the low bidder on the project with $421,767.70. Gulf Coast was next with $534,352.65.

City Attorney Nancy Thomas said Gulf Coast’s challenge claimed its review of the bid tabulation sheets indicated Sun Coast’s bid contained line items which did not indicate the true cost to perform the service.

She said she discussed the bids with Van Norman and representatives for project engineer Allen & Hoshall, and received confirmation on the prices from Sun Coast.