City receives single bid on depot project

Published 7:25 pm Monday, March 19, 2018

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen hope the fourth time is the charm after receiving one bid Monday for the stabilization and restoration project for the 112-year-old Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Depot on Levee Street.

Historic Renovations of Yazoo Inc., which previously had a bid on the project rejected by the board, was the only company submitting a bid Monday, saying it can do the project for $525,000.

The depot project involves replacing ornamental woodwork on the building’s exterior, repairing the building’s 48 windows, painting the depot’s exterior, replacing its elevator, repairing the building’s cupola on the roof and renovations to the building’s front door to make it handicap-accessible.

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The project is funded in part by $471,475 in federal Transportation Alternative Program funds, which are administered by the Mississippi Department of Transporation and cover 80 percent of the project’s cost.

The depot project was one of three projects the board received bids on Monday. All were taken under advisement.

Four companies submitted bids to demolish the Kemp Bottom Road bridge off Warrenton Road: Century Construction Group Inc. of Ridgeland, $249,616; M&M Services Inc. of Jackson, $385,600; Triple M Construction and Contracting of Mayersville, $218,000; and Anderson Contracting LLC of Yazoo City, $108,466.

“What was that again?” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. asked after hearing the Anderson Bid. When Stantec representative Brian Robbins repeated the bid, Flaggs asked, “And they meet all the requirements? Praise God.”

The Kemp Bottom Road bridge was closed July 25 when it was determined to be unsafe, then collapsed into Hennessey Bayou July 28.

The demolition project involves removing the bridge and the supports for a nearby railroad bridge along Kemp Bottom Road.

The problem with the bridge dates back to the 2011 spring Mississippi River flood, when the river crested on May 19, 2011, at 57.1, 14.1 feet above flood stage and nine-tenths of a foot above the Great Flood of 1927.

Engineers said the water entering Hennessy’s Bayou during the flood and then receding quickly created the present erosion problem that caused the bridge to collapse.

The board also accepted one bid from Schindler Elevator Corp. of Morristown, N.J., which bid $892,500 to renovate the escalator and elevator at the Vicksburg Convention Center. The board rejected a submission from Kone, which did not submit a base bid.

The escalator and elevator at the convention center have long-term problems for the convention center, forcing the city in the past to spend money on repairs for both.

• In another matter, the board received qualifications from engineering firms, Tice Engineering, Wiggins; Stantec; Allen and Hoshall, Jackson; and Pickens of Flowood to perform the engineering and design for the parking lot at the Mississippi Hardware building.

The former garment factory and hardware building off Mulberry Street, is planned to be converted into a multi-floor innovation and tech transfer center to serve the Vicksburg area and the central Mississippi region.

The city has a $545,000 Delta Regional Authority grant to expand the parking lot, which is expected to provide parking spaces for tenants working in the building and the Vicksburg Convention Center.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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