Action by the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Monday could result in work beginning soon on four erosion problems in the city caused by heavy rains in 2020.

The board approved an agreement with Maynord Landscaping Inc. of Vicksburg totaling $731,256 to repair erosion problems on Second North Street; an erosion and slide area along a drainage ditch behind homes along Columbia Avenue; a washout area at Halls Ferry Road and Lane Street and erosion on Polk Street near a house.

Maynord Landscaping was the low bidder for the work, which involves repairs at all four sites. Fordice Construction submitted the only other bid of $783,881.

The work is funded in part by a National Resource Conservation grant that will pay about $537,326 of the eligible project costs with the city paying $193,930.

The board initially bid the projects in December, but later rejected the bids because they were over the project budgets. The board in February authorized City Clerk Walter Osborne to rebid the work at the same time. At about the same time, the board learned the city received an additional $537,325.80 from NRCS, giving the city about $1.09 million for the project.

In a related matter, the board authorized Osborne to advertise for bids for repairs to erosion damage on Farmer Street and Clover Lane.

The city will receive $267,300 in federal funds for the two projects. The money is expected to cover about 80-percent of the projects’ estimated $348,300 total cost, with the city providing the balance of $81,000.

Both slide areas occurred during heavy rains that hit the Warren County area between January and April 2020 and city officials said they believe the Farmer Street slide, which occurred in February 2020, is probably the worst of the two slides.

The slide, which took a section of property between two buildings at 1108 and 1114 Farmer St., sent soil cascading down a slope into a dead-end section of China Street, which is at the bottom of a slope behind the property.

Farmer Street and Clover Lane were two of nine projects involving erosion problems that were submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency by the city for emergency grant money. FEMA, however, rejected the city’s application for the two areas.