A construction contract to relocate city utility lines on South Frontage Road is expected to be awarded soon, South Ward Alderman Alex Monsour said Tuesday.

“We are just weeks away from sending out the contract on a project on the frontage road,” Monsour told Warren County supervisors and members of the county’s legislative delegation at a joint meeting Tuesday morning.

Monsour did not give a date when the contract would be awarded, but the city’s advertisement for bids on the project indicated the bids must be delivered by 9 a.m. March 5, which is the first meeting of that month for the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

“We will see a $20 million frontage road come through,” he said. “We’ve got everything signed, sealed and done.”

Relocating the city’s utilities is the final step before the Mississippi Department of Transportation can move ahead with the $20 million South Frontage Road expansion to link the east and west sides of the road.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen in December approved an agreement to acquire a strip of land along Porters Chapel Road from Christopher Gillis and Joanna Gillis for $9,972.90, to get right of way to move the lines at the intersection of Porters Chapel and South Frontage to complete rights of way for the relocation.

The vote came about the same time city officials learned the Mississippi Department of Transportation and Development approved the city’s permit to relocate the utility lines on the state right of way. The relocation project has also been approved by the Mississippi Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Quality.

The South Frontage Road extension will link the Outlets at Vicksburg and other restaurants and businesses on East Clay Street and U.S. 80 to the west side of South Frontage Road. Project plans call for an overpass crossing the Kansas City Southern railroad tracks to link the east and west sides.

In other matters:

• State Rep. Oscar Denton, D-Vicksburg, said a House bill that could help cities collect unpaid fines has been passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The bill, known as HB1029, would allow cities to go in with the state to collect the fines through a lien on an individual’s income tax refund. The bill would allow the state to receive 50 percent of the money collected.

• State Rep. Kevin Ford said a bill allowing cities to enter into intelrocal agreements with rural water districts to collect unpaid sewer bills is being considered by the House Municipal Affairs Committee.

Under the bill, cities could get a water district to cut off water service to someone on a city sewer system to collect an unpaid sewer bill.

City officials had a similar problem in 2014, when some residents of Cedar Estates had unpaid sewer and garbage fees and officials were unable to cut off water service because the residents were on the Yokena-Jefferson Davis Water District.

• Vicksburg-Warren Chamber of Commerce Director Pablo Diaz said the economic development strategic plan is expected to be presented in either May or June.

• Board of Supervisors President Richard George said the city’s assessed value has improved.

“At least we can say that we have stopped going backwards in assessed valuation,” he said. “And that triggers optimism and hope. We have a better outlook than we’ve had, and that’s important. We are optimistic that we have much better days ahead, and we’re trying to see that we use our resources to accommodate and assist development.”