Holly Pond approves bid for Lick Creek Bridge repairs
May 3—HOLLY POND — The town of Holly Pond made progress toward repairing the culvert located at the Lick Creek Bridge after awarding the bid for construction services to Carcel and G Construction.
During the town council meeting on Monday, May 1, Mayor Carla Hart opened two separate bids for the project. The first bid, from Whitaker Contracting in Guntersville, quoted the cost of the needed repairs at $266,015 and gave a six week estimated time frame to complete the work. The low bid from Carcel and G Construction, located in Dodge City, gave a quote of $195,000. While Carcel and G did not provide an estimated time frame for the project's completion, Hart said when she met with representatives from the company in August 2022, they felt confident the work could be done in roughly 17 days.
Construction is expected to begin about the beginning of June with the goal of being completed ahead of the beginning of the next school year.
The council also approved a request made by Hart to allow her to spend up to $350 to purchase rewards for the top readers in the upcoming Summer Reading Program at the Holly Pond Library. Hart said participants in the program are typically divided into two age groups and she would like to purchase two Kindles for the older children and a gift certificate for the younger group.
Before adjourning, councilmember Julie Ray shared concerns over social media posts. Ray said the posts were crude in nature and inaccurately depicted "the mayor, the council and the whole town."
"There is nothing, I assure you, about this page that is humorous. It is ugly," Ray said.
Holly Pond town attorney, Dan Willingham, asked Ray to share details about the page with him and that he would explore the possibility of filing either a liable or slander suit against the operators of the page.
In other business the council received the following updates.
The town's loan of $249,419.27 at Traditions Bank was paid in full and closed on April 4. Hart said she had been reviewing the town's finances and would like to soon pay the remaining balance of $108,149.97 to close the town's NARCOG account which would leave the town with no outstanding debts.
The swing located at the town's playground had been successfully moved and the pea gravel has been removed. She said the town is seeking estimates for fencing, mulch and a new piece of playground equipment.
Shiela Wilhite has been hired as an employee of the Holly Pond Library.
The road striping on Lick Creek Road, Holly Pond-Blountsville Road and Lovers Lane have been completed.
