Columbus Council Members Get a Little Extra for Paving

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — Columbus council members get a little extra money to spend on street paving in their districts.

City Engineer Kevin Stafford told councilmen Wednesday they each have about $25,000 more than what’s been set aside for this fall. That’s enough to pave about three city blocks. But the money has to be spent by Nov. 29.

Falcon Contracting will begin work next week on about $900,000 in street, drainage and sidewalk projects and council members will work with Stafford to decide where to spend the additional money.

The funds are part of more than $3.7 million in bonds issued three years ago. The city spent about $2 million last year on road and drainage work. Another $1 million was set aside for this year’s work. The last $400,000 thousand was planned for downtown parking and sidewalks, including parking lots near the Riverwalk, behind the Gilmer Hotel and along College Street and new sidewalks in Catfish Alley.

But the road paving bids came in lower than expected and the other projects haven’t totaled as much as originally expected, leaving about $180,000 to be divided among the six wards.

The Catfish Alley improvements also will include new historic lighting that will make the street between Main and College a historic gateway legacy to its cultural history.