The Greenwood City Council selected a contractor for renovations along the Main Street corridor on Tuesday.
The winning $1.15 million bid was submitted by Kenneth R. Thompson Builder Inc.
The bid had to be approved and in the hands of Mississippi Department of Transportation officials by 2 p.m. Monday for the project to go forward.
Four members of the council attended the special call meeting: Council President Ronnie Stevenson, Ward 4’s Charles McCoy, Ward 6’s David Jordan and Ward 7’s Carl Palmer. They approved the bid by a unanimous vote.
City Council members agreed to forgo improvements in their own wards for the benefit of the historic thoroughfare, one of the main entrances into the city.
“What we did is we kind of piecemeal some work. We asked people to not do their whole street so that we could get Main Street done, because it is one of the entrances to the city,” Mayor Carolyn McAdams said.
The overlaying of Main Street is just one aspect of the project, she said.
Other elements include:
• Extending the median from near to railroad underpass to Henry Street.
• New sidewalks from Henry to Johnson streets.
• The installation of historical street lights from Henry to Johnson streets.
• Overlaying a portion of Claiborne Avenue from Grand Boulevard to Poplar Street.
• Repairing sections of Strong Avenue.
• Overlaying all of Avenue F.
McAdams said the bid from Thompson is about $100,000 higher than the original bid amount, adding, “We’re going to have to fork up that $100,000” in local matching funds.
The mayor said work on the project should begin in late January or early February.
Ward 6’s David Jordan objected that other elements, such as Martin Luther King Drive, were not included in the covered work.
Ward 4’s Charles McCoy said Jordan’s comments were not helpful.
“Picking out certain areas of Greenwood (and) picking out certain wards, you miss the whole, big picture,” he said.
McCoy said the city should apply for another grant to cover any areas that Jordan is concerned about.
“This isn’t something that just happened yesterday. I think we discussed this a year ago, about where we were going to start at. ... A lot of wards have already given up that money just to make this thing work for the city of Greenwood,” he said.
“Part is not all,” Jordan replied.
“Anything we can do to enhance the city of Greenwood, I’m all for it. I think this is a great project we’re working on,” McCoy said.
Jordan responded, “The importance of Greenwood includes Ward 6, it includes Martin Luther King Drive, it includes all of Greenwood — not just downtown.”
• Contact Bob Darden at bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
