ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — The City of Robertsdale passed a motion to award the street paving bid to Roads, Inc. of Pensacola for a base bid of $85,924.05 for 4,600 tons of asphalt or broken down $48 a ton at the Monday night council meeting.

Greg Smith, city engineer, said the total cost for labor and installation is $18.68 a ton plus $48 per ton for the material comes out to be $66 a ton for a grand total of about $320,000.

“We are a little on the high side of needing 4,600 tons and we allowed ourselves some wiggle room. We may not need that much and are going to try to get the cost down to $300,000, which is what we budgeted for the job. The original bid was for $49.50 for 4,500 tons but we rejected that and renegotiated for a lower price which will save us about $6.000,” Smith said.

The second bidder, Mobile Asphalt Co., LLC came in with a base bid of $89,169.10 or $19.38 per ton. Smith said the project should get underway by the summer. The project will cover Palmer Street, Krchak Lane, Circle Drive, part of Fairground Road, College Avenue, East Silverhill Avenue and part of Pearson Street, Smith said.

In other business, the council passed a motion to grant a Quick Claim Deed to Thomas and Mary Barnes for an easement transfer. The property is located at 22817 Adams Road and their shed is in the middle of the sewer easement for the city.

Smith said the purpose of the deed is to swap easements with the Barnes so the city can do what they need to with the sewer issues. City Attorney Ken Raines said the easement is not needed for public purposes anymore.

There was also a presentation by Sylvia Mattingly, chairwoman of the Robertsdale Industrial Board who informed the council of the success of the Industrial Park.

“We have completely sold out phase two of the park and look forward to attracting new business and land for phase three in the near future,”Mattingly said.

Josh Thornton, Industrial Recruiter the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, spoke to the council about future possibilities for the city.

“Publicly owned property is a weakness for the county and we need to acquire more property for this part of the county to be able to expand business and industry. We need more assets to be able to show to investors so they will want to come here,” Thornton said.

Council member Paul Hollingsworth commended the Industrial Board for its hard work. “I would love to see more property for the city and I just want to say how proud I am of the work the Industrial Board is doing.”

“We need to link up with BCEDA to see what’s feasible for all of us and get something going,” said Mayor Charles Murphy.