Bids for sidewalk improvements and a dock at the Spanish Fort Community Center will now move forward, as the city’s council members voted unanimously last week to proceed with the bids submitted.

The council authorized Mayor Mike McMillan to pay $44,500 to Polygon, Inc. for the sidewalk improvements and steps and $43,000 to Quality Dock and Seawall to construct a 30-by-40 foot dock at the community center.

Because the bids came in under $50,000, the city was not required to bid the jobs out under state bid law requirements.

McMillan told the council that the jobs would likely be a four week job, but that time was of the essence.

“I would like to get this moving forward as timely as we can,” McMillan said. “We’ve got concerts that are scheduled for here as soon as Oct. 8 and I’d like for all of this to be done before that time.”

McMillan said the cost of the sidewalk improvements was more than expected but still well within the budget of what the council had already approved.

“We put $100,000 in the budget for these projects, so we’re well within that,” McMillan said. “The variance in costs from what we thought it would be was due to ADA compliance in some areas and some of the sloping in others.”

With regards to the dock, Councilman Curt Smith asked if it would have any impact on the cost of insurance for the city.

“I’m sure there would likely be some sort of bump in insurance, but I think we would still stay roughly within what we’ve already budgeted for that,” McMillan said.

McMillan asked the council to suspend the rules in order to get the resolutions passed. Councilwoman Mary Brabner said she had some reservations in doing that, but she voted with the majority in order to allow the suspension.

“We’re heading into hurricane season, so the sooner we can get this done, the better,” McMillan said.