Alto mulls loan to ease gas pain
State may loan funds to relocate Alto's gas lines in Wells
BY LELAND ACKER

The City of Alto has until Dec. 1 to relocate its gas lines in the City of Wells which will be affected by the U.S. Highway 69 expansion project. With no money budgeted for such an enormous project, David Wicks, a Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) employee out of the Tyler District office, suggested the city apply for a State Infrastructure Bank loan. The suggestion came during Monday's meeting of the Alto City Council.

Mr. Wicks told the council that the U.S. Highway 69 expansion project in Wells was a high priority project for TxDOT because it is a hurricane evacuation route. U.S. 69 is a four-lane divided highway north and south of Wells. It narrows to two lanes in Wells.

"What you have is a bottleneck situation," he said.

During the Hurricane Rita evacuations of 2005, the narrowing of the highway was a factor in traffic congestion on U.S. Highway 69 south of Wells.

"We want the highway to be four lanes all the way to Jacksonville where there is another trunk they can take, which is U.S. Highway 175," Mr. Wicks said.

He explained that all utilities will have to be moved before the project's "let" date of Dec. 1. He further explained that all utilities that are already located on highway property will not be eligible for reimbursement from TxDOT.

To fund the relocation of the gas lines, Mr. Wicks suggested a loan from the State Infrastructure Bank.

"It's a low-interest loan, with a rate at approximately 4.6 percent," he said.

Mr. Wicks told the council it will take four to six months to process the loan application. The council voted 5-0 to authorize the loan application.

Allen Ross of Shaumburg and Polk, Inc., told the council that moving the gas lines will take 60-90 days, with 30-60 days needed to plan the project.

Hurricane Rita is still impacting the City of Alto, as the council voted 5-0 to award a contract to Duplichain Contractors to install new generators at the city's water facilities. Duplichain Contractors was the low bid at $258,610, Mr. Ross said.

The cost of the installation is covered by a $234,500 grant the city was awarded by the Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA). The grant was originally awarded to the city to renovate the Alto Herald Museum building to be used as an evacuation shelter, but that plan fell through when a grant stipulation required the building be owned by the city.

The council later amended the grant request to fund the installation of the generators.

While the grant is $24,110 less than the bid offered by Duplichain Contractors, $30,000 was allowed in the bid for the installation of new power lines, a service Mr. Ross said the city won't likely need.

"I feel we'll get this done for less than the grant amount," he said. "Duplichain Contractors is a good, local company capable of installing these generators."

Mr. Ross said Duplichain Contractors offered the lowest bid. The generators will be used to keep the water system running in the event of a power-outage.

In other action, the council passed a resolution designating March 11 as Alto Public Schools day, in recognition of Alto High School's two consecutive state championships. Superintendent Dr. Ray DeSpain asked that the entire school system be recognized in addition to the football team.

The council approved continuing the employment of Sheila Lea, court clerk, past her 90-day probationary period, changed the title of the city administrator to city secretary, passed a resolution calling for a city election on May 10, accepted the resignation of City Administrator Debra Dannelley, removed her name from the bank accounts and voted to hire her as a consultant to train her replacement at $18 per hour.

All council members were present for the meeting.