Spencer board will hear bids on stormwater project

Published 8:10 pm Saturday, November 8, 2014

The Spencer Board of Aldermen will receive bids on a project to fix the stormwater drainage system at the town’s Food Lion store during Monday’s meeting.

Three bids have been received for the project, the lowest one being $9,500 from Blankenship Grading and Utilities. The other two bids are $9,675 and $9,900 from Spinnaker General Contractors Inc. and Gene Stoner Grading and Hauling Inc, respectively.

The project stems from a complaint the town received from a resident this summer about the drainage system in the store’s parking lot failing. Water was running over the sidewalk and into the street.

Food Lion is located at 301 N. Salisbury Ave.

The town looked into the problem and discovered the storm drain pipes behind the store were clogged with sediment, among other problems. The city sent a letter to the property owner, Agapion Properties II LLC of Greensboro, in July about the issue, stating the store had to take care of the problem. But the city never received a response, and the problem was not fixed.

When the town receives no response from a property owner regarding a code ordinance violation, the town has to fix the problem and then bill the property owner for the cost. If the property owner doesn’t pay the bill, then a lien is put on the property, according to Kathryn Clifton, the town’s land management director.

The project has been delayed because of the time it took to receive bids, she said.

Monday’s meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Spencer Municipal Building

In other business:

• The board will discuss, and possibly vote on, an amendment to the town’s policy regarding grant funding for nonprofit organizations.

• The board will go into closed session for the annual evaluation of the town manager.