By David Ball

david.ball@panews.com

The Port Arthur City Council wants some action on street construction and they’re not taking no as an answer.

Armando Gutierrez, director of public works for the city of Port Arthur, gave a report on the street program at the regular meeting of the Port Arthur City Council.

Harold Doucet, District 4 councilman, asked what the status was for Seventh Street and Eighth Street. Gutierrez said contracts were awarded for Seventh Street and they’re going out for bids for Eighth Street.

“We’re concerned about the streets,” Doucet said. “If we can’t find someone to fix them faster, we may need to find someone else. They have a directive and funding. Maybe somebody better can get it done. I want to hear no excuses.”

The contractor is Excavators & Construction of Port Arthur.

Doucet asked about Bluebonnet Avenue status. Gutierrez said it’s under construction. In response, Doucet said nobody is working on the roadway. Gutierrez said conditions have been too wet for crews.

“This is a very big concern. The money was allocated from last year’s budget for this. We took money out of reserves. This is unacceptable. The streets construction better be hopping,” Doucet said. “If they don’t get fixed, somebody’s going to have to answer.”

Mayor Derrick Freeman asked how can the city go out for $60 million in bonds for street construction when they can’t fix a few streets with $2 million.

Raymond Scott Jr., District 1 councilman said the process in place is not working.

“There’s no urgency when the money is in place,” he said. “Nobody’s monitoring the work. The money has been around a long time for Seventh and Eighth. This is unacceptable. It’s a month later and we’re still in the same spot. All the paperwork is done for Seventh and Eighth.”

Gutierrez said work will begin soon. Scott said the council needs a date set.

Thomas Kinlaw III, District 3 councilman, told Gutierrez there’s been many dry days and not much progress has been made on Bluebonnet the last month and a half. He asked who was contacting the contractor.

Gutierrez said the contractor was supposed to have proceeded, but they’ve been irresponsible.

Kinlaw asked who was the point of contact on the city’s side. Gutierrez said he was the contact.

“We need to know when they come in and will do the work. If not, we need to find someone else or do the process over again,” Kinlaw said.

Gutierrez agreed with Kinlaw and asked a workshop be scheduled on the subject.

Cal Jones, District 2 councilman, asked how long would it take to pave five blocks. Gutierrez said there may be variances but normally it would take six months.

Jones asked about the street project on Fourth Street. Gutierrez said the project started two years ago by the same contractor.

Charlotte Moses, Position 7 councilwoman, said Gutierrez should be able to tell the council what is going on and there should be someone overseeing the project on a daily basis.

“You dropped the ball,” she said.

Gutierrez said Rawetts Baaheth, assistant engineer, is the project manager.

Kaprina Frank, Position 8 councilwoman, said a workshop needs to be scheduled so the council can get some answers.

“This is not working for you to come up here and not be prepared to answer questions,” Frank said. “We need to be better stewards. This is the second year and we cannot continue to supply the same things.”

Willie “Bae” Lewis Jr., District 5 councilman, asked how close was the contractor to getting penalties listed in the contracts for being late. Val Tizeno, city attorney, said the contractor was close to paying a penalty for being late on Fourth Street while they have a little time left for Bluebonnet Avenue.

The council agreed to set the workshop at 3 p.m. on Nov. 1 at city hall.