Bridgeport City Council approved an ordinance Monday evening authorizing the city manager to sign an agreement for possible future bridge repair funding.
Bridgeport City Council approved an ordinance Monday evening authorizing the city manager to sign an agreement for possible future bridge repair funding.
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WV News) — Bridgeport City Council voted to approve Ordinance 2023-18, which authorizes the city manager to sign an agreement with the West Virginia Department of Highways in hopes of obtaining funds to conduct bridge repairs in the city.
The agreement is pending on specific details about the bridges that would receive the funding, partially due to the nature of the statewide grant program being on a first-come, first-served basis.
However, Bridgeport City Manager Brian Newton is confident that funding is possible for one or two of the biggest repairs since the city has been able to be proactive about preparations for the work.
“We’ve got a lot of the work done for the Center Street Bridge, so I think we gave a good chance of getting that one funded,” he said.
“I think it’s Center (Street) and Lawman (Avenue) that are higher on our list. The rest of them, there isn’t much to do,” Newton said.
Newton’s goal is to fund the biggest repairs with state money and use city money for the smaller projects.
Mayor Andy Lang noted that the city of Bridgeport became aware of the program when they were already applying for grant money.
“The city has talked to the state, and the city has worked great with the state,” Lang said. “The state has the technical background for bridge inspections, and they’ll do this sometimes for cities.”
“We reached out to them by applying for some grant money and come to find out they had put some grant money aside and reached out to 800 bridges across the state to work with these municipalities,” Lang said.
Also at Monday evening’s meeting, council approved the 2023-2024 Cemetery Fund Budget and the 2023-2024 Bridge Sports Complex Sales and Use Tax Budget.
“Nothing has changed in our (cemetery) budget. There’s really no changes to this budget compared to last year except they are adding a full-time employee as opposed to a half-time employee to work in the office,” said Sharon Hinkle, finance director of the city.
Hinkle noted that the primary difference in the budget for the Bridge Sports Complex was adding funds for the artificial ice rink in the case that the complex decides to purchase the rink rather than rent it, which is the current plan.
“We would almost like a year to see how it goes. ... We want to have the ability to purchase it if we have it. We have the ability to purchase it outright. Now we’re looking at the rental,” said Joe Shuttleworth, Bridgeport Parks and Recreation Department director.
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