Following the swearing in of newly elected city officials and an organizational meeting on Monday, the Brundidge City Council worked from a short agenda at its regular meeting on Tuesday.

The city has been approved for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) for the demolition of 19 dilapidated structures within the city and the replacement of 4-inch water lines in the Caldwell Subdivision and 3-inch galvanized water lines in the housing authority property.

City Manager Britt Thomas said the 3-inch and 4-inch water lines are non-compliant and will be replaced with 6-inch lines, which will improve fire fighting capacity.

“When this project is completed, the only sections that remain with 4-inch water lines will be in the Oak and Lee street areas,” Thomas said.

The cost of the two projects will be $406,000+ with the cost to the city at $56,598.

Construction costs for the water line project is estimated at $323,598 and the demolition of the 19 structures at $44,000.

Thomas said for the city to comply it must send out procurement packages for administrative services and for engineering services.

The council voted to award the administrative services for the CDBG project to Monroe and Associates in the amount of $40,000 and the engineering services to Polyengineering in the amount of $43,000.

Thomas said the city probably will not be ready to advertise for bids for the projects until February.

“Once we get started, things should go rather quickly,” he said. However, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Alabama Historical Commission will have to sign off on the projects before they begin.

Thomas said he has received a request from the state historical commission for information about three of the structures on the demolition list.

Thomas said the Brundidge Business Association has asked if the city’s historic Christmas lights could be turned on during the citywide open house on Nov. 15.

Thomas said the city will work toward that date but the city is behind its normal schedule since many of the decorations were damaged recently when the building where they were stored was destroyed in a windstorm.

The Brundidge City Council meets at 4 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at Brundidge City Hall. The meetings are open to the public.