By the beginning of next school year, school buses will no longer have to detour around a bridge on County Road 2214.

Road resurfacing and bridge repair/replacement work should begin soon now that a contract has been awarded to APAC Midsouth, Inc. The work is expected to be complete before the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year.

Pike County Engineer Russell Oliver reported at Monday’s Pike County Commission Meeting that the low bid for the project to resurface County Road 2214 and repair the bridge came in at $130,000 less that was budgeted. APAC was the low bidder on the project at $1.7 million.

Due to the bridge’s condition, it is currently only rated for five tons and three school buses have to maneuver around the bridge using other roads, instead of cross it.

APAC will take care of all resurfacing work on the road and will subcontract out the work to be done on the bridge.

Also at the meeting, the commission voted to vacate County Road 3317 where there is only one butting landowner; to approve the hire of an Engineer Assistant; to move up the county payroll issue date from Dec. 24 to Dec. 21; to reappoint Alfred Alloway to the Pike County Water Authority Board; and to award a contract for sheriff’s office vehicles to low bidder Ken Cox Ford at $23,801 per vehicle.

The commission cancelled its Dec. 24 meeting due to it being Christmas Eve and scheduled a special meeting for Jan. 3 to vote on whether or not to take part in the Rural Assistance Match Program.

The commission must have appropriate RAMP paperwork submitted by Jan. 9 if the county chooses to apply for the program.

The downside to participating in the RAMP program is that the county could lose out on future Alabama Transportation and Rehabilitation Improvement Program funding.