(OBA®) – While one Canal Road project is coming to a happy conclusion – five laning from State Route 161 to Cyress Village – another one is being delayed several months.

Neither project was part of an action item at the May 4 Orange Beach City Council regular and work sessions but were discussed as the five-lane project winds down possibly as early as May 7.

“We hope to be finished or very close to finished this week,” Mayor Tony Kennon said. “It may be a few driveways that are lagging but for the most part we think short of 40 days and 40 nights of rain I think we can get it done. The contractor has been very easy to work with and worked really hard in a very difficult situation.”

Community Development Director Kit Alexander said those mop-up projects along the roadway may still cause minor delays.

“There will still be intermittent lane closures to do those improvements,” Alexander said. “Then we’re going to have the decel lane that’s going to be constructed going into Cypress Village. We’re also going to be redoing the driveways to the school. There may be some intermittent lane closures but it’s going to be nothing like we’ve been dealing with over the past year.”

A second Canal Road project, adding a center turn lane, roundabout near the library and 10-foot sidewalk from State Route 161 east to Wilson Boulevard was first expected to start on the cusp of the summer season. For a variety reasons the earliest start, Kennon said, would be in the fall.

“We didn’t realize until we really got into the RESTORE federal council review process that they are reviewing documents throughout, over and over and over again,” Alexander said. “There’s just a lot of documentation that we have to put together because it’s a federally funded project. We’ve heard, too, from people who have spoken to me, people want a break from what we’ve been dealing with on west Canal Road. So, after the busy summer season it’s better that we start it then and give people a little break so we can calm down on the roads.”   

Alexander said that starting the estimated 15-month project after the 2021 summer season will cause impacts during only one summer season rather than two if it was started before Memorial Day.

During the regular session, the council:

• Approved a special events retail liquor license application by Event Concessions for the Muscadine Bloodline concert on May 27 at The Wharf.

• Approved a restaurant retail liquor license application for Wolf Bay Beachside which is moving into the old Fin and Fork space on beach road at the west end of town.

• OK’d a resolution awarding the bid for pest control for various city facilities to Beebe's Pest & Termite Control per unit pricing for a maximum term of three years. 

• OK’d a resolution authorizing the execution of a professional services agreement with C Spire Business for voice and data telecommunication services.

• OK’d a resolution authorizing a revised not to exceed amount of $12.9 million for Crowder Gulf for debris clearance and sand reclamation services related to Hurricane Sally response. 

• OK’d a resolution authorizing a contract with Thompson Consulting Services to provide additional debris monitoring, emergency management planning, and disaster grant consulting services related to Hurricane Sally in an amount not to exceed $471,814.

• OK’d a resolution authorizing the assignment of the lease agreement with Intellicom Wireless Management for a wireless communications tower to SWI Funds Tower Holdings.

• OK’d a resolution appropriating funds to move and store a donated piano for the Performing Arts Center in an amount not to exceed $2,000.

During the work session, the council discussed:

• A resolution authorizing the execution of a subaward grant agreement with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for the RESTORE Act state expenditure plan funded Alabama Point seawall repair.

• Two resolutions authorizing license agreements with Baldwin County Board of Education for the city to use school property to temporarily locate Fire Station No. 5. and an agreement to locate portable classrooms for Orange Beach Elementary School to city property north of the tennis courts.

• A resolution authorizing the assignment of the lease agreement with Intellicom Wireless Management for a wireless communications tower.

• A resolution authorizing a franchise for ABM Waste Management to remove and dispose of commercial solid waste and to remove and transport construction and demolition debris.

• A resolution moving the June 1 council regular and work sessions to June 8.

• Setting public hearings for May 18 on a change to the buffering ordinance, Caribe Seaside which is planning a condo tower directly east of the Cotton Bayou Beach Access and changes to the Sunset Park planned unit development on Canal Road.