Fenwick Island Committee Advances Striping Project

FENWICK ISLAND – A proposal to restripe the town’s streets will advance to the Fenwick Island Town Council with a favorable recommendation.

On Tuesday, the Fenwick Island Infrastructure Committee voted unanimously to recommend a proposal to restripe the town’s streets. Officials say the town had received one bid from Straight Line for a total cost of $9,792.

“We’ve worked with this company in the past …,” said Councilman Richard Benn, committee chair. “They can also do it in the timeframe that we need.”

In a review of the proposal this week, committee member Jay Ryan questioned if the town needed more than one bid for the project. Benn said it wasn’t required.

“There’s no requirement in the town charter to do multiple bids on anything,” he replied.

Committee member Amy Coombs said she supported the idea of a second bid.

“I feel strongly, given the history and contention of the past few years, that we should get a second bid …,” she said.

Benn, however, said seeking another bid would require companies to complete a site visit.

“I’m even having trouble getting two bids for an asphalt project,” he said.

Officials also noted the timeline for the restriping project, as it needed to be completed before the summer season. Committee member Bob Warburton added that something also needed to be done to address striping near mailboxes.

“Some of the reasoning they give for striping was to have access to the mailboxes,” he said. “In some instances, the white line comes within a couple feet of mailboxes, and if someone parked there the [postal service] wouldn’t have access to it. I wonder if they would revisit some of these places and consider changing that.”

Public Works Manager Mike Locke said staff had reached out to the postal service and received no complaints. He said the bid submitted to the town proposing keeping the same striping plan for the most part.

“We spoke to the town’s postal service driver and he has no problems with the way it’s stripped right now,” he said. “So we went along with the way the striping is right now.”

After further discussion, the committee agreed to advance the proposal to the town council with a favorable recommendation.

“Except for a few changes, this was just a bid for redoing what we have now,” Locke said.

When asked if the town had thought about repaving the roads, Benn said it was part of an ongoing discussion about road maintenance.

“We need a comprehensive plan to maintain the roads,” he said, “and we need a budget for it.”

About The Author: Bethany Hooper

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Bethany Hooper has been with The Dispatch since 2016. She currently covers various general stories. Hooper graduated from Stephen Decatur High School in 2012 and the University of Maryland in 2016, where she completed double majors in journalism and economics.