MURFREESBORO — A much needed water project is moving ahead here.

On Tuesday, the Murfreesboro Town Council approved a budget amendment and accepted a bid from T.A. Loving Company of Goldsboro for the project.

The $284,000 project will extend a 12 inch waterline 3,600 feet on Union Street to Tower Road as well as a six inch waterline on Wynn Street (from Broad Street to the town limits) by 1,300 feet. Town officials said the extensions will provide water pressure enhancement and improve safety.

Engineer G. Robert Graham with George Finch/Boney and Associates came before council to recommend T.A. Loving Company, which submitted the low bid. The company proposed $96,750 for section one (Wynn Street) of the project and $187,250 for section two (Union Street to Tower Road).

Graham said the line on Wynn Street was more of a replacement than an extension. He noted that line had been “real troublesome” over the years with a lot of breaks and repairs.

As for section two, Graham said it is an extension of a 12 inch line from the water tank across to Chowan (University) property and eventually tie into the existing line on the last fire hydrant on Union Street.

“That’s a line that will improve fire protection capability and also allow for further extension on Union Street,” he said.

Along with T.A. Loving Company, H.G. Reynolds Company submitted a bid for $123,220 for section one and $199,892 for section two and Peters and White Construction Company submitted a bid for $175,440 for section one and $356,750 for section two.

Mayor Pro tempore Molly Eubank asked why there was a big difference in the bids.

Graham said during the course of the bidding process very few questions came in from the bidders.

“You never do know and in this economy it’s even harder to know,” he said.

Eubank asked when the project was anticipated to begin.

Graham responded that the contractor’s documents would take approximately 10-11 days and a pre-construction meeting would be scheduled with town staff members and then the project would proceed.

“There is one complication with a crop growing in the area under the power line on the back of the Chowan (University) property,” he said. “We would probably ask that the contractor work on the Wynn Street line first and not start on the (section two) until the crop is harvested.”

Councilman Bill Theodorakis asked what kind of crop was growing in the field.

Graham said it is cotton.

“So it would be anticipated that the project would be completed before the cold weather,” asked Eubank.

“Yes,” replied Graham.

Town Administrator Lee Capps noted that council members would have to approve a budget amendment as they had agreed during this year’s budget process to place no capital expenditures in this year’s budget.

He recommended that the money for the project be appropriated from the fund balance in the town’s water and sewer fund.

Public Works Director Gene Byrd said the Wynn Street line had been having problems as recently as last Friday.

“That’s the third time in two weeks I’ve been to Wynn Street,” he said. “The people over there are tired of their water service being disrupted day and night. It’s really causing a big problem.”

Councilman Lloyd Hill moved to approve the budget amendment of $284,000 to come from the fund balance of the water and sewer fund; Theodorakis offered a second to the motion. The motion passed in a 4-0 vote with Councilwoman Sarah Wallace absent from the meeting.

Additionally, Theodorakis moved to accept the bid from T.A. Loving Company for both sections of the project; it was seconded by Councilwoman Gloria Odum. The motion passed without objection.

Byrd later thanked the council for their decision on moving forward with the project and noted it rounded out a 10-year capital outlay project plan for the town.