Fairhope awards $54,793.74 contract to replace Well No. 8 pump after breakdown

The Fairhope City Council approved an added agenda item awarding a request-for-quotes contract for labor and materials to replace the pump at Well No. 8, citing a recent pump breakdown and the need to restore water service reliability.

Mayor Sherry Sullivan read the resolution adding the item and said the water superintendent, Daryl Moorefield, recommended awarding the work to Griner Drilling Service Inc. The contract was approved for a not-to-exceed cost of $54,793.74 after council members moved and seconded the addition and then approved the award by voice vote.

Mayor Sullivan told the council that staff had solicited three quotes for the work and that the absence of a formal bid process was appropriate because the project is under the city’s $100,000 informal procurement threshold. “Just because we didn't have a formal bid process doesn't mean that we didn't get multiple quotes,” she said.

The resolution states the project will be less than $100,000 and therefore not formally bid. The motion to approve the award passed by voice vote with no recorded nays in the minutes. The city packet said the item originated from Water Superintendent Daryl Moorefield following the pump failure; the council added the item to the agenda at the start of the meeting and approved it during the consent portion of the session.

Staff will schedule the replacement work and the water department will coordinate operational impacts and notifications to affected customers as needed, the mayor said.