Council votes to take possession of Hillcrest Drive

Charleston City Council members voted unanimously to takepossession of the state-owned Hillcrest Drive during Monday'smeeting.

Council members agreed to take over the road, which is offGreenbrier Street, if the state Division of Highways completesaround $870,000 worth of repairs.

The move was made so the city could keep the road maintained.Councilman Bobby Reishman claimed that the road was not being wellmaintained by the state.

Reishman, the Republican who serves the 17th Ward, is chairman ofthe finance committee. Members of the finance committee passed thebill unanimously before it was sent to the full council for itsapproval.

"That road is atrocious," Reishman said.

He added that several businesses are located on Hillcrest Road.It makes it hard for the city to market the areas along the road toother businesses when the street is in such bad shape, he said.

"And frankly it's embarrassing when executives from nationalcorporations come to visit their Charleston offices and see how badthat road is," he said.

Wells Fargo and McJunkin Red Man Corporation are both located onHillcrest Drive.

The city will not take the road off the state's hands until therepairs are completed, Reishman said. The repairs include fixing aslip near an apartment complex almost at the apex of the road.

The repairs will come with a five-year warranty, City EngineerChris Knox said.

Reishman wasn't sure if the repairs had already started.

Council also voted to grant eight permanent easements for a sewerline in North Charleston. However, William Kirk, the Republican whoserves the city's 2nd Ward in North Charleston, voted against themeasure.

Cubert Smith, the independent who sits on the 9th Ward seat, alsovoted against the proposal.

Kirk said he cast his nay vote because he didn't have time toreview the measure or talk to property owners in his ward that wouldbe affected. Smith also said he didn't have enough time to reviewthe information.

"There just wasn't enough time to make an informed decision,"Smith said.

Council also voted to purchase two computer servers for theinformation systems department.

MCPC Inc. submitted a bid of $26,999 and was awarded one of thecontracts despite the fact that Dell Marketing LP submitted the lowbid of $25,885.

The contract was not awarded to Dell Marketing LP because thecompany did not complete the bid form and other forms.

Another contract was awarded to Dell Marketing LP for $33,704.The company did not submit the low bid but MCPC Inc, who submitted abid of $26,168, did not meet bid specifications. The company's bidwas not submitted for the specified equipment.

Contact writer Paul Fallon at paul.fallon@dailymail.com or 304-348-4817.