Freeport Council Awards Business 331 Sidewalk Contract, Approves Monitoring Well Change Order
The Freeport City Council awarded a contract worth just over $1.09 million to finish the Business 331 sidewalk extension and approved a $183,790 change order for a state-required monitoring well at the CR-3280 water well site during its regular meeting Thursday night, September 24, at City Hall. The council also adopted a rezoning on US 331 South, signed off on new CHELCO street lighting estimates, and joined a regional estuary program’s steering council.
Mayor Russ Barley opened the evening meeting by recognizing Walton County District 1 Commissioner Dan Curry, who represents Freeport on the County Commission and sat in with the council. The consent agenda carried the city’s bills, the minutes of the September 8 regular meeting, the minutes of both September budget hearings, and the revenue and expenditure report through August. Council members also signed off on an agenda addition from the sewer department.
The longest discussion of the night centered on the CR-3280 well project. Engineering staff explained that the Northwest Florida Water Management District attached a new condition to the well’s permit after the city had already bid the construction work: a monitoring well must be installed at the site of the new Upper Floridan aquifer well. The district flagged the location as a saltwater intrusion concern, and the permit now requires two wells there either way. Because the requirement arrived after bidding, the work was never priced into the original contract.
The city’s engineer laid out three paths forward. Rowe Drilling, the contractor already drilling the production well, proposed the monitoring well as a change order at $183,790. Clark Well Drilling, the runner-up on the original project, quoted $141,420 for the same work. A third option was to bid the monitoring well out on its own. But the city’s purchasing policy requires formal bidding for any work above the $100,000 threshold, which ruled out simply hiring Clark at its lower quote — and staff warned that both drillers are booked until the middle of 2027, with no guarantee a rebid would come back cheaper.
Council members pressed staff on why the requirement wasn’t caught earlier. Staff acknowledged the permit and the construction bidding ran simultaneously, and the monitoring well condition was added after the bids went out — a gamble the city takes whenever it bids a project before a permit is fully issued. Mayor Barley noted the change order is the same mechanism the city uses routinely, just an unusually large one this time. With Rowe committing to complete the monitoring well by February 15, 2027, the council approved the change order rather than risk months of delay.
The sidewalk extension on Business 331 drew seven construction bids, a sign of strong contractor interest. Low bidder 850 Construction Services came in at roughly $1 million without the alternate, while the high bid from H&T Contractors ran near $1.67 million. Staff recommended awarding the project along with Alternate 1 — a water main extension and upsized line on the west side of Business 331, since the sidewalk work will disturb the existing main on the east side — bringing the total contract to $1,092,362.56 for 850 Construction Services.
Councilman Eddie Farris said the award finishes what the city started years ago: a project to make it safe for people to walk up and down a road where kids and families have been walking in the traffic lanes at risk of being hit. Staff added that the city’s first estimate for the project came in nowhere near the final price — the scope grew with drainage improvements and utility relocations in a corridor with little room to work — and warned that the pattern across the board is that the longer projects wait, the more they cost. The council also approved a construction engineering and inspection services proposal spanning seven months, with construction anticipated to begin in November.
Under the planning department’s items, Alison McDowell, executive director of the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance Estuary Program, asked the council to name one of its members to the organization’s steering council, a body set up specifically for council members that tracks environmental issues across the watershed and meets four times a year. A council member volunteered for the seat, a second member agreed to serve as alternate, and the council adopted the opt-in agreement joining the program.
The mayor then presented lighting estimates from CHELCO covering both the Business 331 corridor and Highway 20, complete with a map showing where each fixture would be placed. From Business 331 to Pine Street, the utility would add 23 leased fixtures at an estimated $431 per month. Along Highway 20 — the 83A stretch running from the new traffic signal west of town to the US 331 bypass — nine fixtures would go up at an estimated $362.72 per month, with higher wattage and 16-foot arms to throw more light across the roadway. Because the fixtures are leased and mounted on existing poles, the city would not have to buy equipment. CHELCO is already working with the county on lighting near Bear Creek, and asked the city to hold off there until that plan settles; council members were told the four lights at the Bear Creek Bridge are already operational. The council approved moving forward with the new fixtures.
The council also approved a $39,500 scope of services from North Florida Professional Services to design improvements at the intersection of State Road 20, Business 331, and Madison Street. The proposal includes traffic data collection and direct expenses, and staff said the firm’s Mark Mason — already handling the city’s Blueberry Road and Highway 20 intersection work — will develop a plan with options for the council. Staff noted the county has been working on the intersection as well, and meetings are being set up so the two efforts are coordinated.
Planning staff then closed the public hearing portion with the second reading of the Reynolds small-scale amendment and rezoning, which the council authorized on first reading in August. The council adopted two ordinances — 2026-08 and 2026-09 — changing the future land use and zoning of a 1.43-acre parcel on US 331 South from rural village to general commercial. The applicant was sworn in before testimony, and both ordinances passed on separate motions.
Among the remaining items, the council approved a training request covering three city staff members — $1,791 for lodging and $915 for course fees — and heard plans for the Northwest Florida League of Cities dinner the city will host at the Freeport community center on December 17, with catering still being settled and door prize donations being sought. With no further public comment, the meeting adjourned.
Originally reported by the City of Freeport. Image: City of Freeport via YouTube.
