The stoplight at the intersection of Wagon Wheel Road and 71-B is at the center of the issue between the Springdale street department and city council. The stoplight went up just a few weeks ago...and although the street department received approval from the city council for the light, the department did not go through the competitive bidding process they are required by law to do before construction begins. And even though the council can waive the competitive bidding requirement, the street department never asked them to. So the council waived the requirement after the light had already gone up. Alderman Bobby Stout says during his 11 years on the council, he's never faced a situation like this. "We are in an awkward position. We did pass it after the fact but I believe in the terms, and I feel comfortable about it for the simple reason that we'd already talked about putting one up," Stout says. But he says in the hustle and bustle of city government, it's easy for something like this to accidentally get pushed aside. Stout says because the council never made a decision like this before, the city attorney was there to make sure the right steps were taken. But what if the council voted no? "We don't know what would've happened if we voted 'no'. But we had full intentions anyways that whenever the paperwork came forward that we would've waived competitive bidding." Stout says he hasn't had any negative feedback from residents over the decision.
