Efforts to build a new bridge along Dale Drive are moving forward with the bridge itself nearing completion, Marion aldermen were told Tuesday.

Mayor Larry Gill said workers were on track to finish construction of the new bridge early next week before shifting their attention to the approaches to the bridge on either side. The road will need to be widened at the approaches and properly tied in with the bridge, he said, which will take a few weeks to complete.

Gill said the town was still on track to see the bridge reopened by Thanksgiving. Prior to beginning the project and demolishing the existing bridge, Marion and county officials had asked the contractor, Joe McGee Construction, to wait until all materials needed to build the new bridge arrived, he said. That decision has reduced the amount of time the bridge needs to be closed, he said, and is already a step the contractor plans to recommend to other customers.

The Dale Drive bridge project is being done by Lauderdale County with funding from the state’s Emergency Road and Bridge Repair program. The county was awarded $1.1 million to tear out the existing two-lane bridge, which was in bad shape, and construct a new three-lane bridge.

The widening of the bridge and approaches to three-lane had originally been planned to continue along Dale Drive to the intersection with Lindley Road, however, the additional work was cut from the project due to costs.

Aldermen on Tuesday also voted to approve financial reports from September, closing out the 2023 fiscal year. Gill said the town ended the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, on solid footing and plans to build on that success.

“We made more money than we anticipated and we also spent less money than we had budgeted for,” he said.

Marion ended the fiscal year with a surplus of $60,852 in the general fund, Gill said, and just shy of $95,000 in the water fund. That money will go into the town’s reserve funds, which act as a safety net in the event of a catastrophe or budget shortfall.

Town officials made several changes that contributed to the surplus including raising water rates, and passing on the full cost of garbage service to Marion residents. Prior to aldermen taking action in October 2022, the town had been charging residents $8 per month for garbage while paying Waste Pro about $14.

Aldermen also voted to increase water costs to generate enough money in the water fund to pay for necessary maintenance and repairs. The increase, which was also in October 2022, was the first increase in water rates in Marion since 1995.

Both water and garbage are enterprise funds, meaning they are separate from the general fund and don’t receive an annual allocation of tax dollars as other departments do. The fees charged for receiving water and garbage services are supposed to generate enough revenue to cover the town’s costs for providing those services.

Looking at the numbers, Gill said aldermen’s action to adjust those fees was paying off with the town entering the 2024 fiscal year in good standing.

“It was a great year,” he said.