“This thing has been a hazard for years,” Bolivar County Supervisor Pete Roncali said of Bayou Avenue in Boyle. “We’ve had fatalities there.”

For the past several months, Roncali has been working as a liaison from the county on a project that will upgrade the road in Boyle.

Boyle Mayor Joe Wayne Reed attended the supervisors’ meeting on Monday to help hammer out the last details of the arrangement.

“When are you planning on doing this,” Supervisor James McBride asked Reed.

“At your earliest convenience,” Reed replied. “The road’s been there 100 years.”

County Engineer Bob Eley spoke with the supervisors and Reed about money for the project.

“Is the county in a position to do this at cost,” Eley asked the board.

The board agreed in a previous meeting to pay for half of the project — including materials, labor and engineering fees.

When Eley discussed this plan with the board initially, he offered up an initial estimate of $55,000 for the project.

His original estimate did not include Road Manager David James’s estimates for labor and materials.

The material costs alone total $45,000. Combined with Eley’s $5,000 in engineering fees, that sets the project total at $50,000.

It will take approximately four weeks worth of work from the county road department to straighten out the road.

“If we do this at cost, it will take the labor cost down from something like $30,000 to $19,000,” Eley said.

“Are they (Boyle) going to pay half,” asked McBride.

The agreement to split costs evenly with Boyle still stands.

“David, are you comfortable with these numbers,” asked Supervisor Donny Whitten. “If so, I motion that we move forward with this and do it at cost.”

The board approved this plan.

Though the motion was approved, the project still needs one more piece in place before it can move forward.

“We need a copy of your minutes,” said Board President Andrew Williams, noting the board’s policy of requiring municipal meeting minutes before assisting with roadwork.

“The town of Boyle can only speak to us through its minutes,” agreed Board Attorney Linda Coleman.

Reed said he would bring the matter before his board and get minutes to the supervisors.

“This is so important to the people of Bolivar County,” said Roncali. “We’re going to go in there and fix that street. It’ll make the road safer and fix drainage problems.

“We’re excited about it,” he continued. “One of the good things you can do as a supervisor is make things safer. We’ve been able to do that with the mayor (Reed), the city (Boyle) and the supervisors.”

By providing labor at cost, the project total will be $69,000 — $34,500 per side.

Had the county chosen to provide labor at the original $30,000 estimate, the project’s total cost would have been $80,000.