A Vidalia, La., company will make the repairs to the Kings Point Ferry.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors Monday accepted a $174,277 bid from 363 Dry-Dock & Repair to do the work on the ferry, which is the only public access to the Kings Point area since construction of the Yazoo Diversion Canal in 1903 cut it off from the mainland of Warren County. The bid was one of two received for the project. A bid by Big River Shipbuilding was rejected because it was not signed.

The bid from 363 was less than the project’s $252,000 budget.

“We’re just glad to utilize the funds since they were available, and finally got someone who can complete a bid package, so we’re in business,” Board of Supervisors president Richard George said.

He said the company would not begin work on the ferry until the necessary parts for the work have ordered and received.

“They won’t take the boat out of service until they are actually ready to dry-dock it and repair it,” he said, adding the ferry is in its slow period of operation.

Kings Point is an island made up mostly of hunting camps and timber farming. The ferry runs daily from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. carrying hunters and workers across the canal. It busiest periods are deer and turkey seasons, and the peak fishing time.

The county is responsible for the ferry’s repair and maintenance, and $216,900 of the $252,000 for repairing the ferry is composed of federal and state funds.

The board has attempted several times to repair the ferry, the most recent was May 2016, when it signed a contract with Big River Shipbuilding to repair the ferry for $249,725. It rescinded the contract in August after learning the amount of time necessary to make the parts for the ferry would keep it out of the water during most of the island’s peak seasons.