A Vicksburg company has been hired to repair an erosion issue at City Park.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Monday followed the recommendation of project engineer TRC Engineers Inc. and awarded the contract for the project to Central Asphalt, which bid $32,875 to do the work, which is funded by $33,770 in Federal Emergency Management Agency emergency funds.

The project involves repairs to an area between the skateboard park and the park pavilion that was washed out by heavy rains that occurred in January, February and April, taking a portion of a fence and an asphalt walking trail.

Central Asphalt will repair the erosion damage and replace the section of the fence and the walking trail.

In another matter, the board authorized City Clerk Walter Osborne to advertise for bids for the Washington Street rehabilitation project. The board initially advertised for bids in July, but the bids were between $858,246 and more than $1 million over the project’s $1.2 million budget, forcing engineers and city officials to revise plans and specifications.

Initial plans for the rehabilitation project included repaving North Washington Street and reducing it to two lanes with a catch basin for the mudslides.

The project included a bicycle lane, which is part of a proposed 9.5-mile bicycle trail through Vicksburg that will follow a path from the Mississippi Welcome Center on Washington Street to its terminus at Haining Road.

The route includes a tour through Vicksburg’s downtown area that will follow the city’s downtown walking trails.

From Haining Road, cyclists can continue to U.S. 61 North and catch the Great River Road Bike Trail that runs from Walls in DeSoto County to Tunica. Flaggs said the bicycle trail remains part of the project.