About five years after the city closed the Brown Street bridge for safety reasons, Washington’s City Council amended the city’s budget to allocate funds to replace the bridge.

That allocation came during the council’s meeting Monday.

The project is nearing the bid process. The estimated cost of the project is $600,000. The city is expected to provide $120,000 toward the project. The city is adding $20,000 in Powell Bill funds (money local governments receive from the state for street projects) to the $100,000 in city funds already appropriated for the project.

Plans call for the existing bridge to be replaced with a new bridge instead of box culverts, which had been considered as an option for replacing the existing bridge.

In October 2006, the bridge’s continuing deterioration caused the city to close the bridge for additional assessments to determine if it was feasible to repair or replace it. Motorists and several residents who live near the bridge complained about the bridge closure, saying it was an inconvenience. They asked that it be repaired or replaced.

The council authorized awarding a $24,950 contract to Mark Smith Architect to provide services related to the second phase of the Festival Park project.

Under terms of the contract, Mark Smith Architect, based in Greenville, will provide three services: design, bidding/tabulations and communicating with contractors. The scope of the second phase includes constructing a building to house public restrooms, with the facility designed so it can be expanded. One section will include two women’s stalls and one lavatory. Another section will include one men’s stall, urinal and lavatory.

The project’s first phase is under way. WIMCO Corp. is doing that work. The scope of the first phase includes site preparation, paver drives and walkways in addition to the erection of the premanufactured stage and picnic pavilions. Completion is scheduled for May 2011.

During the public-comment segment of the meeting, Barry Gutfeld, a Washington resident, expressed concern about the lack of home sales in the city.

Gutfeld said something he saw in Sunday’s Washington Daily News got his attention.

“To preface my remarks, I’m interested in the growth of Washington, reasonable taxes, reasonable utility rates and good repair of our infrastructure. So, we’re looking to bring people in,” Gutfeld said. “But this particular ad had 44 transactions. There listed here as sales, but turning it around, they’re also purchases č all of which occurred in Beaufort County. And would you believe that not one single one of them is in the city of Washington? Think about it. It gives you a message. Forty-four transactions, and none of them occur in the city of Washington. And I’ll leave you with that.”

Mayor Archie Jennings replied: “Thank you, very much. That’s a keen observation. We need to be mindful of that.”