A spike in the expected cost of the Oak Street sidewalk project is causing the Mt. Carmel City Council to dip into TIF funds to cover a $150,000 overage. Pat Gould of HLR explained the lone bid from Kieffer Brothers Construction came in at $551,778…well above the expected cost of $395,000. The city had $395,000 from proceeds of the former revolving loan fund to cover the project. But now with the higher price tag, Gould presented the city council Monday with three options. Reject the bid and lose the $395,000 since the money has to be used on a project that starts construction by December 1st. Option two was to rebid the project, but that process would take longer than the December 1st hard deadline. The council chose option three which was to accept the bid and cover the overage, in this case with TIF funds. That decision will allow the project to start before the December 1st deadline. Mayor Joe Judge said planning for the Oak Street sidewalk project has been a lengthy one, stretching back several years and has included obstacles from the railroad and an Oak Street business owner who opposed the idea for safety reasons. The project will install sidewalks from 9th Street to 3rd Street.