ELIZABETHTOWN — He’s ready to help as able with worthy projects for Bladen County.
How feasible it is, given gridlock inside the Beltway, is another matter.
U.S. Rep. David Rouzer met with leaders from Bladen County on Wednesday in the Campbell Terminal at Curtis L. Brown Jr. Field. His hour-plus stop was part of an opportunity to hear concerns and requests from county commissioners, mayors and other high-ranking officials.
The dike that protects Kelly was the most discussed item, and first on the list. It came on the heels of a meeting one night earlier held at Centerville Baptist Church with residents able to question representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The group also touched on drainage from the Wake County and Jordan Lake area impacting the Cape Fear River in the county, beavers, Congress’ fiscal abilities nearly a decade after giving up earmarks, a potential driving pad and training facility, grants helping students at Bladen Community College, Medicaid uncertainty, and the sustainability of Bladen County Hospital.
Elizabethtown and East Arcadia were municipalities represented; the boards for the Lyons Swamp Drainage and Levee District and the Kelly dike were also among those present.
Rouzer told the group he would answer honestly. For the failed dike in need of repair or replacement, he advised the group to find a route to state money.
If choosing federal, he cautioned a three to five years window to get through authorizations and a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study, and six to eight years before “you would have actual physical activity on the ground that is meaningful.” The Corps regularly, he said, has a national project list needing funding that is 90 to 120 deep, most of which are tied to commerce.
“Under the best-case scenario, even if a project ranks well nationally, and is behind 90 to 120 projects, you’re looking at seven, eight, 10 years before you have tangible results,” the second-term congressman said. “I used to serve in the state legislature, was co-chair of four committees while there. At the state level, you have your hurdles, but it’s a whole lot easier to get things done there than it is in Congress.”
By way of example, he cited the trouble President Donald Trump has had in getting even 200-plus miles of a border wall constructed when his goal was for more than 2,000 miles.
Rouzer said he heard the group loud and clear on all subjects. He promised to seek assistance and brainstorm ideas with U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr at the federal level and with his former colleagues in the General Assembly at the state level.
Congressman David Rouzer (left) chats with Bladen County leaders Wednesday, including (from left) Charles Ray Peterson, Sondra Guyton, Dr. Amanda Lee and Eddie Madden.
Sonda Guyton (center) of Bladen Community College updates U.S. Rep. David Rouzer (left) on a proposed project. From left are Billy Barker (rear), Charles Ray Peterson, Dr. Amanda Lee and Eddie Madden.
U.S. Rep. David Rouzer presents an American flag that has flown over the White House to Elizabethtown Town Manager Eddie Madden, accepting on behalf of Mac Campbell, that will be flown in front of the Campbell Terminal at Curtis L. Brown Jr. Field. Campbell is the son of the terminal’s namesake.