ELIZABETHTOWN — The fate of Lock and Dam No. 2 is still undecided, with state House Rep. William Brisson weighing in on the situation Tuesday night.
The Elizabethtown board met for their budget retreat earlier in the day, and culminated with dinner.
“Senator Bill Rabon and I have a meeting with the Cape Fear River group on Thursday,” he said.
Brisson said he’d be back in Raleigh then.
Multiple options have been presented in this situation over the last few months, with the possibility of PWC and other Cape Fear River interests taking over portions.
There are three locks and dams that are in the process of being decommissioned, and need a new owner. They are under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“We would like the state to take them over,” he said. “That’s just the way it is. It’s not that I don’t trust them all the way, but I can tell you a year and half ago, they would have closed Chemours down in this county, I can assure you.”
Brisson is referring to the Bladen County Superior Court case involving Chemours and the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority. That case was resolved close to this time last year.
“Chemours has put in over $100,000,000 in investment,” he said. “Smithfield Packing is $130,000,000.
“Those are the two main industries in Bladen County, and you see what has happened with the loss of the hog operations. Nobody was in violation. All they were doing was raising hogs and carrying them to the market.”
Included in the packets provided at the meeting was a sample letter that was drafted by CFPUA.
“Brisson has discouraged the town from adopting the letter of intent,” said Eddie Madden, the Elizabethtown town manager. “Our position is we will likely be silent on the debate on the locks and dams. The lease is not inhibiting any transfer of the locks. We don’t want to get into that.”
The town has a 25-year lease in place for the land at Lock and Dam No. 2, where Browns Landing provides one of seven recreational areas the town oversees.
“We just want that 23.5 acres conveyed to the town,” he said, reiterating that the town has no interest in maintaining anything that’s in the water. “We are a small player amongst the giants in the region. We have to be intentional right now.”
State House Rep. William Brission spoke at the dinner culminating Elizabethtown’s budget retreat explaining his concerns about the fate of Lock and Dam No. 2.