ELIZABETHTOWN — The Elizabethtown Town Council learned Monday that the first phase of the 2021 Resurfacing Project on municipal streets is expected to begin around the middle of the month.
“This is the 2021 resurfacing. All those streets highlighted in yellow are streets we plan to resurface,” Assistant Town Manager Pat DeVane said, referring to a town map that illustrates the initial phase of the project during a quick-paced 30-minute meeting at Town Hall.
DeVane said town officials met with SEPI and the N.C. Department of Transportation on Sept. 28 at the town offices to go over the paving schedule and to look at the streets that would be paved.
Among other assistance, the Raleigh-headquartered engineering firm SEPI provides services in roadway design, traffic engineering and operations.
“We were told last week to expect manhole adjustments and water valve markings and other preparation work for paving to take place this week,” DeVane said. “I didn’t get to ride out today to see if anybody was in town. I imagine they’re in town working on that process.”
The initial phase of the resurfacing of the streets should begin Monday, DeVane said.
Those streets, as illustrated in the map of the project, include: Greenwood, South and North Lyon, North Marvin, North Morehead, South Slingsby, North and South Pine, Fox, Roland, Joel, Noble, Thompson Avenue, Newkirk, Oak, Della, Martin and West Durham.
Those are the roads that need to be completely done, Town Manager Dane Rideout said.
“We’re doing $2 million worth of work and trying to catch up,” he said later. “There are 28 miles of road in town that the town manages; DOT does the others.
“People are going to walk out and see asphalt.”
Rideout emphasized during the meeting that this is only the beginning of the resurfacing project.
“This is not the entire …,” he told the council members without completing the thought. “Remember, we told you upwards of 70 percent of the streets, we’re going to touch with the money we went after — a loan. So that money should be paid back.”
Rideout said DeVane had “a lion’s share of other work to do” with the contractors on chipped sealing and pothole repairing.
“We would love to resurface every single street,” Rideout said, “but we can’t do all of that. This is the most expensive portion, and I think if you take a look hard at the streets, you’ll see those are the streets that really need a complete overhaul.”
As for the rest of the roadways requiring repair in Elizabethtown, they should be paved over the next 12 months, according to the town manager.
“I want to make sure people don’t look at that and go, ‘That’s it.’ No, that’s not it,” Rideout said.”That’s just the first phase of this. There’s more to come.”
“Good news,” Mayor Sylvia Campbell interjected.
Also, the council:
• Approved by a 6-0 vote a resolution to recognize Halloween on Saturday, Oct. 30, since Halloween falls on a Sunday.
Hours for trick-or-treating have been designated from 5 to 9 p.m. that Saturday in Elizabethtown, and children must be accompanied by an adult. “And not over 12 years old trick-or-treating, and an 11 o’clock curfew,” Campbell said.
• Authorized the filing of an application for Community Development Block Grant – Infrastructure funding for Elizabethtown’s Regional Sewer Project.
“The last hurdle in this project is a public hearing meeting that can be done inside the calendar year, and that’s what we’re doing here,” Rideout said. “And then we’ll take this public hearing and put that as part of the application. And, hopefully, get a decision on this block grant in the early new year time frame once the federal government gets out of a continuing resolution and actually approves a budget is when we’ll see the monies for this. I appreciate the council’s support on this piece …”
On Sept. 30, the Town Council during a special meeting authorized the filing of an application for a $2 million CDBG-I grant.
Elizabethtown and Bladen County are pursuing a regional wastewater treatment system project. It involves the repair, upgrade and expansion of the Elizabethtown Wastewater Treatment Plant and the construction of the town of Dublin, Bladenboro and Baytree Lakes wastewater transmission system.
The preliminary estimated capital cost of the project is $47,650,000, the town has said.
No one spoke during Monday’s public hearing.
Leave a Reply