LUMBERTON — The city has distributed money from a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant to help victims of Hurricane Matthew.
The grant money was awarded Tuesday to eight homeowners, Brandon Love, director Planning & Neighborhood Services, said during a Wednesday meeting of the Council Policy Committee. One home will be demolished, two elevated, and rehabilitation work done on the other five.
Repairs also are in the works for city sewer lines.
A $600,000 project to rehabilitate sewer lines this summer was given first approval by the council, which voted to award the project’s contract to Prizm Contractors and Engineers of Williamsburg, Va. The contract now must be approved by the council at a regular meeting.
The plan is to install slip lines in sewers under Lambert Street near Cracker Barrel restaurant, the area around Cedar and 24th streets, and under Fayetteville Road. Sliplining is used to avoid digging trenches to repair sewer lines, or to add integrity to a pipeline already in place. But some areas involved in the summer project will require replacement, including those in the Alexander Street and Edgewood Drive areas.
The council members also were told an almost $2 million Community Development Block Grant is being sought to pay for sewer improvements at Rosewood Park Mobile Home Park on East Elizabethtown Road.
The conditions at the park have prompted some residents to move out, according to Rob Armstrong, director of Public Works. There have been other options suggested, such as pumping the tanks clean, or moving the homes to other locations in the park.
“If unsanitary conditions are there they can’t stay,” Armstrong said. “They have to be moved.”
Council members were introduced Wednesday to Adrian Lowery, the new executive director of the Housing Authority for the city of Lumberton.
“Our No. 1 concern is safety,” Lowery said. “Matthew affected 267 of our units, but 92 percent of our units are available. There is also some asbestos work to complete. Our goal is June 1.
“We are working on getting some of our homes out of the 100-year floodplain,” he said. “… These homes were built in 1968, so there are some issues.”
He said grant money was being sought to pay for the work.
Lowery said the Housing Authority has been tracking calls about problems, and they are dropping.
“Because we have certain restrictions due to HUD laws, sometimes the police department knows more about what’s going on in our sites than we do,” he said. “The Lumberton Police Department is vital to our security.”
In other business, City Council members:
— Approved accepting the donation of three parcels of land in the 100-year floodplain and using the land as a dump for burned vehicles at the Public Works building that can’t be discarded, but can be moved.
— Approved allowing the city’s Emergency Services Department to use existing money to make up a deficit of $28,039 in funding for the 911 backup center’s generator.
— Approved giving the Black Girls Training Camp $5,000. Councilman Leon Maynor said the camp includes all ethnic groups, and is about learning self-esteem, living in the world, and moving forward.
— Gave $5,000 to Committees in Schools with the stipulation that more information will be presented on the use of the money.
— Approved a $1,000 donation request for a Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony at Robeson Community College. The request was made by City Council member and newly elected Sheriff Burnis Wilkins.
— Approved seeking a $38,415 grant with a 5o percent match for 65 bulletproof vests for the Lumberton Police Department.
— Approved buying two new Peterbilt tandem trucks for $221,176.
— Approved a request for $1,250 of Community Revitalization Funds for Precinct 2 Community Day.
— Approved giving $800 in Community Revitalization Funds money to Chrysoite AME Church for community programming.
— Approved giving $700 in Community Revitalization Funds money to help fund a Community Day in Precinct 5.
— Approved giving $100 in Community Revitalization Funds money to Anointed Believers’ Ministries to help fund a Community Day event.
— Approved giving $500 in Community Revitalization Funds money to West Lumberton Elementary School to support the Positive Behavioral Intervention Support Program in Precinct 7.
