While primarily dedicated to education and parks funding, the $2 billion statewide bond that voters approved in March could provide a funding source for long-anticipated New Hanover County infrastructure upgrades on U.S. 421.
The timing is ideal, as the New Hanover County board of commissioners received last week a preliminary engineering report on the feasibility and costs of extending utility lines under the Cape Fear River to provide water and sewer to businesses along the busy highway. With the recent withdrawal of the application for Titan Cement in Castle Hayne, many local leaders have identified the 421 corridor as the most appropriate location for industrial growth in the county.
Overall, the county was presented with three options for extending utilities to the U.S. 421 corridor, which could cost between $16.7 million – $20 million for the three-year project. Commissioners said the county has been eyeing expansion of utilities to the area for at least 20 years.
County manager Chris Coudriet said that staff would present a plan for moving forward on the engineering study to the commission within 30 days.
Commissioner Woody White said he worked with state Senator Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, to include a provision that would qualify utilities under “consent decrees” to qualify for funding under the Connect N.C. bond that voters approved on March 15 with 65 percent support.
The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) entered into a consent decree, which is an agreement to settle an issue, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the city and the county in 2013 to address EPA claims on sanitary sewer overflow. Under the agreement, the CFPUA agreed to make $40 million in upgrades to the system.
But now the agreement also qualifies the CFPUA for grant funding or low-interest loans under the Connect N.C. bond, White said.
“It’s a very innovative and beneficial way to solve the problem of getting utilities to 421,” White said.
White said the proposal presented to the commissioners was sufficient to support at least 20 years of future development along U.S. 421.
The CFPUA’s engineering report called for 660,000 gallons for each water and sewer service to the area. The designs build upon the infrastructure recently put in to extend CFPUA delivery to the Flemington area on the west side of the Cape Fear River and could be expanded in the future if there is further development.
With three cost options, White said that the lowest-cost option, which would eliminate construction of two pump stations, would still deliver 85 percent of the projected capacity while still providing the infrastructure needed to draw industry to the area. White also said that Wilmington may want to expand the infrastructure south of the current plans, which could provide different costs and funding structures.
“We don’t want to overpay for something, especially when it’s not useful for today’s needs, but we also don’t want to under-prepare for capacity either,” White said.
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