Wallace town council approves builder, architect for new public safety facility

The Wallace Town Council has moved one step closer to a new public safety facility, which would house the town’s police and fire departments. During a continued meeting on Thursday night, Jan. 25, the council voted unanimously to hire Jackson Builders and design firm Stewart-Cooper-Newell to build and design the proposed 20,000-square-foot facility.

A building committee consisting of Mayor Jason Wells, Council Member Frank Brinkley, Police Chief Jimmy Crayton and Fire Chief Taylor Johnson narrowed down six proposals to two, and then ultimately chose Jackson Builders, with Stewart-Cooper-Newell to perform the design work.

Mayor Wells spoke first, reminding the council that several years ago, Stewart-Cooper-Newell had performed a needs assessment for the town. “They knew a lot about our town and changes we have coming, and tried to anticipate not only our current needs, but our future needs,” he said.

Chief Jimmy Crayton also praised Jackson Builders and Stewart-Cooper-Newell. “Yes, Stewart-Cooper-Newell did our needs assessment, but before they even submitted their proposal for our needs assessment two years ago, they came over and they spent quite a bit of time with me, and quite a bit of time with [then-Fire Chief] Chuck [Farrior], and with [then-Town Manager] Larry [Bergman] before they even submitted their bid. We had seven proposals back then and they were the only ones who showed up.”

When compared to other builders vying for the project, Fire Chief Johnson said he “just got the feeling that Jackson was more down home,” and that the communication between the town and Jackson would flow better.

Local contractor and volunteer firefighter Dwayne Peterson also gave his feedback on Jackson, whom he said he was worked with on various projects since 1997.

“I [told them], do your homework. And they did,” Peterson said. “I felt the connection with the town of Wallace and Jackson Builders. To me, communication is the key to a smooth project, and getting what we want.”

Although the town approved contracting with Jackson Builders and Stewart-Cooper-Newell, a new public safety facility is still a ways down the road, the mayor pointed out. “In the short-term, get a plan together with some sort of idea of what the cost may be, with the intention of going back to the legislature to try to figure out how to fund the rest,” he stated. “Whether it comes from the legislature or somewhere else, we’re going to figure out how to get this done and how to pay for it.”

Before the vote was taken, Brinkley expressed some concern about fitting a new 20,000-square-foot facility on the proposed lot, which is adjacent to town hall and faces Southerland Street.

“It just bothers me that there doesn’t seem to be enough room, that we’re going to try to squeeze a huge ass building on that lot,” he said

Wells conceded that it might be a tight squeeze, but he pointed out that Jackson Builders and Stewart-Cooper-Newell will give the town “multiple options.” “When we know what the options are, we’ll know if that lot is going to work or not,” he said.

“What I don’t want to happen is for you guys to compromise just to have something and put it there,” Brinkley said.

Crayton said he had some of the same concerns. “When we did this needs assessment, they told us in x number of years, you’re going to need this many square feet. And that number was 35,000 square feet,” he explained. “So when this opportunity came around and we got this money from the legislature, they said, ‘all right boys. Start cutting.’ So we started cutting down to what we knew it was going to cost to build per square foot. We knew what we thought we could afford, and that meant we had to cut 15,000 square feet off that building. What I’m afraid of is that both of us have cut to where we’re building a building that we’re already maxed out at.”

After some discussion, Mayor Wells said, “I think the step forward is to go with these guys who know what they’re doing. We need to make sure that we’re looking down the road, and we need to make sure that we’re not short-sighted just to fill an immediate need. At the same time, on the flip side, I don’t want us to be sitting here in the next five to 10 years trying to figure out a dream station.”

The council then unanimously approved moving forward with Jackson Builders.

In other business at the Jan. 25 meeting, the council:

• Approved a request for to serve alcohol at the Wallace Depot Gala on March 23 and the Carolina Strawberry Festival May 3-4.
• Adopted a resolution opposing a 71% increase in homeowners insurance rates within Duplin County.