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KENANSVILLE — With several last-minute issues plaguing the AirPark development project, which has already taken much longer than predicted and was hit with unprojected costs, the Duplin County Economic Development Board held a special meeting on Jan. 23 to address some of the issues.
The last item on the agenda was the one that created the most frustration with the board. It involves a ditch along Airport Road that is insufficient to handle the needs for drainage along the road and does not meet the requirements for the ditch bank to be easily maintained. At the last board meeting two weeks ago, the board agreed the cost of adding enclosed drainpipes in lieu of a ditch should be the responsibility of the project’s primary engineer on the project, Parrish & Partners. Board members basically said the company should have been more diligent in determining what was needed to handle the drainage issues along the stretch of Airport Road that will be in front of a new N.C. Forest Service regional headquarters currently under construction at the AirPark.
Duplin County Economic Development Commission Director Scotty Summerlin told the board he and Deputy County Manager Carrie Shields had a lengthy conversation with Parrish & Partners president Jeff Kirby which resulted in Kirby responding with an email. Summerlin read the email to the board.
The last portion of Kirby’s email reads, “I do not feel Parrish & Partners should be responsible for any aspect to changes to the project to include an enclosed drainage system along Airport Road. We stand ready to discuss with county leadership at a mutually convenient time.”
Kirby’s response obviously did not sit well with the board. Shields addressed Matthew Ferguson, Parrish & Partners project engineer, who participated in the meeting remotely.
“Matthew, I’m going to ask you if you will go back to Jeff and ask him to reconsider his stance,” Shields said. “The county has offered to meet in the middle on expense to fix this problem. I’m asking you to do that with the understanding we feel very strongly against Jeff’s response. We don’t want to take additional steps, so I ask you to do that one more time.”
Economic Development Board Chairman Charley Farrior also addressed Ferguson saying, “We’re in support of Carrie’s comments and we’ll look forward to hearing Jeff’s response.”
“Yes, I can have that conversation with Jeff,” Ferguson responded.
Another last-minute issue the board addressed in the meeting involved three subpar paved areas in the AirPark, as well as road striping applied on those roads. One of the areas with asphalt problems after paving the road is located near the intersection of AirPark Drive and West Best Road. Ferguson referred to that location as the one with the worst pavement issue due to asphalt segregation.
“Given the location of where it is there is going to be a lot of traffic going in and out of the AirPark off of West Best Road, so that would be the one of most concern,” Ferguson told the board.
Another area showing asphalt segregation is in a cul-de-sac near a pump station in the AirPark. Ferguson said that area will only be used by maintenance traffic making it less of an issue.
Board members looked at a photo of one other stretch of recent paving that revealed a damaged line of pavement about 35 feet in length not far from the new shell building being constructed. Ferguson said he doesn’t think that area is asphalt segregation.
“It looks like something got caught on the finishing roller and didn’t finish rolling correctly,” he said.
On how to fix the paving issues, Ferguson said, “The 20-year lifespan of this asphalt won’t be reached if we don’t address it in some way, shape or form.”
His recommendation was to patch the problem areas of asphalt, noting that the patched areas would be noticeable. Most board members expressed dissatisfaction with that approach, recommending that some portions of asphalt be completely removed and redone, which would also repair mistakes made by the subcontractor applying traffic markings on the roadway.
Ferguson said that Chatham Civil Engineering, the contractor responsible for the paving and pavement markings, is planning to meet with Barnhill Contracting Company, the subcontractor who did the actual paving in the AirPark, to discuss solutions. The board agreed to wait to hear the results of that discussion before considering how to proceed with fixing the issues.
In other business, the board agreed to accept a bid from Rite Lite Signs of Concord, N.C. to construct new signage at the entrance to the AirPark along Airport Road. Rite Lite Signs was the lowest bidder at $88,284.
