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By K.D. Beard
Duplin Journal
BEULAVILLE — The Town of Beulaville has been awarded a grant in the amount of $2.7 million for sewer replacement and lift station rehabilitation, announced Town Manager Lori Williams Monday evening at the town’s monthly Board of Commissioners meeting. Josh Outlaw with the Adams Company congratulated the town on securing funding but emphasized that the process would take time. “This is the beginning of a long process,” said Outlaw, estimating the town would see approximately two years pass before any actual construction begins. “We got a bunch of paperwork between here and there.”
As part of the meeting’s new business, the board unanimously approved hiring The Adams Company to provide engineering services for a Community Development Block Grant Neighborhood Revitalization (CDBG-NR) project. The $950,000 grant was the last received from the North Carolina Department of Commerce and will support the rehabilitation or replacement of four Beulaville houses. Williams noted that requirements have increased as far as training and paperwork regarding the new grants; town representatives will be required to attend two separate compliance and environmental training sessions.
The board also voted to finalize an agreement with the Department of Transportation to reimburse the town up to $8,700 annually for quarterly street sweeping services along Main Street and Jackson Street on NC 24 and NC 41/111, respectively. The funding will enable the town to resume street sweeping services and ensure that storm drains and gutters remain free from pine straw, dirt, and debris that could lead to more expensive issues down the road. As Beulaville doesn’t own a street sweeper, the town will contract out for services for which the Department of Transportation will reimburse.
“We did reach out to Wallace and try to contract with them, but due to staffing issues we just couldn’t get a schedule worked out,” said Williams.
Commissioner Gene Wickline suggested looking to whether another local municipality would be interested in purchasing a sweeper for shared use, but Director of Public Works Ricky Raynor advised against it.
“You have to have one person run that piece of equipment. If you put two or three head on it, you’ll spend more money fixing it than you will sweeping,” said Raynor.
Chief of Police Karl Mobley began his report by welcoming Officer Bryan Sexton to the Beulaville Police Department. Mobley also provided updates on recent law enforcement actions:
-Authorities have taken Justin Pittman into custody as a suspect in a credit card fraud case involving the theft of over $1,400.
-Natesha Cheeks was apprehended after spreading over $2,100 in counterfeit bills between two businesses in Duplin County, mainly in fake $50 bills. The department has been working hand-in-hand with other agencies, including the Secret Service who oversees counterfeit investigations. The suspect used fake bills to purchase gift cards and has been active from Virginia all the way down to Leland, according to Mobley.
The town recorded its highest-ever sales tax return in the amount of $48,003.98, an increase of $8,000 from last year, according to Williams.
In other news, the location for the town’s annual Hog Wild festival set for April 15, has been moved to the Superior Metals building on NC 41 to accommodate in-door activities in the event of inclement weather.
Beulaville residents will soon have the option to make utility and tax payments online as the town works to locate a reliable vendor for online payments. Though residents are presently able to utilize online automatic draft payments for utilities, the new system should allow residents to make individual payments for both utility and tax bills online. “With good luck, we should be going live hopefully in April,” said Williams.
