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KENANSVILLE — Members of the Duplin County Economic Development Board received an update at their regular meeting last Friday on the N.C. Forest Service’s expansion at the Duplin County Airport and Airpark. Construction is expected to begin by the end of the year on a new facility that will significantly increase the Forest Service’s footprint at the airport. The Forest Service already occupies two large hangars at the airport that are home to firefighting and observation airplanes and helicopters.
According to Scotty Summerlin, Executive Director of the Duplin County Economic Development Commission, the N.C. Forest Service is relocating their Region One Headquarters from the Global Transpark in Kinston to the Duplin County Airport. The new facility will occupy space on a 12-acre tract in the Airpark. In addition to offices, the building will also house a training facility.
The N.C. Forest Service is a division of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. The agency is divided into three regions in the state. Region One is divided into four divisions that serve 27 counties in eastern North Carolina.
In addition to the update on progress for the Forest Service project, Summerlin, along with three contractors appearing at the meeting remotely, gave the board the latest on the overall construction project at the Airpark that will eventually result in the construction of two 50,000-square-foot industrial shell buildings as well as several short-stay rental units.
The shell buildings are being constructed at a total cost of $6 million.
The challenge in completing the Airpark expansion project has been the result of delays blamed on several days of heavy rain and a series of change orders requested by the contractors that have increased the cost and the time to complete the project. The discovery of bad soil at some construction sites on the airport property also contributed to slow downs.
The board was presented two new change orders at the meeting, including one requesting additional time to complete the last 300 feet of water line installation and another one to relocate a drainage ditch.
Matthew Ferguson, a contractor on the project told the board, “Chatham Construction is asking for an additional 14 days to be added to the contract due to water line cut sheets at West Bend Road and the delays associated with that.”’
According to the contractors, the delays were caused both by waiting for survey work on the project and coordinating with the gas company, which has a 50-foot easement on the property.
A last-minute change order that had to be added to the agenda involves relocating of a ditch to avoid a manhole cover and the associated concrete housing. The board was told if the ditch is not moved, they could expect “severe erosive issues” at some point after the Airpark project is completed. The board approved both change orders. As a result of the delays, the originally planned completion date of July 7 has been pushed back to mid-October.
Despite the delays on the Airpark infrastructure improvements, Summerlin told the board that the contractor for the shell buildings, Daniels and Daniels Construction, is already at work.
“We’ve had some slowdowns, but I feel we’re getting back on track,” Summerlin said.
In other business, the board voted to award a $5,200 contract to Johnny Williams Land Surveying for work needed to prepare the site for seven short-stay rental units, which will include a mix of two- and three-bedroom designs, with room for additional units in the future.
