The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners held its first agenda session of 2024 on Thursday, with commissioners questioning county staff on issues like disaster recovery shelters, affordable housing and the canceled shipment of tons of GenX to Fayetteville.
Here’s everything you need to know from Thursday’s meeting:
Emergency generators update
Jermaine Walker, the county’s director of engineering and infrastructure, explained to the board that supply chain issues are responsible for the estimated 52- to 56-week backlog in receiving generators for county shelters at schools.
“We’re still seeing some long lead times for generators for 400 kW and larger,” Walker said.
Generators need to be placed in Mac Williams Middle School, W.T. Brown Elementary School and Pine Forest and South View high schools to provide power for cafeterias, kitchens, gymnasiums, locker rooms and hot water heaters when disasters strike, Walker said.
Commissioner Jimmy Keefe questioned why Westover Recreation Center, the only one of the five shelter sites that is not a school, was chosen instead of another school in the district. Walker said Westover was chosen to ensure a shelter was located in the western part of the county.
Gray’s Creek Middle School, a potential site suggested by Keefe, would need too many costly updates to serve as a shelter, Walker said, noting that the estimated cost for doing so was about $1.4 million.
Gene Booth, the county’s director of emergency services, said Westover Recreation Center had more room to house pets and humans during disasters than other potential locations in the area.
“That’s the primary reason Westover Rec was selected,” Booth said.
The Bill Crisp Senior Center on Raeford Road was also not a viable location because it has too much glass in its design, he said.
Installation of all generators should be completed by June 2025, according to a Jan. 4 memorandum from Walker to the board.
Additional insight on GenX shipment
Ron Hamm, the president of Hamm Consulting Group, faced many questions from commissioners during his presentation on the county’s federal legislative agenda, with the most passionate concerns stemming from a canceled shipment of the “forever chemical” GenX from the Netherlands to the Chemours plant in Fayetteville.
The proposed shipment of up to 4 million pounds was initially approved by the EPA late last year, but that approval was reversed in November after outcry from public officials and residents, NC Newsline reported.
Keefe asked Hamm to explain why the EPA first approved the shipments.
“[The EPA was] saying that there’s nothing in the rules and regulations that would prevent them from allowing that to happen,” Hamm said.
However, because Chemours had an error in its calculations of the amount of GenX wastewater it would process at the Fayetteville plant in its application, the EPA was able to revoke its approval, Hamm said.
“When I talked to EPA, they were like, ‘There’s really no way to deny that. There’s no policy that would make us say no,’” he said.
Keefe asked why the EPA had not communicated with Cumberland County officials.
“I think it got stopped because we sent resolutions and we called everybody,” he said. “In true government fashion, it’s gonna creep up somewhere else under a radar.”
Hamm also warned that commissioners would face an ongoing struggle to prevent future shipments of GenX by Chemours.
“That battle is not over,” he said. “We did meet with Sen. Tillis’ office on this, as well as the house offices to [Rep.] Houser and [Rep.] Hudson — they’re probably gonna try to reapply again for that. We gotta sort of keep a watch on where that’s going, but I do know the congressional delegation is up to continue fighting against that.”
The board will discuss the draft federal legislative agenda again at its Tuesday meeting because Keefe voted against placing it on the consent agenda. (The board requires a unanimous vote to place an item on the consent agenda.)
Affordable housing in Spring Lake
During a presentation from Director of Community Development Dee Taylor on proposed affordable housing in Spring Lake, commissioners heard additional information on how low-income families can become homeowners.
“According to the most recent report provided by the local Realtors’ association, the average sales price for new construction of a single-family home is $358,000,” Taylor said. “The rule of thumb is to ensure that housing costs of our potential homebuyers do not exceed 30% of their total household income.”
Potential buyers have access to gap financing programs — short-term loans that are intended to bridge the difference between what a potential buyer can afford and what they need to pay — and other grants to help with those costs, she said.
The new project will entail six single-family housing units, 1,400 square feet in size, which will serve as the second phase in a development by Spring Lake-based Kingdom Community Development Corporation, Taylor said.
According to a Dec. 19 memorandum from Taylor to the board, potential buyers must make 80% or less of the average median income for the area — roughly $44,440 a year or less, according to 2022 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Taylor said of the five single-family homes built for the project’s first phase, two have been purchased, with a third in the closing process.
Kingdom CDC ultimately approves who can purchase its homes, Director Carl Manning said Thursday.
Chairman Glenn Adams said he was concerned about how low-income families would find out about the project.
“Those who are in the low income (bracket) are not coming to these town hall meetings,” Adams said, referring to the community development department’s regularly scheduled town halls. “If I’m out past Stedman or whatever, I may not come to that.”
Taylor said her team reaches potential buyers through marketing and other programming.
The board voted unanimously to place approval of a $900,000 contract with Kingdom CDC, which will be funded through existing community development money, on the consent agenda for its Tuesday meeting.
Other items of business included:
The board will next meet at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at the Cumberland County courthouse.
Reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.
To keep CityView Today going and to grow our impact even more, we're asking our committed readers to consider becoming a member.
