LUMBERTON — A project to improve drainage and reduce flooding in the Tanglewood community was placed on hold Wednesday by the Lumberton City Council.
The council members approved allowing Pembroke-based Metcon Construction to withdraw its bid of $2,126,144 to undertake the project that also aims to address flooding around Southeastern Regional Medical Center. The approval allows Metcon to withdraw the bid without forfeiting its bid bond.
Bids for the project were received on July 25, Public Works Director Robert Armstrong said. After the bid was accepted, Metcon leaders sent a letter to city government stating the company had made a “significant error” in the bid.
Armstrong said he was not asking the council to approve going with the second-lowest bid, which was $3,269,235 from T.A. Loving. That bid was for more money than was budgeted for the project.
The plan accepted by the council is to place all bids on hold for 90 days while the Public Works Department seeks more funding sources. If more funding is found, the existing bids can be revisited or new bids sought.
“This project has grown and become more complicated,” Armstrong said.
Council members approved awarding a $174,435 contract to Catlin Engineers and Scientists of Wilmington to conduct civil and geotechnical engineering services related to the construction of a flood mitigation berm at Rempac Foam LLC on Starlite Drive. The contract will be paid for using Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery money, Armstrong said
Catlin can begin its work immediately and construction of the actual berm can begin soon, Armstrong said.
Raleigh-based Pendergraph Development was chosen to oversee the development and construction of the Linwood-McPhail Senior Housing Complex.
Pendergraph was chosen from among five finalists, Assistant City Manager Brandon Love said. Each company that submitted a proposal was vetted with the help of N.C. School of Government’s Development Finance Initiative. Each company was graded on experience building in Southeastern North Carolina, dealing with federal funding and the ability to move quickly, among other criteria. An “aggressive” timeline for construction has been established.
The complex will be for elderly households earning 80% of the area’s median income or less. It will have 68 units, which will be a mix of single-story and two-story buildings.
A rezoning request that would have cleared the way for the construction of a hotel between Farmbrook Drive and Hatfield Court was sent back to the Planning Board at the urging of Councilman Leroy Rising, in whose Precinct 1 the hotel would be located. Ravi Patel, whose family owns the land on which the hotel would be built, spoke during a public hearing about the request to rezone the land from business general commercial to highway services.
“This is going to be a very nice property,” Patel said.
After hearing statements from the builders about the planned four-story, upscale hotel and from area residents and business owners with concerns about flooding, traffic congestion and having to see lights from the hotel every night, Rising proposed sending the project back to the Planning Board for more study and to see if a compromise that satisfies all parties involved can be reached. The rezoning request is to be taken up again during the council’s October meeting.
In other business, the council members approved:
— An annexation request from Russell Kinlaw, Ernest R. Britt Sr. and Thomas Ray Lee for property at 1390 Linkhaw Road.
— The demolition and removal of unsafe properties at 505 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and 1903 Lambeth St.
— A final change order that deducts $8,000 from the contract with Axel McPherson Construction Inc. to replace a damaged water line across the Lumber River.
— An $8.50-per ton contract to have Pelton Aggregates Inc. crush an estimated 5,000 tons of concrete at the Saddletree Landfill, with a final cost of $46,000. Public Works uses the crushed concrete in its daily operations rather than buying crushed granite.
— An amendment that adds $18,750 to the contract for a sewer rehab project that includes the Lambeth Street area, Lackey Street and the Ramada Inn force main replacement. Changes in pipe conditions and weather delays caused the project’s increased costs.
— A conditional-use permit request that clears the way for the Your Pie pizza restaurant, which is to be built at 5103 Fayetteville Road, to operate as a restaurant.
— Authorizing the creation of a Mill Street redevelopment district and overlay plan.
— Granting a delay in the demolition and removal of property at 1117 Cherokee St. so the owner can remove the structure as he had planned until he was forced by hurricanes Matthew and Florence to first repair other properties he owns.
— The donation of a lot on Washington Street to the city.
— An agreement to enter into a partnership with Duke Energy to build a flood wall at the Bullard Street electrical substation.
— An extension to the Downtown Improvement Plan that moves the area covered by the facade-improvement project over one street toward Elizabethtown Road.
— Adding one more tier to the city’s health insurance coverage plan for retirees and elected officials.
— Finding a contractor, at a cost estimated between $15,000 and $20,000, to conduct a federally mandated Americans With Disabilities Self-Assessment & Transition Plan study.
