LUMBERTON — Lumberton will get another infusion of funds to buy out homes in flood prone areas of South and West Lumberton and Mayfair Subdivision, this time from a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Maggie Gurule, of the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resilience, told the Lumberton City Council on Wednesday it expects to get as much as $150 million to buy and demolish homes in flood prone residential zones in Lumberton and four other counties hit by hurricanes Matthew and Florence.
Most of the homes will be privately owned by low- and moderate-income families, and there will be incentives to relocate out of flood prone areas in the county and state. The buyout program has targeted homes off National Avenue in West Lumberton, east of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in South Lumberton and off Hampstead Street in Mayfair.
The plan drew questions from council members John Cantey and Chris Howard, who represent South Lumberton.
“Buyout, buyouts, buyouts are killing our community,” Cantey said. “We’re looking to rebuild and re-establish.”
Cantey’s hope is that the city’s efforts to close the Jacob Swamp Dike will solve flooding problems in South and West Lumberton. Howard’s concerns were for homeowners with homes not valued at market prices high enough to find other suitable accommodations.
“A person in a home valued at $35,000 will not be able to buy a home for that,” Howard said. “There are no homes here priced like that.”
City Manager Wayne Horne said the city hopes to get a grant to fill the gap.
The goal of the state and federal agencies is to get families out of flood prone areas, Gurule said.
“The buyouts are for the most at-risk,” she said. “This is flood mitigation is for the most vulnerable.”
With FEMA funding totaling $13.5 million tied to Hurricane Matthew, the city has purchased and demolished six homes, and three more demolitions were approved Wednesday. The city expects to purchase 47 homes in flood prone areas, elevate 23 and renovate 36 more.
In other business, council members emerged from a short executive session to report the city will renew efforts to establish an industrial and commercial park near Interstate 95 and U.S. 74. The 200-acre park could become home to as many as five industrial buildings and a commercial sector with up to eight hotels, restaurants and other services. Grants would be needed to purchase land from several landowners and provide infrastructure.
The council members also selected Councilman John Carroll to serve on the board of directors of the North Carolina Eastern Power Agency. The advisory board deals with financing for North Carolina ElectriCities, which purchases electric power from Duke Energy for several cities in eastern North Carolina, including Lumberton and Red Springs.
Council members approved a revised policy to stem an increase in “avoidable accidents” involving city employees. In accidents that city employees are responsible for, the employee would be charged $500 or the cost of repairs if below $500. Employees involved in accidents will be tested for drug use and enrolled in defensive driving classes.
The city has had difficulty finding liability insurance, according to Safety and Accountability Director David Carroll.
Finally, the council approved buying a line truck for the Electric Utilities Department at a cost of $217,817 and a $64,000 utility truck for Public Works.
