Library plan on county agenda
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 5, 2013 1:46 PM
The Wayne County Commissioners Facilities Committee will reconvene Tuesday at 7 a.m. to make its decision on a design/build team to construct the new Steele Memorial Library in Mount Olive.
The full Board of Commissioners could give final approval to hire the team when it meets later that morning.
In design/build, an architect and general contractor form a team that works under one contract with the project owner, in this case the county, providing both design and construction services.
During a July 23 Facilities Committee meeting, the teams vying for the job said the existing library plan is a good one and that they could complete the project within eight to 10 months once they get the go-ahead.
They also said they could build it more cheaply than the $120-per-square-foot price set by commissioners. However, there has been no discussion about bids or actual costs. That will not happen until a team is selected.
The Facilities Committee will meet in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse. It will be followed by the commissioners' agenda briefing at 8 a.m.
The board session will start at 9 a.m.
The teams being considered listed in order of design firm/contractor, are: MHA Works of Greenville/TA Loving of Goldsboro; Hite Associates of Greenville/Bordeaux Construction Co. of Durham; Brennan Architects of Columbia, S.C./Hudson Brothers of Greenville; Dunn & Dalton of Kinston/Daniels & Daniels of Goldsboro; and Smith Engineering & Design of Goldsboro/Jackson Builders of Goldsboro.
Team representatives used the July 23 session to highlight possible plans for the library, past projects, their experiences in design/build and their ties to Wayne County, Goldsboro and Mount Olive.
Rather than adjourn, the committee voted to recess the meeting until Tuesday morning.
Also on Tuesday, county commissioners will be asked to adopt a resolution supporting regional Interstate connectivity in eastern North Carolina.
Metropolitan Planning Organizations and Rural Planning Organizations east of I-95 have formed the Eastern North Carolina MPO/RPO Coalition to advocate for highway improvements in the area.
The group is supporting the state Department of Transportation developing and building to Interstate highway standards a regional Interstate system along the U.S. 264, U.S. 70, U.S. 17 and the Interstate-795 and Interstate 40 corridors.
In another highway-related issue, commissioners will consider a supplemental agreement with Cambridge Systematics, the company that is conducting an economic impact study on completing the new U.S. 70 between I-40 and the state ports at Morehead City.
The supplement agreement is to conduct a similar study for the I-795 corridor between Goldsboro and I-40 west of Faison.
The U.S. 70 Corridor Commission, of which Wayne County is a member, partnered with the county for the study.
The U.S. 70 study is expected to cost $235,971. Adding I-795 to the study will increase the contract by $128,561 for a total cost of $364,533.
The county has been designated to receive up to $350,000 from the Federal Highway Administration that is allocated to the state DOT to pay for the study.
Any cost above the level of federal funding will come from the MPO budget.
Commissioners will be asked to name the walking park at the Senior Center on East Ash Street as the "Wells Fargo Advisors Walking Park."
The naming is in recognition of a $10,000 donation from the company for the walking park.
The board has been asked to proclaim Aug. 17 as Honey Bee Day in Wayne County. The Beekeepers of the Neuse will celebrate National Honey Bee Day Aug. 17 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Waynesborough Park.
Commissioner Bill Pate is expected to ask the board to approve a resolution to honor Purple Heart recipients at the Goldsboro/Wayne Purple Heart Foundation annual banquet on Tuesday.
The board will be asked to sign an agreement with the state for the protection, development and improvements of forest land.
It is an annual agreement in which the state pays 60 percent, or $187,595, of the $312,658 cost, and the county pays the remainder, $125,063.
The agreement maintains and equips a forest ranger in the county.
Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne is asking for a refund of taxes paid in 2012. The totals are $5,201.45 for property at 903 S. George St. and $541.18 for property at 927 S. George St.
Public comments will be accepted at 10 a.m.