Cemetery moving forward
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 24, 2014 1:46 PM
Construction could begin in early December on the Eastern Carolina State Veterans Cemetery on Long's Plant Farm Road east of Goldsboro and take about 10 months to complete, depending on the weather.
Daniels and Daniels Construction Co. of Goldsboro submitted the low base bid of nearly $3 million for the project and a base bid plus add alternates for a grand total bid of $4,126,400.
The bids were opened Aug. 14.
Officials with SfL+a, project architect, compiled the bids and recommended to the state Construction Office that Daniels and Daniels be awarded the contract.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Nov. 6 for the project that will develop nearly 20 acres of the approximately 80 acres given to the state by the county and its Development Alliance for the project.
The county still has to rezone a portion of the property.
Wayne County commissioners are expected to schedule a public hearing on the rezoning.
The County Planning Board is recommending that the public hearing be set for Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 9:15 a.m. in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex.
The recommendation is to rezone 163 Long's Plant Farm Road from light industry to airport to allow for the cemetery.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded a $5,400,776 grant to the North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs to build the cemetery.
The state allocated $600,000 that was used to hire the architect and to design the cemetery that will be maintained by the state.
It will be a state cemetery because the Wayne County area's population size does not meet the threshold for it to receive national designation.
The federal grant will help the state provide continued service for 5,332 veterans and their families in the state, according to a letter from U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald.
The grant will pay for the construction of a main entrance, an administration building, a maintenance facility, roads, an assembly area, a committal shelter, 1,874 preplaced crypts, 882 cremains (the remains of people who have been cremated) grave sites, a columbaria with 480 columbarium niches (for urns holding the remains of people who have been cremated), a memorial walkway, a memorial wall, landscaping and supporting infrastructure.
It was originally thought that the state would only be able to build five of the seven add alternates in the project plans.
However, based on the grant amount, State Construction Office officials feel confident that the state will be able to do all seven, said Eli Panee, N.C. Division of Veterans Affairs Cemetery program manager.
The add alternates are a driveway and garage bays to the maintenance shed; double-depth concrete crypts in the burial area; a 10-foot-wide sidewalk and a memorial wall; fence and fence signs; flag assembly area and branch service flags; a set of Armed Forces medallions; and a through wall grave site locator kiosk.
Panee said it was his understanding that as of last week the State Construction Office was completing the contract to be sent to Daniels and Daniels Construction for its acceptance.
Once the contract is signed, a pre-construction meeting will be held between the contractor, the design team and the State Construction Office to go over the project, project responsibilities, and key administrative matters, he said.
Once that is done, then a start date will be established, Panee said.