County to receive $300,000 for EMS station in Seven Springs
By Steve Herring
Published in News on April 19, 2017 9:57 AM
Wayne County will receive $300,000 to build a new EMS station in the Seven Springs community to replace the one flooded by Hurricane Matthew in October.
No timetable has been announced for the new facility, but the county is negotiating for land for the new station.
"We are getting land options right now," Office of Emergency Services Director Mel Powers said. "Once we get the land options in place then we will go before the board and try to do the land acquisition. We are already looking at doing RFQ (requests for qualifications) for the buildings. But we have to go through the land acquisition first."
The EMS unit is temporarily located north of the Neuse River at Elroy Fire Station No. 2 on Dollard Town Road just north of Seven Springs.
The new station will be located south of the river, County Manager George Wood said.
The county has not indicated where the new station will be located, but it is not expected to be near its old location in Seven Springs because of the threat of future flooding.
Wood said he could not comment on where potential sites for the new stations until the property negotiations are completed.
Wood said he along with Powers, County Planner Chip Crumpler and Facilities Director Kendall Lee have been attending meetings about additional state hurricane relief funding.
The state is routed the money through the Golden LEAF Foundation, and the county had to submit an application, Wood said.
The application was approved for replacing the EMS station.
"That is a grant. It is not a loan," Wood told Wayne County commissioners at their Tuesday morning session.
The county will also receive $178,000 to replace the sewer pump station located in the field behind SPX on U.S. 117.
"That is a very low-lying area that stays saturated all the time," Wood said. "If you remember, I have told you in the past that pump station is unusual, the design of it is from the '70s, and has what is called an open wet well.
"Sewer pump stations today, that is enclosed. What that means is that when it floods it is like we are draining the world. We did get a credit from the city of Goldsboro, about $18,000, for the month of October. They worked with us. So basically you through out that month and use a six-month average."