Station repairs under question
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on February 20, 2018 9:51 PM
A $258,293 city cost to replace the roof on the historic Union Station train depot came under question by one member of the Goldsboro City Council Monday.
Councilman Bevan Foster questioned the need of replacing the roof and asked what purpose the building would serve, in light of other community needs, during a council work session.
Replacing the roof at Union Station, at 101 N. Carolina St., is part of a $516,585 project that includes a $432,792 contract with Century Slate Co. for roof repairs and a $38,314 engineering contract, with the N.C. Department of Transportation sharing half the cost. The city will pay for its portion from fund balance reserves.
"What purpose is this building going to serve us in the future?" Foster said. "It just seems like we're going to put money into this building and we don't know what we're going to get out of it."
Julie Metz, Goldsboro's downtown development director, said the work is designed to preserve and stabilize the building.
"The future plans are to serve as a passenger rail hub," Metz said. "The plan is that N.C. DOT and their long-range plan are going to establish passenger rail between Raleigh and Wilmington and Goldsboro will be the hub, using Union Station."
Metz showed the council pictures of roof and other structural damage to the building.
"The building is in deteriorating condition," she said.
Union Station, which opened to fanfare in 1909, became the crossroads for the longest railroad in the world, the Wilmington-Weldon Railroad. In the early 1900s, the station served three different rail lines and up to 22 passenger trains per day.
Since 2009, close to $2.2 million in state and federal funds have been spent on the building, with the city spending close to $220,000, Metz said.
Efforts, for the past decade, have been focused on preserving the building for future use as a multi-modal transportation station, said Mayor Chuck Allen.
"We've always agreed that we're going to stabilize the building," Allen said.
Foster asked when the station would be converted into a rail hub.
"There is no projected date right now," Metz said.
Foster then asked why the city should continue spending money when the future project has no projected timeline and may eventually cost close to $10 million.
Metz said the project has been delayed due to the lack of federal funding, low interest from rail companies, including the CSX and the Norfolk-Southern railroad, and a lack of support from legislators.
"It's going to cost $200,000 now and there's no telling how much it's going to cost in the future to get it up to standard, even if the railroad did come or didn't come," Foster said.
"We can demo it, as far as I'm concerned, to be honest, for the price.
"If we had to build again, we could build something again but as of right now, $200,000 for a building that we might never have a good usage for and we will never probably see that money again, seems like a bad investment of the taxpayers dollars."
Foster mentioned the council's recent lack of support in adding a $31,000 fence to the rear of the building but apparent support of roof repairs.
"I'm just asking, why?" Foster said. "Why do we have to?"
"Because if you don't, it's going to fall down, Councilman Foster," Allen said.
Foster also said there has to be a better use of city tax dollars, in light of a recent study that found 25 percent of Goldsboro residents living in poverty.
The study, completed by the N.C. Poverty Research Fund, also concluded that almost half of all children in the city live in poverty and one in four go hungry every day.
"We can't find $200,000 to do nothing better with, when we have citizens out here living in poverty?" Foster said.
Foster made a motion that the contract be pulled from the city council's regular meeting consent agenda, which would require a separate vote. The motion failed, after no one else on the council seconded Foster's motion.
The Union Station contract was approved in a 6-1 vote, with Foster voting in opposition, along with other consent agenda items. The items were approved during the council's regular meeting in City Hall.
Items approved by the council include:
* A $478,000 installment financing package with SunTrust Equipment Finance and Leasing Corp. allowing the purchase of equipment, including 90 fire and police laptops, as part of a city computer-related network upgrade.
* A resolution in support of the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
* A $48,222 stream debris removal contract with Three Deuces for the removal of vegetative debris from the Big Ditch, Howell Creek, Stoney Creek, Little River and the Mimosa Park ditch. The project will be paid for with a portion of a $105,355 state grant the city was awarded for Hurricane Matthew cleanup.