A public meeting about the rebuilding and relocation of the damaged Stanley White Recreation Center in New Bern will be held July 29, 2021. The City of New Bern has applied through FEMA’s Public Assistance grant program to rebuild the center after it was damaged during Hurricane Florence in 2018.
The meeting, to be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Omega Center (located at 800 Cedar Street), will provide an overview of the draft of the environmental assessment for the project and allow an in-person opportunity to submit public comments and ask questions.
The construction of a new center will be at a location outside of the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), approximately 670 feet (or 0.15-miles) southwest of the former facility, and still remain within the city limits of New Bern. The new facility is needed to provide a permanent community meeting space that is safe, accessible, and meets all applicable building codes and standards. Because the previous location of the building is within the floodplain, reconstruction on the original site would continue the risk of future flood damage and rebuilding.
The comment period on the environmental assessment will end Aug. 14, 2021, which is 30 days after the initial notice was published on July 16, 2021. Written comments on the draft assessment can be mailed or emailed to the contacts below. If no substantive comments are received, the environmental assessment and associated Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) will become final. Substantive comments received will be addressed as appropriate in the final environmental assessment.
FEMA Region IV EHP, 3005 Chamblee-Tucker Road, Atlanta, Georgia, 30341, Email: FEMA-R4EHP@fema.dhs.gov
For more information on FEMA’s environmental assessments, go to Region 4 – Environmental Documents and Public Notices | FEMA.gov.
Submitted by: Linda Minney, FEMA