A long-awaited project to expand and renovate the overcrowded Craven County Department of Social Services building in New Bern is expected to get off the ground this summer.
The plan took another step forward this week after the Craven County Board of Commissioners approved funds for the initial construction work.
In February, the board selected Barnhill Contracting Company for the DSS project. During their April 3 meeting, commissioners approved a construction management contract with Barnhill as well as a pre-construction fee of $195,000 for the initial portion of the construction phase.
According to Assistant County Manager Gene Hodges, the approximately $10 million project to expand the DSS building on Neuse Boulevard will be funded through American Rescue Plan Act money the county received during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan calls for a two-story building on the existing site that would measure 20,000 square feet on each floor. The expansion and renovation were included in the Craven County Facilities Master Plan and Needs Assessment that Oakley Collier Architects presented to commissioners in 2019.
Hodges said he expected the DSS project to get underway in July or August. He said the county is waiting for the completion of the new CARTS building on Clarks Road in late June or early July so all the agency’s vehicles can be moved out of the parking area in front of the DSS building. The area currently housing the CARTS vehicles will be used to provide additional parking space once the DSS construction begins.
According to Hodges, the expansion of the DSS building is needed to address the critical overcrowding situation in the current facility, which he said serves “well over a hundred” employees. He said the construction work should not affect DSS services.
“There will be construction traffic but we’re going to make sure they plan for deliveries to be outside of normal working hours, so there shouldn’t be any impact there,” Hodges said.
Commissioner Chadwick Howard said the DSS expansion is a “much-needed project,” while Commissioner Beatrice Smith said she agreed “one hundred percent.”
“If you go over there, I’ve never seen so many people in such a small amount of space,” Howard commented.
The pre-construction work approved by the board allows Barnhill Contracting Company to begin requesting bids for the various stages of work for the project, such as electrical, mechanical, and plumbing services.
“The construction manager takes the project and breaks it up into different bid packages, and then finds qualified bidders for each of the packages,” Hodges explained.
Hodges said the money the county received through ARPA freed up money in the county’s general fund that will be used for the $10 million DSS project.
“They allowed a component called revenue replacement,” Hodges said. “So, the idea is if a local government lost revenue during the pandemic, they are then allowed to use revenue replacement against expenditures in the budget.”
By Todd Wetherington, co-editor. Send an email with questions or comments.