The New Bern Board of Aldermen will consider a resolution that gives the city manager authority to execute agreements and change orders for 11 stormwater improvement projects that will be funded through the sale of municipal general obligation bonds during their Aug. 11, 2026 meeting at 6 p.m. in the second-floor courtroom at City Hall, 300 Pollock St. in New Bern, NC, according to the meeting packet.
Bond referendum
Mayor Jeffrey Odham (of Ward 6) told the aldermen during a work session in May 2024 that they should put a bond referendum on the ballot to finish “the bike and pedestrian plan” and any other projects. Property owners would pay an additional tax to repay the principal and interest over 20 years.
Stormwater, sewer and water infrastructure
Around the same time, the Housing Authority of the City of New Bern was in the process of hiring a consultant to apply for a potential U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant, as reported here. In August 2024, the Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners talked about the city contributing infrastructure money. They also discussed possible risks as the political situation (November 2024 Presidential Election) could be different in nine months. The consultant said the Hope VI and Choice Neighborhood programs had received bipartisan support in the past and was hopeful but wasn’t absolutely confident because you never know.
Housing Authority Commissioner Dana Outlaw (the former mayor) said, “the city’s in-kind portion, wasn’t it about 10% or 15%…at that time we were looking at $60 or $70 million.”
Housing Authority Commissioner (former alderman and current Municipal Service District Advisory Committee chairman) Sabrina Bengel said, “Correct, and we were going to use the water and sewer, that money that we got for the stormwater. We were using all of that and that was $35 million, I think.”
The Barner Group CEO and Interim Housing Authority Director Reginal “Reggie” Barner said, “You all got to help carry and lift that load for us to go to the community and say in order for us to get, as Sabrina said before, if we apply for $30 million in CNI money and we have $40 million coming in from FEMA, we got to be able to go to the community and say, are y’all willing to help us get this additional $30 million or 10%, 15% to go towards infrastructure? If they’re not willing to do that and quite frankly, if y’all’s pull is not strong enough to help facilitate that, then let me be the first to tell you, we’re throwing good money out of an open window in the wintertime with the heat on.”
No quorum
The Board of Aldermen didn’t have a quorum for their Oct. 8, 2024. Instead of calling it a night, the mayor decided to use his pulpit, city staff, and resources to make unfounded statements about aldermen who were not there to defend themselves during “a meeting (that) was not held,” as reported here. He later went on his Housing Authority board appointee’s reality show and bashed the aldermen who missed the meeting.
At the next regular meeting, it was disclosed that one alderman was out of the country; one was officiating her son’s wedding; and the other alderman said she was dealing with a private matter.
Federal grant match
When the Housing Authority presented the CNI plan to the public, the editor asked the mayor if the bond money would be used as a match for the Choice Neighborhood project and he said, “That would be pretty dishonest, wouldn’t it.”
Bond referendum
The aldermen approved a resolution on July 8, 2025, to put a bond measure on the ballot asking voters if they wanted the city to issue $24 million in municipal general obligation bonds — $10 million for streets and sidewalks, $8 million for parks and recreation, and $6 million for stormwater improvements projects – with Rick Prill (Ward 1), Hazel Royal (Ward 2), Robert “Bobby” Aster (Ward 3) and Johnnie Ray Kinsey (Ward 4) voting yes. The Ward 6 alderman seat was vacant. Alderman Barbara Best (Ward 5) voted against it. Mayor Jeffrey Odham (Ward 6) also voted for the motion. The board approved the bond orders (page 320) on July 9.
The interest on the bond was estimated at $13,466,880.
City staff proposed and marketed several projects, but the aldermen did not formally approve specific projects.
The vote
The bond referendum was put on the ballot for the October 2025 municipal election — 4,145 of 25,128 people voted for street and sidewalk bonds; 3,912 of 25,128 people voted for parks and recreation bonds; and 4,590 of 25,128 people voted for stormwater bonds.
The director of Finance estimated property taxes to increase by $0.0275 per $100 of assessed valuation to pay for the bonds based on a 5.344% interest rate and an assumed growth in the property tax base of 1% in the FY ending June 30, 2027, and each year thereafter.
Leverage letters for federal grant
Reggie Barner told the Board of Aldermen that the Housing Authority is getting “leverage letters” from partners and agencies as local commitments for a $26 million federal grant during the city manager’s report on Feb. 10, 2026, as reported here.
City Manager Foster Hughes said the Housing Authority asked New Bern to provide about $5 million for streets, water and sewer infrastructure projects in the redevelopment zone. “We’re looking at leveraging $15 million in projects over the next 8-10 years, plus the additional amount for the road, water and sewer infrastructure to be a total of approximately $20 million for the project,” he said.
He asked the aldermen to authorize the mayor to sign a letter regarding the leverages that will be included as part of the grant package and they would pass it around for them to see.
Alderman Ferguson said, “to be clear, the leverages are not funding commitments, we’re saying these are projects that we are doing in this region over the next eight years that can be included for this grant.”
Alderman Best said you’re asking us to buy in — this in no way is going to incorporate the monies that we have for the bond referendum.
Hughes said there are certain bond projects in the CNI area that would be included as leverages. He said there could be some streets that are in better condition than they are now. He said they aren’t doing a dump of bond funds in this area.
Alderman White said she supported providing the letter and believed construction of new homes needed to start as soon as possible.
Ferguson made a motion to authorize the mayor to sign a letter of leverage to support the city’s application with the Housing Authority for the CNI grant application based on the projects that the mayor and the city manager identify with staff input. Trey Ferguson (Ward 1), Sharon Bryant (Ward 2), “Bobby” Aster (Ward 3), Lainy White (Ward 4), Barbara Best (Ward 5) and Dana Outlaw (Ward 6) voting for the motion. Mayor Jeffrey Odham (of Ward 6) also voted for the motion.
After the application was submitted in March, NewBernNow.com obtained a copy of the city’s commitment letter which can be found here: page 1 and page 2.
Stormwater improvement projects
The Board of Aldermen will consider approving a resolution on Tuesday night that will authorize the city manager to execute professional services agreements with the selected engineering firms for the stormwater improvement projects in the bond referendum. It also lets him “execute negotiated agreement modifications and change orders, provided they remain within the authorized funding limits of the Stormwater General Obligation Bond,” according to the meeting packet.
The stormwater projects (page 249 of meeting packet) ranked by priority include College Park Drainage Improvements ($550,000) (Ward 6), Oaks Road Drainage Improvements ($750,000) (Ward 5), Taberna Cart Path Culvert Replacement $400,000 (Ward 3), Pollock St. & Liberty St. Stormwater Improvements ($500,000) (Ward 1), Christopher Avenue Culvert Replacement ($400,000) (Ward 2), Brunswick Avenue Culvert Replacement ($600,000) (Ward 4), South Front Street & Hancock Street Stormwater Improvements ($450,000) (Ward 1), Red Robin Culvert Replacement ($400,000) (Ward 2 & 6), Oaks Road/Glenburnie Road Culvert Installation ($550,000) (Ward 5), Hazel Avenue Culvert Replacement ($900,000) (Ward 5), and Green Park Terrace Culvert Replacement ($500,000) (Ward 2), as noted here.
Consultants TRC Engineers and Kimley-Horn received the highest scores.
Choice Neighborhood funding
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhood grants have not been awarded for this cycle.
Related news
Meeting videos are usually uploaded to City 3 TV, city’s Facebook page and/or YouTube channel. Agendas and packets can be found here.
By Wendy Card, editor. Send an email with questions or comments.