- September 1, 2021
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Windy…scattered thunderstorms. Low 73F. Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50%..
Windy…scattered thunderstorms. Low 73F. Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Updated: September 1, 2021 @ 4:20 pm
Newport Public Works deputy director Jim Bristle, left, shows Council Member Rhonda Shinn, center left, Mayor Dennis Barber, center right, and Council Member Danny Fornes, right, around his department’s workshop Friday. (Mike Shutak photo)
Newport Public Utilities deputy director Bernie Hall, center left, explains the workings of the town wastewater treatment plant Friday to council members Danny Fornes, left and Rhonda Shinn, center right, and town manager Bryan Chadwick, right. (Mike Shutak photo)
Newport Public Works deputy director Jim Bristle, left, shows Council Member Rhonda Shinn, center left, Mayor Dennis Barber, center right, and Council Member Danny Fornes, right, around his department’s workshop Friday. (Mike Shutak photo)
NEWPORT — Keeping drainage ditches clear and aging infrastructure running are among the top priorities for Newport’s public works and public utilities departments.
Town officials took a tour Friday afternoon of the public works facilities and the wastewater treatment plant/ Public works deputy director Jim Bristle, public utilities deputy director Bernie Hall and treatment plant operator Scotty Rollins spoke with Mayor Dennis Barber and council members Rhonda Shinn, Danny Fornes and Bob Benedict about existing facilities, operations and needs in the near future.
Mr. Bristle said his department does “a little bit of everything” in terms of maintenance and upkeep of public property, facilities and the equipment of various departments. One of their biggest jobs has been keeping the town’s drainage ditches cleared.
“We’ve recently finished up the (Hurricane) Florence cleanup,” Mr. Bristle said, referring to the September 2018 storm. “We’ve got the ditches clean after three years. Everything drains into Deep Creek around here. Newport is basically flat, if it (the creek) backs up, everything here floods.”
One of the biggest concerns Mr. Bristle has maintaining the ditches is residents building structures so close it makes access difficult.
Newport Public Utilities deputy director Bernie Hall, center left, explains the workings of the town wastewater treatment plant Friday to council members Danny Fornes, left and Rhonda Shinn, center right, and town manager Bryan Chadwick, right. (Mike Shutak photo)
“Our biggest problem with our ditches is we can’t get our machines in there due to fences,” he said. “We’ve got to be about to get our machines in there to be able to get junk out of the bottom to get (stormwater) to run.”
To perform maintenance and repairs, Mr. Bristle has a full-time staff of four employees, as well as access to inmate laborers, which the department often relies on to help mow the grass on town property and along town-maintained roads.
Mr. Bristle said when the coronavirus pandemic caused state prisons to suspend their inmate labor program, he had to hire part-time staff.
After touring the public works facilities, the mayor and council members went to the treatment plant. Mr. Hall showed them around the location, which includes two different treatment facilities, one built in 2000 and the other in the 1980s.
He said the existing treatment plant’s systems have underground piping and vessels that have exceeded their useful life. Staff has replaced sections of it, but in the long term, they’re working on designing an entirely new plant with the capacity for later expansion.
“We’re about five years from breaking ground,” Mr. Hall said. “I’m scared we’re going to have to put improvements into this plant to get us there.”
He said the cost of refurbishing the existing treatment plant is comparable to the cost of building a new one.
Mayor Barber said during the tour that like many municipalities in Carteret County, “we never have enough to do everything.”
“We have an outstanding team here,” the mayor continued. “Over the next few years, we’re going to need to continue to upgrade their equipment.”
Contact Mike Shutak at 252-723-7353, email mike@thenewstimes.com; or follow on Twitter at @mikesccnt.
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