ELLERBE — The Ellerbe Town Council took another step forward on the Main Street waterline replacement project Monday evening after approving a change order presented by Project Engineer Ben Wibbens of LKC Engineering.
“If you remember when we awarded the project earlier this year, we had to remove a line out of the project because we didn’t have enough contingencies beforehand to fit in the budget. The good news, is that we have that now. Millstone from Main Street, passing Crawford by the funeral home will be added back in given that we have enough funds to get that project in the budget. It’s a total bottom-dollar changer of $295,526.37. With that change order, it will leave us with the remaining contingency of $21,000. We will have about 5% of the contingency level of the remaining work just in case. Anything can happen when you’re digging in the ground,” Wibbens explained.
The addition of the Millstone segment allows for critical tie-in work to proceed on Railroad Street, a key piece in removing outdated cast iron lines.
“One thing to note is this work will allow us to make the tie-in on Railroad Street, which is the last point we need to cut off and abandon the cast iron lines in our front area,” added Wibbens.
According to SKC, all repair and construction efforts are expected to wrap up by August. Mayor Brenda Capel emphasized that while progress may seem slow, the approval process is rigorous and necessary.
“We have to understand, if you just get funded for something, it’s only for that project. If there’s something additional you need to do, you need to get approval first. All of this takes time and involves a lot of going back and forth,” Capel said.
Also during the meeting, the council approved a resolution drafted by attorney Timothy Snead to place wine sales on the November ballot, allowing voters to weigh in.
In code enforcement updates, officer John Ganus detailed ongoing efforts to address substandard properties. Several mobile homes and abandoned buildings remain under review.
“The mobile home park on Henderson Drive, the road has been repaired somewhat. They could still do some grappling on that. They’ve cleaned up some of the trash and debris and got rid of a couple of the junk cars. As soon as we get other cases around town finished up, I’m going to return to the park and start finalizing some of the clean-ups that need to be finished,” said Ganus.
A mobile home on Robinson Avenue has passed its compliance deadline following structural damage sustained during installation. The owner, who failed to appear at a hearing in February, has yet to take corrective action, they said.
On Hwy 220 North, an abandoned house has undergone asbestos inspection, and a demolition bid opening is scheduled for Aug. 5 at 2 p.m. Meanwhile, renovations are underway at 4385 Main Street, they said.
“They’re in the process of putting a new roof on it. They’ve cleaned out all of the old roof and they’ve got about three-fifths of the roof done. They’ve run into a snag because some of the anchor bolts that they ordered didn’t come in, only part of them did. The rest came in on Saturday, so they’re going to pick those up and this week they should be moving forward on that,” Ganus said.
In other business, Pam Hill with Richmond County Aging Services spoke at the meeting to highlight assistance programs available to local seniors, including funding for overdue power bills and home repairs.
“For the ones that currently has past due power bills, they do have funding. Residents who have Pee Dee Electric, Pee Dee has a program where they’re taking applications, where you can get a quote from a contractor and possibly apply for a loan if you need some immediate work done to your home and you can’t afford to pay for it. Duke Energy has a program as well. Richmond County has the most applications for this program. This program is free and income-based. The number of household members and the income that you can make is in the paperwork. A lot of Richmond County residents have taken advantage of this program and it’s no cost to you, where they’ve been able to add insulation to your home if your AC unit is messed up, they either repair or replace it,” Hill explained.
Additional programs are expected to launch soon, including one aimed at covering mortgage, utility and water expenses.
“We’re waiting on one program to go to the board of commissioners and that program will be able to help people with their mortgage, light bills and water bills. We also have our home repair program that started at the end of this month though our job — that’s a different budget from the one that assists with the mortgages,” said Hill.
“As a part of our Christmas in July, we’ve been collecting cleaning supplies to give out to our seniors because a lot of them for our ‘adopt-a-senior’ program, they ask for cleaning supplies. With the price of living going up, we’re just trying to do something to help our seniors as well,” she added.
Hill also noted that a special assistance program through DSS helps seniors who do not qualify for Medicaid but still require support. Richmond County Aging Services is currently running a 50/50 raffle to further assist older residents.