A $220,000 state planning grant will not fix the town of Mount Olive’s storm water runoff woes, but it will point out what is needed, said Town Manager Jammie Royall, who announced the grant during the board’s Tuesday session.
The planning will be an ongoing process over the next two years, he added
In the interim, the town will push ahead with one flood mitigation project that already is under way — replacing a 30-inch drainage line under the railroad bed on South Center Street with a 48-inch one, adding a new trunk line on Kornegay Street and dredging ditches.
Mount Olive has received a $1 million grant for that project.
Royall just received the letter of intent from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality alerting the town it would receive the $220,000 grant.
“We applied for the grant,” Royall explained. “The letter of intent is just them telling us, ‘hey, you have actually got the grant.’ It is a storm water planning grant. This is just to say they are going to come in, and they are going to do a plan for the storm water.
“So this will help us with flooding. It also will help us with actually being able to get a project for all of the water runoff — like off the roofs, all the concrete, all the asphalt.”
When it rains, flooding is widespread in the town, Royall said. The planning will help determine projects to mitigate that flooding, he added.
The town has until December 2026 to complete the planning process so it could be more than a year before actual planning gets under way, Royall said
An added benefit to the planning grant is that it will enhance the town’s chances of receiving grants to address flooding, he said.
“All of the (grant) money that you get, they are pretty much wanting a plan on it,” Royall said. “It gets you more grants because you know exactly what you need to do. It is easier to get.
“For example, if they come out with a grant next month, let’s say ‘this is going to be a grant to fix some of your problems.’ OK, we know what our problems are because we are getting ready to start on this and it will be easier to get.”
A lot of grants are based on a point system, and a certain number of points are required to be awarded the grant, Royall explained.
“So getting a plan done like this is a great big deal for us as far as getting points,” he said.
Drainage project
Engineering work and surveying have been completed on the drainage project on South Center Street. Bids have not yet been sought for the project that is expected to be completed around 2025-2026.
“We are just trying to get everything done,” Royall said. “We have got to have a flagman down there to take care of all of the train traffic coming through.
“So right now we are just trying to get all that kind of stuff in place. We just got our permits. You have to have permits to work on it. We have one of our main permits for it so it is moving slowly.”
It probably will be another six to eight months for the actual project work to begin, he said.
The raised railroad bed acts almost like a dam, preventing rainwater from draining properly that contributes to flooding in the southern part of town.
The 30-inch pipe currently under the track will be replaced with a 48-inch one. To complement the larger pipe, a 24-inch trunk line will installed on Kornegay Street to handle more water.
That trunk line will complement an existing 24-inch trunk line that runs down Maple Street to Breazeale Avenue. A trunk line is a main line that drains away water.
Also, the town is going to dredge town-owned ditches on Nelson Street to improve drainage flow.
