The Lenoir County Commissioners voted 6-1 on a proposal to approve the acceptance of a grant from the N.C. Department of Transportation to assist in the acquisition of right of way for the extension of Smithfield Way.
The decision was made in Monday’s county commissioner meeting and will open up additional space for traffic on Hill Farm Road and U.S. Highway 70.
County Commissioner Eric Rouse was the only member on the board to oppose the plan, believing protocol hasn’t been completely reached.
“I was voting against the proposal because residents have spoken negatively about the drainage issues,” Rouse said. “The commissioners and DOT had promised to have a hydraulics report and a public meeting. The meeting hasn’t happened yet and they’re still proceeding forth in this project.
“I don’t believe we should take any more action until we’re sure all issues are resolved. My concern is that we’ll get into a railroaded situation that we can’t turn back from.”
Commissioner Chairman Reuben Davis understood Rouse’s concern and agreed, but voted for the approval.
“We sure don’t want to create hardships for any property owners or businesses,” Davis said. “I can understand Eric’s concerns, but everything is in place and we won’t have excess water affecting property owners.
“The state has engineers and we don’t believe anything will be done negatively that will affect anyone. We will have another opportunity to address this, but this is a project that needs to be done.”
County Commissioner J. Mac Daughety — who was the most vocal about the project — said the groundwork had been prepared and plans have been put into place to relieve concerns of the public.
“The commissioners and DOT have taken great pains to make sure that when we do this project, it’s done right and doesn’t do any damage to current drainage problems,” Daughety said. “We have asked for two hydraulic reports for a complete study as to how it may impact the area and how we can minimize hit. The study has been completed and once we’ve received a written report, a public hearing will be made.”
Daughety also wanted the residents of Lenoir County to know that nothing is being done in secret when it comes to the Smithfield Way Extension.
“We’re not doing this project behind anyone’s back,” Daughety said. “We took procedural steps, so when we get to the point where we can move forward, we can repair the road and increase economy. We’re concerned like the citizens and hope not to impact them.”
Finally, Daughety said the residents in the community who have complaints with the commissioners on the project should focus their attention toward another department.
“From what I’ve been told, the root of the problems deal with a completely different agency,” Daughety said. “The people should aim their concerns toward the N.C. Railroad. When we hold this public meeting, the DOT will be there to explain and let the people know we’re making every effort to help drainage problems.”
There weren’t any other issues in the meeting, as all other issues brought to the county commissioners were passed unanimously.
One of the proposals involved an agreement to allow other counties to house Lenoir County inmates or have their inmates taken care of in the W.E. “Billy” Smith Detention Center in cases of emergency, overflow or disaster.
Also, early in the meeting, the county board publicly recognized Connie Herring for more than 21 years of work in the Lenoir County Department of Social Services.
The next county commissioners meeting will be held at 4 p.m. Aug. 5 at the Lenoir County Courthouse.
Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.