2012-13 Street Resurfacing Project
Project involves the resurfacing of City streets, including all or portions of Random Road, Englewood Road, Fairfax Road, Gordon Street, Towerhill Road and East Street. Total budgeted funds for this work were $200,000. Work was completed at a cost of $189,518.41.

GTP Rail Spur Water and Sewer Utility Relocations (performed by NCDOT)
A rail spur has been constructed by the NCDOT Railway Division to provide rail service to the new Spirit Aerosystems facility. NCDOT is to resolve any utility conflicts along the project. Conflicts in NCDOT street rights-of-way will be handled at City expense. Conflicts at other locations will be corrected at NCDOT expense. NCDOT has informed the City the estimated City expense is $490,000. It can be repaid over 3 years without interest or over 5 years with interest charged during the last two years. We are budgeting to pay this in 3 years. First payment was made in FY12/13 for $166,632.24.

Chestnut Street/Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Drainage Project
Kinston has entered into an agreement with NCDOT for construction of Phase III, which will include all work along this system from Orion Street through Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The estimated cost for Phase III was $400,000. NCDOT has agreed to provide up to $250,000 toward this project. Remaining funds would be provided from the Stormwater Fund. A contract has been awarded to Charles Hughes Construction in the amount of $344,794.49. Work is expected to be complete in March 2014.

Highway 70 Industrial Park Phase II Sewer Project
This project consists of building a new regional lift station and forcemain for the Highway 70 Industrial Park, and eliminating a small station serving the Smithfield Packing Company. Total estimated cost for this project is $4.3 million. Kinston has received a $1 million grant from the North Carolina Rural Center and a $1.25 million grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation. Another grant for $500,000 has been requested from the Department of Commerce. Lenoir County and the City of Kinston will be contributing $775,000 each. The Wooten Company was awarded an engineering contract for the project and has completed the design and permitting for the project. A procurement bid to purchase pump equipment has also been awarded to Clearwater, Inc. in the amount of $107,059. Construction has been delayed, pending the completion of grant paperwork by the industry and final approval of the grant funds. The construction bid is expected to be awarded in December 2013, with completion of the project in July 2014.

Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Corridor Project
This project included construction of a traffic circle at the intersection of King Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, plus sidewalks, crosswalks, fencing and landscaping between King Street and Vernon Avenue along Dr. MLK Jr. Boulevard. Work has been completed at a total cost of $502,560.15. The project budget was $560,000. Project was completed in May, 2013.

Water Reuse Study
The City budgeted $40,000 for a Water Reuse Feasibility Study in the Fiscal Year 2012-13 budget. The purpose of the study is to determine potential markets and construction costs for a public reuse water system. An agreement has been executed with the Wooten Company to perform the study. A presentation has been made to the Utility Advisory Commission to educate them on reuse water and potential markets for the resource. Surveys have been conducted of potential customers and the Wooten Company is currently working on cost analysis to serve areas of interest. The study should be complete by October 2013.

Falling Creek Water Supply
Growing demand in both residential and industrial areas on the western side of the City’s water system has created challenges with meeting customer needs for water volume and pressure. The City of Kinston entered into a contract with the Wooten Company to prepare a water model and evaluate potential improvements to address the concerns. The work was completed in June 2013. Several potential solutions were evaluated. The primary recommendations include increasing the size and pressure gradient at the connection the Neuse Regional Water and Sewer Authority transmission line at Tomlyn Drive, closing a connection between the Highway 70 Industrial Park and the Falling Creek area, possibly reactivating Well #18 on Kelly Road or construction of a booster station on Banks School Road. The study was completed at a cost of $35,500.

Highway 70 West Industrial Park Substation
The City will complete construction of a new substation in the Highway 70 West Industrial Park. The City borrowed funds to finance this project. Assembly of the substation began in June 2009. Total budget is $3,343,000 and total spent to date is $3,168,046. The substation is on-line, however, communication equipment is not expected to be installed until year-end.

Spirit Aerospace Rail Spur Phase II
The NCDOT is constructing a Rail Spur to benefit Spirit AeroSystems at the Global TransPark and has requested assistance from the City to relocate electric utility lines in conflict with this initiative. This projected has been completed at a cost of $264,925 which is fully reimbursable by NCDOT. Completed July 2012 with a final cost of $ 264,925.

Highway 58 South Line Relocation
NCDOT has provided a turn lane into Lenoir Community College which prompted the relocation of electric utilities. The City completed relocating eight utility poles and a conductor at a cost of $103,458 for this project. Completed September 2012 with a final cost of $ 103,458.93.

531 Circuit Upgrade
Identified in the Electric Transmission and Distribution Long Range Plan, the City will upgrade one of the distribution circuits. The 531 Circuit which originates at the Industrial Park - West Substation has reached approximately 84% of its capacity. Time is of the essence for this project as it must be completed in advance of NCDOT's scheduled replacement of the Queen Street bridges. This circuit will be used to carry the additional load as the river crossing will be closed for an extended period during bridge construction. Completed April 2013 with a final cost of
$ 463,134.76.

Point of Delivery Substation Upgrades
Identified in the Long Range Plan the City will upgrade the P.O.D substation. This substation receives incoming power from Duke Progress and supplies power to all of the customers on the City’s electrical system. This is the only such substation that the City owns and operates. The need has arisen to replace 2 115 kv transmission breakers, 2 main buss breakers and all regulators in the substation. Bids were opened and the replacement parts are on order. The work will begin once all parts are received.

Biosolids Disposal Project
During FY12-13, a study was initiated to review options to our current biosolids practices. Kinston currently creates a Class B biosolid, which must be land applied to agricultural fields under a state permit at a cost of $160,000-$200,000 per year. We looked at composting, drying and incineration processes as alternatives. Based on the results of the study, it appears the best option for Kinston will be a dryer system, which would create a pelletized, Class A product, which can be sold commercially to any customer, either by contract or walk-up sales. Estimated cost of the project is $2-3 million. Between the saving in current disposal costs and the revenue generated by the Class A product, it appears the capital cost could be recovered in 10-15 years. Staff will be seeking possible grant funds during the coming year. There is no firm schedule for this project.

College Street Railroad Crossing Project
The City of Kinston has entered into an agreement with Norfolk Southern Corporation, North Carolina Railroad and the North Carolina Department of Transportation to close the College Street Railroad crossing. In return for agreeing to close the crossing, Kinston will receive $250,000 in funds from these organizations to perform mitigation for the impacts of the closed crossing. The mitigation activities will include widening Herritage Street between Capitola Avenue and Lenoir Avenue, changing South Atlantic Avenue from one-way to two-way traffic from Pollock Street to Nelson Street, resurfacing of streets near the crossing and other related projects. The crossing is expected to be closed by November, 2013. Mitigation projects should be complete by June, 2014. The City will provide in-kind services to complete this project.

Lift Station Bypass Taps
During FY13-14 the City has budgeted $75,000 to place bypass taps at four major lift stations. The stations to be retrofitted are Forrest St., Briery Run, Pollock St., and Barrus lift stations. The bypass taps will give the City the ability to bypass the lift station in the event maintenance or rehabilitation work needs to be done. This project is expected to bid in February 2014 with completion in July 2014.

Briarwood Drive Reclamation
During FY13-14 the City has budgeted $64,000 to complete the third phase of the full depth asphalt reclamation in this area. The first two phases were completed in 2009. Briarwood Drive has experienced many sub-grade issues in the road bed causing the asphalt surface to fail. This project includes removal of the existing asphalt that is in poor condition and stabilization of the road bed before placing the new asphalt surface. This project is expected to bid in January 2014 with a completion date in April 2014.

Two-way Radios
Lenoir County is in the process of updating their two-way radio transmitter from analog to digital, to improve coverage and reliability. As a result, Kinston's Department of Public Services will purchase 103 new radios and upgrade 10 current radios to operate on the new digital system. The FY 13-14 budget includes $295,700 to fund the radio purchase/upgrades and the project is expected to be complete by December 31, 2014.

Customer Service Software
MIS and our Operations Division are working with ABB/Ventyx to upgrade our customer service software to 4.3 from our current version of 3.1, which is more than 8 years old. This upgrade will streamline many processes for our customer service staff, give our customers the option to view their account details online and receive e-bills, and tie in our GIS database so that it may be used for service and outage information. The cost of this project is estimated to be around $302,000 and shall be complete by mid-2014.

Replacement of Airport Rd. Regulators
The need for replacement of the regulator in Airport Rd. substations was identified in the Long Range Plan. This substation supplies electricity to Lenoir Memorial Hospital, Global Trans Park and other customers in the City’s service area. Funds were appropriated in the FY 13/14 budget to complete this work.