Havelock strives to be customer friendly

HAVELOCK — Like any business, Havelock wants to be more customer friendly.

The city’s new one-stop Customer Service Center is scheduled to open on Nov. 23 in the planning and inspections building next to Havelock City Hall on Cunningham Boulevard.

Residents who typically pay water bills or other city bills in person will no longer do so at Havelock City Hall but at the new center.

The planning and inspections personnel as well as the city’s technology staff have been relocated to the back portion of the building that was once known as the Henry Witten Community Center.

Customers who go to the center may notice a familiar décor, as the Jackson family and Navy Federal Credit Union donated much of the furniture from the credit union’s old offices in the Westbrooke Shopping Center to the city. The donations included a $40,000 safe.

"Everything from the carpeting to the windows, inside doors, door handles, doorframes, teller stations and chairs — everything was donated," said Dave Harvell, assistant city manager.

Amanda Rochelle will manage the center as the customer service supervisor.

"She will guide this into a more customer friendly, business friendly place," Harvell said. "It is actually going to be changing the culture of the way our customers are serviced."

In addition to water service, customers can also get permits to fill their pool and building permits at the same place.

"This way you don’t have to make your payment for water in one building and then pull your car around to a different building to make a payment for a building permit," said Diane Miller, a Havelock spokeswoman.

The changes come as the first phase of a major renovation to space at Havelock City Hall in an effort to maximize efficiency at the city facilities.

"Now we get the absolute best use of space that we could possibly have," Miller said. "We have an expanded server room, expanded IT workspace. The planning space is used more efficiently."

Other changes include a restoration of the foundation of the 50-year-old original city hall building, which is rotting.

Office space in the existing building will be redrawn, and the current commissioner meeting room and district courtroom will be divided into office space.

The former senior center on East Main Street will be restored and divided into office space, with a new commissioner meeting room and district courtroom to be built directly adjacent.

The city is receiving a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan for $1.7 million and a $100,000 grant to make improvements to its facilities.

That money was not used to complete the Customer Service Center, which was done by the work of city employees and labor from a carpentry and masonry inmate program through the N.C. Department of Corrections.

"We remodeled about 3,000 square feet for about 10 percent of a contracted price," Harvell said of the center.

Drew C. Wilson can be contacted at 252-444-1999 or drwilson@freedomenc.com.