City officials get good feeling about Washington trip

Mayor Jimmy Sanders said Monday that "time will tell" if last week's visit to Washington will benefit Havelock.

Sanders, Commissioner Danny Walsh and City Manager Jim Freeman had meetings with the staffs of Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr, and Reps. G.K. Butterfield and Walter Jones. The delegation had an hour-long face-to-face meeting with Jones and three of his staffers.

"We felt it was very productive," Sanders said. "All of our presentations were very well received. I guess with the interest that each one of the staffers showed in the projects, it certainly appeared that they had a genuine interest and genuine desire to help us. It wasn't just lip service,"

The city paid about $2,600 for the trip, which was organized by Dan Sheehan, a representative of Marlowe and Company, a Washington-based lobbying firm hired by the city.

City officials went to the nation's capital to find funding alternatives for three specific projects, replacement of the Slocum Creek bridge on Church Road, construction of a flyover for the Slocum Road entrance to Cherry Point on U.S. 70, and expansion of the city wastewater treatment plant.

Walsh said the legislative staff members were receptive.

"The staff members are really first class," he said. "These people are top-notch people. We had a good rapport."

Sanders called the meeting with Jones the highlight of the trip.

"He was extremely supportive of all of our proposals," Sanders said. "I've known Walter Jones Jr. ever since he was first elected to Congress.

"He has always been very good to the city as was his father."

Sanders said that his father and Jones' father, U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones Sr., knew each other. He said that Jones' father helped the city get land for the city park that now bears his name.

"Congressman Jones now calls me Danny, which really makes my day," Walsh said.

"He is a gentlemen and he has a heart for the Marines. He personally cares about every Marine that has to go to war. I am more impressed with that man every time I meet him.

"We talked about the future of Cherry Point. We talked about the F-35. His concern is that Cherry Point and the military are the rock and anchor for economic growth in Havelock," Walsh said.

Sanders said that the congressional staffers seemed to understand all of the city's main projects.

"The bridge project seemed to be a particularly interesting one," Sanders said of the narrow federal bridge that was built over Slocum Creek in 1924. It is scheduled for replacement in 2015, but the city wants it replaced sooner.

"It sort of sounded like that may be something that they may be able to help us with," Sanders said. "It came down to how they can help us and what branch of government is appropriate to get this type of funding."

Walsh said city staff helped prepare the city's presentation, which he said went well with the leadership of Sanders and Freeman.

"It was just really nice to meet and greet people that have the capability to help us fund these projects," Walsh said.

Sanders said he has a positive feeling about the trip.

"It was just a very upbeat day," he said. "We felt good last year and I feel better this year about the response, about the strategizing, about how they will be able to help us. Time will tell."