County entities to receive some American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds

With the economy in a recession, local entities are feeling the strain this budget season and are hoping to get all the external funds possible to lessen the burden.

The Governmental Affairs Committee of the Jacksonville-Onslow Chamber of Commerce hosted a Forum Onslow Wednesday that addressed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds and how it could benefit various local agencies.

With Jacksonville considering increasing utility charges and impact fees, City Manager Kristoff Bauer said any money the city can acquire will help.

Thus far Jacksonville has received about $1.5 million in transit funds that will assist in purchasing larger buses, implementing automation technology and a parking and wash facility. The city has also received $138,351 in the form of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) that will be used to make improvements to disadvantaged areas of the city.

"The CDBG funds are really needed, that program has been languished due to lack of maintenance over the years," Bauer said. "It's really coming at a good time for us."

Jacksonville applied for utility funding and transportation funding but was not approved for monies. The city has applied for other funds but has yet to receive word on whether or not they will be awarded, Bauer said.

"It would certainly be valuable for us to have some help in infrastructure needs," Bauer said. "That's really an area where we were hoping to get a little more money."

Onslow County Schools will receive $2 million each year for the next two years to fund the No Child Left Behind program.

"Everything else is wait-and-see," said Jeff Hollamon, chief financial officer for the school system. "Anything that we can get to help stop the hemorrhaging is desperately needed."

Hollamon said the state is facing major funding cuts that could end up requiring the elimination of more than 200 positions in the Onslow County School System. There has also been talk of increasing class sizes and reducing the school year, he said.

Local Marine Corps bases are set to receive about $55.5 million for various projects, including interior and exterior building repairs, which will involve the hiring of local labor forces and the purchasing of local materials, said Joe Ramirez, community liaison for Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River.

Coastal Carolina Community College is getting $100,000 to put toward a project that will expand current training programs as well as develop new training on the campus. Another $79,095 will assist low-income citizens with training and education, said Laura Payne, human services director at Coastal Carolina Community College.

Tammy Childers, executive director of the Eastern Carolina Workforce Development Board, said the state funds her organization is receiving will benefit a number of people.

Workforce Development is slated to receive $2.7 million in recovery dollars that will help between 1,200 and 1,500 people in the nine-county area that the board serves to go back to school.

For Onslow County, that means about 175 people.

"It's that opportunity and taking advantage of those potential training opportunities for long-term employment," she said. "It's right now an opportunity for individuals to look at retooling their skills, updating their resume or to go back to school."

The funds will also help implement a summer youth program that will allow area children to participate in work readiness activities while earning a wage, Childers said.

Contact Jacksonville/Onslow government reporter Molly DeWitt at 910-219-8455 or mdewitt@freedomenc.com.