State, local officials await veterans home funding

State and local officials have their fingers crossed as they wait for word that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will release $12 million in federal funds to start construction on a veterans nursing home in Lenoir County.

Gov. Bev Perdue announced during a September 2009 visit to Kinston that the “conditional” grant had been approved — approval is contingent upon a review by the federal VA of all plans and other documents related to the home, a 100-bed facility that is set to be built on land off Hull Road.

“The community’s excited and grateful that we have this opportunity to serve those who served us,” Lenoir County Commissioner George Graham said.

James Woodard, program manager for the State Veterans Nursing Home Program, said all documents had to be sent to Washington, D.C., before March 4, a deadline state officials met.

“We had everything to Washington prior to that March 4 deadline, and now we’re just waiting for them to approve and award the grant to us,” Woodard said.

The application must work its way through the federal VA bureaucracy up to the office of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

If he approves, Shinseki will send a letter to the state veterans division.

“Once we get the letter, the funds are there for us to start the construction of the state veterans home,” Woodard said.

The N.C. Division of Veterans Affairs also accepted bids on the $18.5 million project for about three to four weeks during February.

Woodard said about 20 companies submitted bids, but a list of those bidders could not be obtained by press time Thursday.

David Anderson can be reached at 252-559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.

By the numbers:

What: Lenoir County veterans nursing home

Cost: $18.5 million

Size: 112,000 square feet, 100 beds

Acreage: 22.9

Potential workforce: 150

Construction time: 18 months