LAURINBURG — Residents are reminded that due to ongoing construction on the new City Hall and the drive-thru window coming off Church Street will be closed indefinitely beginning next week.

The right lane of the entrance to City Hall off Church Street was closed near the end of last year. But the left lane remained open drive-thru window payments only, the city will close the left lane on Wednesday, Jan. 10.

Residents that normally utilize the drive-thru window to pay their utility bills still have several other options when it comes to paying their bill.

Payments can be made via telephone, 910-276-1521 or can be submitted on the city’s website, www.laurinburg.org. According to the city’s quarterly newsletter there is not a fee to remit payment using a debit or credit card. The city also has a 24-hour night drop where residents can drop off their payments. Bills that are submitted to the night drop are retrieved daily by staff.

Those residents that utilized the drive thru window due to a physical disability, should contact the city at 910-276-1521 so their needs can be accommodated.

The city of Laurinburg can also provided residents with form that will automatically draft their utility payment from their bank on the 15th of each month. Residents would need to stop by the city offices to pick up the necessary authorization form.

The new building will replace the current municipal building and the W. Charles Barrett administration building.

City officials have argued that staff has long since outgrown the early 1950s-era building on Church Street that currently houses the Laurinburg Police Department, the city’s finance department and utilities collections, and the city council’s meeting chambers.

The Barrett Building, which had housed other city departments — human resources, development, and the city manager and city clerk, was torn down earlier this month. Those administrative offices were moved into the Sanford Building in June.

The new City Hall-police department project is expected to be completed by early January 2019.

Once construction is complete, city workers and police will relocate into the new facility. At that point, the old Laurinburg Municipal Building will be demolished and turned into the facility’s parking lot.

Staff report