LAURINBURG — It’s been more than a year since Hurricane Florence hit Scotland County, and one of the big talks with the Laurinburg City Council has been that of the North Fire Station and whether to build it somewhere else or renovate it.
Moving forward the city will have $250,000 to help work with the project. The Golden LEAF Board of Directors voted last week to provided the grant as FEMA did not grant enough money to repair the building.
“The grant can help in whichever direction council decides to go forward with,” said City Manager Charles Nichols. “That was a big part in it for us that we could either use it to renovate or to build a new facility … this is great news for us because these funds don’t come from property taxes.”
Nichols added that he thanks former Fire Cchief Randy Gibson for his help in getting the application completed for the grant.
“It’s got to be credited to former Chief Gibson and all his efforts,” Nichols said. “We’re appreciative of his assistance through everything in securing these funds.”
Currently, the city is working to get finalized numbers on repair costs for the fire station and is working on getting the options that are available to the council. Nichols added that the topic might be discussed at the October council meeting on the 22, but it could not be talked about until later.
The grant is funded by the 2018 Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Act and JOY Ministry in Laurinburg also received a grant to help with repair costs of the church or towards its relocation.
Reach Katelin Gandee at 910-506-3171 or at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com
