Adelina Shee

Staff writer

LUMBERTON — Seventh Street residents could be inconvenienced while work is done to replace concrete sections of the street with asphalt.

The Lumberton City Council, during its Policy Committee meeting on Wednesday, approved the Department of Public Works’ request to award the project to McArthur Construction for $129,641. The council, which will not meet on Monday, then held its regular monthly meeting and gave the project final approval.

Construction work will be done from Pine Street to Summit Street.

Rob Armstrong, director of Public Works, said the state Department of Transportation has allocated $134,000 for the project. The city will be responsible for the removal of the existing concrete brick while the contractors replace it with a stone base and an asphalt surface. Public Works has agreed not to mill the concrete on-site.

“There will be no change in the elevation of the surface,” Armstrong said. “We will remove six inches of the concrete and will have crushed stone laid right behind.”

Armstrong said that the construction from start to finish could cause noise as well as detours, but homes will be accessible.

“The transition from the driveways to the road would be what it is now,” he said. “We may have to come up with temporary alternate solutions for folks to have access to their homes.”

Armstrong said that the project could take up to three months to complete.

“Not all of that will be a complete inconvenience,” he said. “I think there will be a time period there where we will be doing some miscellaneous work … .”

In other action on Wednesday, the council:

n Awarded Star Telephone the contract for construction of phase 3 of the Fiber project, which is to install fiber optics between city facilities to improve service and reduce cost.

n Approved the installation of a Time Warner Road Runner Connection between the Northeast Park and City Hall in order to place surveillance cameras at the park.

n Awarded DoubleRadius Inc. the contract to install an Access Control System in the new police headquarters under construction.

n Awarded the Wooten Company the architectural contract for the construction of a new home for the Lumberton Christian Care Center.

n Approved tax releases for the months of January and February from 2007 to 2013.

n Agreed to pay $500 for the construction of a 30-inch sewer line that crosses under the railroad owned by CSX Transportation Inc. on South Cedar Street.

n Agreed to donate $2,750 of discretionary money to the 2013 Mike Brill Football Clinic — $500 from Mayor Ray Pennington’s discretionary fund; $400 from Councilman Don Metzger’s Precinct 1 fund; $300 from Councilman Erich Hackney’s Precinct 8 fund; $300 from Councilman Harry Ivey’s Precinct 4 fund; $300 from Councilman Robert Jones’ Precinct 6 fund; $300 from Councilman Jackie Taylor’s Precinct 3 fund; $250 from Councilman John Robinson’s Precinct 2 fund; $200 from Councilman John Cantey’s Precinct 5 fund; and $200 from Councilman Leon Maynor’s Precinct 7 fund.