Updated 3/25/2018 at 10:23 a.m. Now that the Craven Terrace low-income housing project has been outsourced, downsized, and renovated, the New Bern Housing Authority is turning its sights on what to do about Trent Court. In a memo to the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners (members listed here), Housing Authority Executive Director Martin Blaney said the agency is going to apply for a 9 percent low-income housing tax credit from the N.C, Housing Finance Agency, but first must “secure site control of an eligible and competitive location.” The “competitive location” would be used to build new low-income housing to add to, and in some casesRead More →

Preliminary plans have been released for the proposed 850-acre Martin Marietta Park that depict something the size and scope of which would make it one of the most significant municipal parks in the state. Aldermen, the mayor, staff and advisers will meet upstairs at City Hall at 1 p.m. Monday to discuss the park and a proposed city redevelopment area and commission. (Link to agenda; note that the link has a limited shelf life.) As depicted in maps, Martin Marietta Park would include a large amphitheater, swimming area, boating area, hiking trails and numerous other features. The plan does not indicate how the city wouldRead More →

The late Steve Jobs is often touted as one of the great innovators of the age, but his real genius was in taking ideas from others, tweaking them, and selling them. Jobs didn’t invent the computer mouse, smart phone or the MP3 player, for example; others came up with those ideas, but his tweaks changed everything. Taking cues from Steve Jobs, the City of New Bern has gone into he business of taking others ideas, as well. For example, take the Farmer’s Market. For $1 per year, the Farmers Market was leasing city-owned land at South Front and Hancock streets coveted by developers. Everyone wasRead More →

For companion story, click here City Market is a triangular piece of property, with the Ghent neighborhood on one side, a mixed residential-commercial street on one side, and Country Club Road/First Street on the remaining side. City Hall is giving that section of the city a lot of love and attention recently. Lawson Creek Park is right there and has benefited from a lot of improvements: a reconfigured and beautified entrance, a ball field, and more. The city moved its Parks and Recreation offices to a building off Country Club Road, and is seeking funding to improve boat access there. And it has worked withRead More →

Photo: The city has a lot of properties for sale: 92 are listed on the city’s website. Of those, more than 70 are located in the Greater Duffyfield area. (City of New Bern map)   It’s an unrelenting list of failed dreams: Greater Duffyfield homes and buildings in disrepair, ordered torn down by the city and later sold off at dimes on the dollar. It’s a tragedy on a personal scale for the families who are losing their properties, but in the broader picture, it’s costing taxpayers money — a lot of it. Just this week, buildings facing city-ordered demolition were put to votes byRead More →

Out (for now): Hotel and parking structure at Craven and Pollock   Policy wonks from the UNC School of Government are urging the City of New Bern to turn its attention from a possible parking structure and hotel across from City Hall, and return its attention to a vacant lot at the corner of Craven and South Front streets. UNC SoG special projects managers Marcia Perritt and Omar Kashef appeared before the Board of Aldermen on Tuesday to advise on behalf of the pivot. The Pollock and Craven parking structure/hotel SoG had been advocating has been put on hold while Craven County officials decide whether theyRead More →

CITY OF NEW BERN BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING FEBRUARY 13, 2018 – 6:00 P.M. CITY HALL COURTROOM 300 POLLOCK STREET Meeting opened by Mayor Dana E. Outlaw.  Prayer Coordinated by Alderman Bengel.  Pledge of Allegiance. 2. Roll Call. 3. Request and Petition of Citizens. This section of the Agenda is titled Requests and Petitions of Citizens.  This is an opportunity for public comment, and we thank you for coming to the Board of Aldermen meeting tonight to share your views.  We value all citizen input. Speaker comments are limited to a maximum of 4 minutes during the public comment period.  At the conclusion of 4 minutes, eachRead More →

So what did you do on Jan. 1? City workers spent the day rerouting sewer lines and stabilizing the sink hole in a round-the-clock operation that resulted in no interruption of service and no sewage leaked into the Neuse River just a hundred yards from it. Sometime between Christmas and New Year’s Day, a sewer pipe gave up its 56-year battle against erosion and the forces of hydrogen sulfide. It gave way and the ensuing damage left a 50-foot sinkhole near the National Guard Armory on Glenburnie Drive. This wasn’t any sewer pipe. It was the Grand Central Station of sewer pipes, channeling the entireRead More →

Two gateways into downtown New Bern are going to look a lot different within the next year or so. First Street, which is also N.C. 55, is going to be reconfigured from four lanes (two in each direction) to two traffic lanes and a center turn lane. Sidewalks will be added as well as bike lanes on both sides of the street. City aldermen approved the plan at their meeting on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, a traffic circle is proposed to replace the Y-intersection at Neuse and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards. That project could begin in October. Both plans have controversial predecessors on BroadRead More →