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In: Board of Aldermen, New Bern, New Bern Fire Department, Parks and Recreation, Public works
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Aldermen meet this evening to hold a public hearing into how the city will spend taxpayer and user fee money during the next fiscal year. This is the first budget for the newly coined Board of Aldermen, which met during budget workshops last week that lasted just over 11 hours. As presented by city staff, the draft budget is fairly status quo and would not result in any additional taxes or fees. However, City Manager Mark Stephens also laid out a number of steps aldermen could take to raise addition revenue to pay for new projects. (Fun fact: “Raise revenue” is boffin-speak for new feesRead More →

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In: Public works, Water
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New Bern residents may have noticed a change in their city tap water which, as one resident pointed out vividly but probably hyperbolically, suddenly tastes like shit. Beginning on April 16 and continuing until June 18, the city changed the disinfectant used in the water treatment process from chloramines to free chlorine. The city started using chloramines as a secondary disinfectant starting in 2010. This involves adding a small amount of ammonia after water is chlorinated. Compared to free chlorine, chloramines form fewer chemical byproducts, improve taste and odor, and last longer in the water system to prevent bacterial growth. But! “It is customary forRead More →

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In: Aldermen, Board of Aldermen, Mayor, Public works
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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 →