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Clear to partly cloudy. Low 73F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.

This GIS map from the Carteret County Tax Office shows the location of Mariners Park in Sea Level, in Down East Carteret County. County commissioners Monday night approved a resolution to use five acres of the 20-acre park as the site for a new Down East Fire Department building.

This GIS map from the Carteret County Tax Office shows the location of Mariners Park in Sea Level, in Down East Carteret County. County commissioners Monday night approved a resolution to use five acres of the 20-acre park as the site for a new Down East Fire Department building.

BEAUFORT — After a public hearing during which no one spoke, Carteret County commissioners Monday night approved a plan to carve out five acres of a park for a site for a new Down East Fire Department building.

The commission’s monthly session was in the meeting room in the administration building on Courthouse Square and live on the county’s Facebook page.

Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt a resolution to approve the change to Mariners Park at 201 East St. in Sea Level, and there was no significant discussion.

The proposal was made because the property is above the floodplain and geographically situated appropriately to construct a new station and provide fire protection in the district, and because of the very limited availability of similar locations in the district.

The Sea Level Fire Department at 647 Highway 70, which is currently being used, has suffered multiple flooding events and has been unable to operate from its current location during natural disasters, such as hurricanes, that cause flooding.

The resolution the board adopted Monday night states that because the land for the 20-acre park was purchased with a 2008 grant from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, the county will request the state to release the declaration of restrictions associated with the grant and will repay the state a portion of the grant.

The process began in a June 2021 county commission discussion during a budget meeting.

Then, during a July 2021 board meeting, the board agreed to pursue grant money to construct the department building in the park and deeded the land to the Down East Fire Department so it could pursue the grant itself.

At that meeting, Mark Shouse, chairperson of the County Fire and EMS Commission, said that if the new station is built, the department would be able to close the existing Sea Level and Stacy stations and turn Atlantic and Davis into substations.

The motion the board adopted during that July 2021meeting included a stipulation the property revert to the county after four years if the department doesn’t construct a new station on the site within that time.

The land would also revert to the county in the future if it ever ceases to be used for a fire station.

Now, however, the county is pursuing a Federal Emergency Management Agency Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC, grant to fund construction of a new station.

The estimated cost is $3.5 million, and the county has already been approved by the N.C. Department of Public Safety – the entity that actually applies to FEMA and would administer the funds – to proceed to the full application stage of the multi-step grant process.

The 2021-22 state budget includes $500,000 for the county to use as a local match for that grant.

 In December 2021, Down East Fire Chief Wayne Pittman told the newspaper the building will be metal, with the inside partitioned off for living quarters for fulltime staff.

Contact Brad Rich at 252-864-1532; email brad@thenewstimes.com; or follow-on Twitter @brichccnt.

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I hate losing park space, but having a station for our first responders that is useable during natural disasters is far more necessary. Hopefully the red tape dealing with the state and repaying a PARTF grant isn't too much of an issue.

Countywide paid Fire/EMS would be more cost efficient and provide a higher standard for trained personnel. Its about time the County steps up and provides paid professional firefighters to service to the outlying communities in the County.

What is the funding for the remaining $2,500,000 ?

The remainder is funded by Y O U .

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