Mayor Jackie Sergent joined Town Talk, WIZS’ local call-in show, earlier this afternoon to provide updates regarding the City of Oxford.
Sergent, who is currently serving her seventh year and fourth term as Mayor of Oxford, spoke specifically on topics concerning the downtown area, including the maintenance needs of underground water and sewer lines, the repaving of downtown streets and updates to the City’s recent designation as a nationally accredited Main Street America program.
Underground Work and Street Paving
One agenda item on the City’s plate is the aging underground water and sewer pipes in the downtown area. Alluding to the aging concern, Sergent said, “Oxford celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2016. Some water and sewer pipes were installed before the streets were paved in the downtown area.”
According to Sergent, City Engineer Amy Ratliff is currently in the process of trying to synchronize the replacement of aging pipes with the NCDOT’s timeline for repaving downtown roads. “We have a very forward-thinking engineer who understands that we need to get on the bandwagon with respect to identifying water and sewer needs and securing the funds for that project.”
Sergent said the Board has spent the past two and half years assessing the needs of the water and sewer lines and has applied for a number of grants to help with the project. “We are currently looking at a combination of zero percent interest loans and grants of $40 million towards a $94 million capital improvement plan.”
The City’s goal is to replace the pipes before the roads are repaved by the NCDOT. “Obviously, we can save residents some money and water and sewer users money if we can dig under the streets and replace the pipes before the NCDOT comes back to repave. That way, they pay for the paving, not the City,” Sergent said.
The NCDOT plans to repave Main Street in Oxford from Front Street to Williamsboro Street. Williamsboro Street is also set to be repaved from College Street to City Hall.
Board members have discussed allocating engineering funds for the 2018-2019 fiscal year in order to begin underground repair work while also doing above ground “streetscaping.” “We aim to do the pipe work underground first and some streetscaping at the same time before DOT comes through to do their surface work,” said Sergent.
Main Street Program
Sergent reminded listeners that not only has downtown Oxford been accredited as a North Carolina Main Street program for years, recently the city was also nationally recognized as a Main Street America downtown program.
This distinction gives the downtown area greater access to available loan and grant money. With Granville County’s recent upgrade from a Tier 2 to a Tier 3 county, this additional source of funding couldn’t come at a better time.
“Granville County has been upgraded, or perhaps downgraded depending on how you look at it, from a Tier 2 to a Tier 3 county considered to be of little need,” Sergent said. “This disqualifies us from some grant since we are now considered lower need; however, by being a nationally qualified Main Street program, we are serious contenders in available funding.”
Part of the requirements of being a nationally recognized Main Street program is that the city provides a full-time position dedicated to promoting the goals of the program. Sergent said Julia Overton, downtown events coordinator for the City of Oxford has been handling the events planning aspect of the Main Street program on a part-time basis for several years and is “the mastermind of the annual hot sauce contest.”
To meet the requirement of full-time work towards the program’s objectives, Sergent said the Board made the decision to allocate another part-time position so the City would, in essence, have a full-time position assigned to this area. Mary Yount has stepped in as downtown development director of Oxford, the second piece in the Main Street puzzle.
Part of Main Street’s goal is to attract businesses to the downtown area by offering job creation opportunities. “New businesses can apply for $25,000 per job created if they apply and their application is viewed favorably,” said Sergent.
Two businesses owned by local business people are planning to open in the downtown area in the next few months, Tobacco Wood Brewing Company and Strong Arm Baking Company. It’s Sergent’s hope that they will both be eligible for the Main Street Solutions funding.
Sergent believes the Main Street program has been instrumental in providing planning assistance to help the downtown area grow and prosper.
“The Main Street folks are phenomenal for coming to our community and offering technical assistance, helping us revise our vision and mission statements as well as develop a strategic plan that gives Oxford’s Downtown Economic Development Commission very specific steps forward,” said Sergent.