Every year around this time, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) Board begins considering capital improvement projects planned for the upcoming fiscal year and for the next 10 years.
The first drafts of capital improvement plans for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) and the 10 years from FY25 through FY34 debuted in February at the Board’s Long Range Planning Committee and was presented to the full Board at its March 13 meeting.
Totaling $326.7 million, the draft FY25 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is the largest ever in CFPUA’s more than 15 years of operation and includes CFPUA’s largest-ever single capital project, the replacement and expansion of the Southside Wastewater Treatment Plant, estimated to cost $239 million. The proposed 10-year CIP totals $711.4 million.
The expenditures listed in these capital plans are investments in the drinking water and wastewater systems on which the families, businesses, and institutions in our community depend, rehabilitating or replacing aging infrastructure like the 50-year-old Southside WWTP and adding planned enhancements and expansions to keep up with growth.
While these funds pay for things like pipes, pump stations, and treatment plants, spending by CFPUA on capital projects and operations also has knock-on effects for the economies of New Hanover County and our region. A contractor hired to replace a sewer main that has reached the end of its useful life hires crews and purchases materials. These crews spend their salaries, and materials suppliers spend a portion of their receipts. The sum of this direct, indirect, and induced spending and hiring is CFPUA’s economic impact. How much is it?
We recently sought to answer this question, hiring an economic consultant to analyze CFPUA’s past and planned spending and to calculate the impact this spending has on the economies of New Hanover County and the three-county region that includes Brunswick and Pender counties. We also know businesses rely to varying degrees on access to reliable water services, so we asked the consultant to quantify the share of employment and economic output comprised by water-dependent industries, ranging from hospitals and schools to breweries and restaurants.
The resulting report, titled “Economic Impacts of Cape Fear Public Utility Authority’s Water and Wastewater Services and Infrastructure Investments,” was presented to the CFPUA Board at its February meeting. The full report is available online, and I encourage you to review it. Here are a few highlights to pique your interest:
GLE Maintains Laser-focus On Growth
Emma Dill
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Nov 1, 2024
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WMPO Opens $5.5M Offices On N. Fourth Street
Emma Dill
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Oct 31, 2024
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Novant Opens Simulation Lab For Local Training
Staff Reports
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Nov 1, 2024
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At 80, Merritt Still Has Work To Do
Cece Nunn
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Nov 1, 2024
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NCino To Acquire London-based Firm In $135M Deal
Emma Dill
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Nov 1, 2024
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The lab was set up in a renovated two-story former bank near Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s South 17th Street campus....
North Carolina faces an estimated shortage of nearly 12,500 registered nurses and slightly more than 5,000 licensed practical nurses by 2033...
Two separate incidents raised concerns about a need for a closer look at historical buildings in the downtown area....
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