With another dam grant, why is this Brunswick town asking for more money? Here's what to know.

Thanks to a federal grant, taxpayers in Boiling Spring Lakes will be shouldering less of the burden for the city’s dam reconstruction project.

But city officials say it’s still important for the city residents to vote in favor of the bond referendum on November 8.

Here’s what you need to know.

Dam reconstruction is a big project with a hefty price tag.

Hurricane Florence dumped 30 inches of rain on the area in September 2018, bursting the Sanford, Upper Lake, Pine Lake, and North Lake dams. This left the city without some of its trademark lakes, including the largest, Patricia Lake or Big Lake as many call it. The project is also critical to rebuilding Alton Lennon Road — located on top of Sanford Dam — which connects North Shore and South Shore drives.

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But repairing four dams comes with a $52 million price tag-- a significant amount of money for a city with a $5 million annual budget.

How will the project be funded?

The City of Boiling Spring Lakes had received commitments from several sources, including $14 million from the state, $20 million from FEMA, and $3 million from Brunswick County, for a total of $37 million.

Until recently, the city was planning to take out loans for the remaining $15 million. To assume the debt, the town must have citizen support demonstrated through a bond referendum. The city set the referendum for $20 million, which would provide the $15 million in funding still needed, along with an additional $5 million in contingency funds.

But thanks to a $14.9 million federal grant, the town now has the funding for the project.

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The grant to Boiling Spring Lakes is provided by the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation through a larger $51,845,000 project under the Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot Program. Patrick O’Brien, director of the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, informed Congressman David Rouzer of the approval for the grant in a letter on September 21.

“This project supports Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point by restoring four dams damaged by 2018 Hurricane Florence, re-establishing the safety and security of the dams, and mitigating flood risks to Army operations,” O’Brien wrote.

But city officials say the bond referendum is still needed.

While the dam project appears to be completely funded, city officials say it’s still important for residents to vote in favor of the bond referendum on November 8.

“The $14.9 million dollar grant that we received lessens the need for the $20 million referendum that we have on Election Day, November 8,” explained interim city manager Mike Hargett. “But we are encouraging residents to vote for it in order to use $5 million basically as a contingency. But it will lessen the amount needed from $20 million to $5 million.”

While the city may only need the $5 million for contingencies, the November 8 ballot will still reflect the original amount needed of $20 million. This is because the ballots were printed before the city received the additional $14.9 million grant.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Despite grant for vital project, this Brunswick town says it needs more