Henderson City Manager Ray Griffin announced at last night’s meeting of the Henderson City Council that the state of North Carolina will no longer contract Henderson to maintain state roads within the city limits.
Of 100 miles of city and state roads within the city limits, approximately 21 miles are state roads. These include main thoroughfares such as Garnett Street, Oxford Road, Raleigh Road, Beckford Drive, and Chestnut Street.
Griffin said that he is currently working with the state to see who will do the maintenance of state roads within the city and how the new arrangement will be “operationalized”.
The city still has contracts with the state for ice and snow removal and the clearing of state road rights-of-way. Griffin said that he hopes these contracts will not be affected.
The maintenance contract was worth $30,000 to the city.
Council member Mike Inscoe told Griffin that he “would love to see the street sweeper continue going up and down those streets”. Griffin responded by saying that a budetary analysis must be done. He said that the streets must be kept safe and clean, but, on the other hand, he warned that the more that is done by the city, the more [the state] “will let us do”.
Griffin warned that the contract cancellation may be “the tip of the iceberg”. He told members that it bears “close watching and discussion with our representatives in Raleigh”.