LUMBERTON — The City Council approved on Wednesday the rezoning request that paves the way for the Public Schools of Robeson County to move its central office to the vacant Janie C. Hargrave School in East Lumberton.

The council unanimously approved rezoning the school to B3 for office use without comment at the Wednesday meeting. The meeting was a full council meeting, instead of the usual policy meeting that takes place the first Wednesday of each month. The City Council’s regular meetings take place the Monday after the policy meeting, but the meeting was rescheduled because Monday is a federal holiday, Veterans Day.

The move to the 30,000-square-foot school, which was closed to students before the 2019-20 school year, would relocate about 70 school administrative staff from the old BB&T call center building on Kahn Drive. The school district would save nearly $1.5 million in rent over 10 years.

However, the PSRC Board of Education has yet to approve the move. Multiple school district leaders have said over the past weeks that the idea is being explored.

The Lumberton Planning Board approved the rezoning request on Oct. 22. Letters were sent to adjacent landowners, a legal ad was placed and a sign notifying the community of the rezoning request was placed at the school, which is located at 100 Hargrave St.

The City Council also signed off on Southeastern Health’s application to the North Carolina Department of Commerce for two grants.

The regional health care provider would use one grant to help purchase a second linear accelerator for treating cancer patients at the Gibson Cancer Center, said Reid Caldwell, government affairs officer for Southeastern Health. The hospital is expecting increased demand for cancer treatment over the next two to three years after the project is completed. The health care provider expects to add 28 jobs over that same period. The project will cost about $7 million.

Money from the second grant would be used to add 10 new licensed psychiatric beds in the former nursing building on the main hospital campus, Caldwell said. Southeastern Health also will relocate two licensed psychiatric beds to create a 12-bed unit to which will be added 15 new staff members who will operate the unit seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The project’s price tag is about $2 million.

“Both projects are scheduled to begin at the first of the calendar year with the behavior health projects projected to be complete by the end of summer, 2020, and the Cancer Center project is projected to be completed by spring, 2021,” Caldwell wrote in a letter to the council.

In other action, council members approved spending $13,136 to buy an infrared camera that locates faulty electrical connectors.

Also approved was the purchase of a a swift water rescue boat for $43,580. A $30,000 grant from Duke Energy will help pay for the boat, which will be manned by the Lumberton Fire Department.

The council approved directing city staff to draft an ordinance that would prohibit the parking of food vendors in spaces at Elm and Chestnut streets in the downtown plaza. The ordinance would reserve for food vendors two plaza parking spaces by the bricked median facing Second Street. Use of the spaces would be on a first-come, first-served basis.

The City Council approved a $20 administrative fee for reselling gravesites at city-owned Meadowbrook and Hollywood cemeteries. Plot owners are prohibited from reselling gravesites except back to the city.

The next meeting of the City Council is scheduled for Dec. 4. There will be a swearing-in ceremony for Mayor Bruce Davis and four council members, Chris Howard, Leroy Rising, Eric Chavis and Karen Higley on Dec.9. The mayor and the council members won their re-election bids on Tuesday.

Scott Bigelow

Staff writer

Reach Scott Bigelow at 910-644-4497 or [email protected].