Thanks, Dickie

It was one of those opportunities you needed a particular eye to see.
Most small towns are strapped to just meet the police department payroll next week. One of the great disappointments for newcomers to town boards is not making these huge, impacting decisions every month. You don’t have a large surplus of cash to play with. Mostly you are responding to individuals who are concerned that they are paying more in taxes or utility bills than they should.
It was something someone who works with small towns understands.
The one time you have a chance to make one of those big decisions is when you have a developer who wants what you have in a small town: water and sewer. There can be a big payoff for developers if they have town services. Most important is the chance to develop twice as many lots in a development because you have sewer service rather than requiring the extra land to put in a septic tank.
It was something that someone who works with developers would know.
Another great opportunity for small towns is the construction of a new elementary school. With the new school come new homes, and many families with small children want to live near a new elementary school. Check out everywhere there is a new school built and you will see new homes in the area. The price of land and the pace of development are increased any time a new school pops up.
It was something anyone in construction in Johnston County could tell you.
In order to get the benefits of town services, Johnston County Schools officials wanted to locate their school near existing lines, but on a large enough piece of property that would provide for the facilities needed for some time to come. They knew they would have to front the expense money to get the lines extended to their site. They also knew that when the growth popped up around the school and other tied into those town lines, they could recoup much of their money.
It was something that anyone who works with school construction would know.
While the school people were looking for a piece of high ground that would drain well for their construction purposes, there was something extraordinary just down the road. Near this piece of high ground was a spot not a half-mile away that was a particularly low spot. In fact, it was so low that surrounding land as far as three miles away could be served if a sewer lift station was placed there.
It was something that someone who works with sewer construction would see.
Developers will try to nickel and dime construction projects to make more money. They will try to get by with minimal expense to maximize their profit on a project and move on to the next one. If the town was to maximize the potential of this lift station, they would need to insist that developers pay the extra money to put sewer lines deep in the area so as to preserve and maximize future development.
Someone who works with housing developers would know that.
This was an unusual opportunity, as school officials were pressing hard for town services to be on a fast track to meet an accelerated construction deadline. In order to finance the extra expense to move the lift station down the road, town officials would have to sell local developers on helping finance the move, and the town would have to borrow money based on future projections. There was a lot that needed to happen in a short amount of time.
It would take someone who was on top of what was happening and sensitive to the nature of this opportunity.
The conservative nature of town boards works against investing in opportunities like this. They are better at playing it safe and dealing with what’s in front of them than buying into the future. You need a strong, convincing argument and a willingness to spend the time to win town board members over to your view.
It would take someone who cared enough about Princeton to make it happen.
I don’t want to slight many others who were involved in making this decision a reality. Town Clerk Marla Ashworth, Town Engineer C.T. Clayton, and Commissioner Eddie Haddock, along with Mayor Don Rains and commissioners Walter Martin, David Starling and Billy Sutton certainly deserve credit.
Dickie Braswell, however, saw the opportunity, showed the town the opportunity, and helped others feel confident that this was the right thing to do.
Some might say this was a “no brainer,” but some of us need help. It may take a while for us to get a firm grasp on the obvious.
Thanks, Dickie, for taking the time to help us see.