Expanding a 34.5kV power line into the Washington-Beaufort County Industrial Park would help improve electrical service there and help an industry there expand, the Washington City Council was told last week.

After receiving information about the matter, the council voted for the city to assist with the project.

Brian Alligood, Beaufort County manager and a former Washington manager, told the council that expanding that power line would improve electric service to Flanders Solutions and other industries at the industrial park and could result in Flanders Solutions adding about 60 jobs. Flanders Solutions, which bought Pronamics Industries, currently supplies the nearby Flanders Corp. plant with about 50 percent of the materials it needs to make residential, commercial and industrial filters.

“Flanders Solutions … is working to double that capacity. They want to provide 100 percent of that. … They are having some supply issues with the power,” Alligood said, noting the industrial park is currently served by a 12.5kV line.

Alligood said the county expects to have about $100,000 left over from a $490,000 grant to extend Leggett Road through the industrial park. “We’ve talked to (the N.C. Commerce Department) about that. They’re agreeable to us amending the scope of that project to allow for the extension of that 34.5kV line,” Alligood said.

A letter written by Keith Hardt, the city’s electric director, estimates the project’s cost at $200,000.

“What we propose to do is take the money we have left over from the grant, which we anticipate being somewhere around $100,000, and applying that to this. … We’d like to take that $100,000 and put it toward this project. What we would need for you to do is agree that your forces could put that in. We simply don’t have the money to pay for the whole thing,” Alligood said.

Extending the 34.5kV line into the industrial park would open the door for Flanders Solutions to expand its facility by 12,000 square feet, he added.

Councilman Doug Mercer, who said the project could be a win-win one for the city and county, asked Alligood if the county would guarantee contributing at least $100,000 toward the project. “It appears at this point in time the city’s going to putting in more than the county,” he said.

Alligood said the county could not make such a promise.

Mercer also voiced a concern with this project delaying other power-system improvements the city has planned.

During the discussion, Hardt said the estimated cost of the project would be lower if city crews extend the line instead of contract labor. Hardt also said it likely would take 90 to 120 days to extend the line.